Home is where the heart is

What is a home? This is something that has been on my mind for a while now. Why? Well, a lot of things have changed in my life over the last 15 years. Some good and some not so good. When I was growing up, a home was a place in which I felt safe, secure and loved. I valued our family life, but I must admit looking back, I wish I had spent more time with my family. 

I had a lovely childhood. I grew up in a nice area, went to a nice school and I never wanted for anything. Me and my twin sister, K, were spoilt. We had numerous pets. Every Christmas and birthday we received lots of presents and life was good. 

Home was a 3 bedroom semi-detached house with a decent sized front and back garden. We had an apple tree out the back which we used to climb and hang upside down from. We had fruit trees and I always remember the smell of the mint my mum used to grow. 

Now that I’m a mum I want all of this for our daughters too. I’m lucky because in December 2012, Twin Daddy and I moved back to the village where I grew up. I love that our daughters will grow up where I too was raised. I wonder if they’ll play in the same park as I did or get soaked running and playing in the river like I did. 

We’re renting our home at the moment so it’s not how I would like my forever home to be. When I say forever home, I mean the home that Twin Daddy and I will buy when we eventually save enough money up for a deposit. 

I’d love to have a Moroccan themed dining room, a rustic country style kitchen and a fresh, clean, white bedroom with a pale wooden floor. I’d love to seek out old antiques and unique pieces. I have so many ideas of how I imagine our home to be. 

According to a survey of more than 3,000 people by homeware-for-less retailer HomeSense, nearly two decades of home improvement TV shows have given the nation a ‘sixth sense’, that is, a strong sense of style confidence. The phenomenon is seeing house proud Brits embracing their inner interior design spirit, with Leeds residents (63%) claiming to have a better sense of style, character and soul in their homes than their neighbours, followed by Manchester (59%) and those from Chichester (57%). 

Over half (52%) of Brits believe their homes are more tastefully decorated than their friends, with a confident two in three people rating their home style as excellent and having a natural flair for interior design! 

HomeSense have recently launched the HomeSense Sensology App, helping house proud Brits to identify their individual ‘sixth sense’ style. You can share and celebrate your flair for interior design by uploading pictures of your home to Facebook.com/myhomesense.

HomeSense also has a Facebook app which can be found here. I took the quiz and my results came back that I am a ‘Visionary’. According to the app: “Your sense of style is sight. It’s no surprise then that you’re always on the lookout for bright and beautiful homeware…”

I was invited to HomeSense recently to take a look around their store. I only live around the corner and I have been before when Twin Daddy and I moved in December. We bought two large rugs and a beautiful Moroccan style pouffe from HomeSense. I love the range of items they have in store.

They sell pretty much everything you need to design your home, plus they have a great range of childrens toys and books at really good prices. I picked up two etchasketch books for our girls which were £3.99 each and I also found some fabulously quirky items:

I absolutely adore this bright, colourful chair from HomeSense

My new notebook from HomeSense £4.99

I received a £30.00 gift card to spend in Home Sense.