Milk and Honey Blog - Interiors, Design and Living

Postal Strike Update

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:28:00 +0000

We're currently feeling the knock on effect of the postal strike and some of our customers are suffering from delayed deliveries of their Milk and Honey goodies.

Not wanting to keep our customers waiting, and with the possibility of more strikes ahead we've decided to temporarily scrap our Royal Mail services and offer you a reduced rate 48 and 24 hour courier service to make up for it!

Our 48 hour service is down from £4.95 to £3.95 and our 24 hour service is now £5.95.

At least you have your delayed post to thank for something..!

x

Featured in I-on Magazine September

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:36:00 +0000

Our fantastic Retro Kitchen Message Boards have been featured in the September issue of I-on Edinburgh Magazine.

Available in either "Coffee" or "Double Dip" style, these message boards are the perfect kitsch accesory to complete the retro look in your kitchen. To top it off they are only £13.95 each!

Hand Gift Wrapping and Personalised Messages

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:53:00 +0000

With only 81 days left until Christmas, now is a perfect time to start thinking about gifts. We want to take the stress out of shopping this year so alongside our fantastic gift wrapping service (only £1.95 per item) we've launched our personalised message service!

The personalised service not only lets you choose and alternative delivery address for your gifts, but you can now type in a message for that special someone which will be hand written on a card and included with your pressie. Simply fill in the details when you are at the checkout screen.

Add to that the fact that standard UK delivery is only £1.95, there really is no excuse to forget your loved ones this Christmas!

Reduced Postage to Ireland

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:28:00 +0000

Great news if you live in the Republic of Ireland - we've reduced postage costs by over 30% from £14.95 to only £9.95!

That's right, now you can get all our lovely goodies delivered to your doorstep in Ireland for under a tenner. Seeing as the Euro exchange rate is favourable to our Euro loving friends over the water, it's a perfect time to pick yourself up a bargain!

Makeover your Appliances with Stickers

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:36:00 +0000

Not being bowled over by the way our fridge looks (despite being in top condition) and this area of the kitchen in need of a little TLC, I feel there would be little justification at all (apart from the pure esthetical point of view ;-)!) to get rid of it and buy something a little more up to date.

The offending article

So I have been looking for clever alternatives which would not cost the Earth but brighten things up a bit.

In my search, I stumbled across this designer called Kodu Design that do supersize digital prints in vinyl or canvas for walls, cupboards door, fridges, appliances, laptops etc... It was exactly what I was looking for!

There are plenty of designs to choose from and they even offer a personalised service printing any of your photos should you have a favourite!

I ordered the Blue Bird design by Elina Kasesalu and received it promptly. It was packaged very well and suffered no damage even though it came all the way from Estonia.

Halfway There

I must admit that I was a little apprehensive and scared of sticking it on my fridge with only myself to trust... Anyhow after taking my time and following the detailed instructions step by step, it is totally easy and fuss free. Fridges are not the simplest of shapes to cover, but with a little time and perseverance I think I did a pretty good job!

Tricky Sticky

It is great fun and it looks stunning, the effect is perfect and has rejuvenated this otherwise dull corner of my kitchen. I would recommend it highly, now my tumble dryer next in need of TLC, so I think I am going to order one for it too..!

Job Done!

I’d love to hear if any of you have used this simple solution to revamp a room, so please send me your comments and pictures and I’ll stick them up on the blog!

Have fun! x

New Clocks

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:14:00 +0000

We've just added a brand new collection of vintage clocks over at Milk and Honey

From just £9.95 you can add that French country chic to your living room, dining room or even your kitchen.

Featured on UKTV

noreply@blogger.com (Milk and Honey) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:25:00 +0000

Our natural woven heart has been featured on UKTV! These woven hearts add an instant updated touch to any room to give that beach house dogeared look. Enjoy! x

White Rose Door Knob

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:32:00 +0000

Brand new on the Milk and Honey Site, are these delicate White Ceramic Handles.

At just £4.50 each they are the perfect accessory to add that magical finishing touch to cupboards, doors or chest of drawers.

Taste of Birmingham Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:41:00 +0000

The competition to win Taste of Birmingham tickets is now over and we have the pleasure of announcing the two lucky winners!

Congratulations to Deborah Fraser and Louise Wooldridge who each win a pair of complimentary tickets to this years event!

If you were not one of the lucky winners, check back soon for another fantastic opportunity to win a great prize courtesy of Milk and Honey.

Decorative Hearts - New Products

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:10:00 +0000

We've added a handful of new products over the last few days at Milk and Honey. Trying to source new decorative items that fit in with our theme is always fun, so we've launched some beautiful decorative hearts.

First up is the Ceruse Wooden Hanging Heart:

This charming decorative heart is the perfect deco accessory and will add that finishing touch to any room in the house. You can pick this heart up for just £2.95 over at the Milk and Honey boutique.

Not a fan of wood? Then how about the Antique Style Metal Heart below:

It's the same size as the ceruse heart (5x5cm) but is finished beautifully in a tarnished white enamel to give a lovely antique finish to it. Suspended from a piece of rustic string its a perfect gift or accessory. Available at only £3.95.

If single hearts are not your thing, what about this lovely set of 6 Wooden Hearts on a Garland:

Kitchen walls, fireplaces or even hanging in a tree these delightful ceruse wooden hearts on a string will bring a touch of rustic charm to any house. Available at only £4.95.

Finally we have these stunning Woven Rattan Hearts:

Available in Small, Medium or Large these woven rattan hearts are a unique home accessory. Lovely on their own or stunning in a trio they will add a natural finish to your interiors. From only £3.95.

Win Taste of Birmingham Tickets

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:32:00 +0000

OK, now I know Taste of London hasn't even happened yet, but with Taste of Birmingham less than 3 weeks away we wanted to give you a chance to enter our new competition to win one of 2 Pairs of Tickets to this years event!

Taste of Birmingham takes place from 9th - 12th July and is being held at the beautiful Cannon Hill Park just a stone's throw (or should I say cricket ball's) from the legendary Edgbaston Cricket Ground. Set in this lovely leafy location it is sure to be a fitting finale to this years "Taste Of" trilogy.

As the official supplier of table linen to the VIP area at this years event, Milk and Honey is giving you the chance to experience some of Birmingham's finest restaurants (including Cielo and Purnell's to name just a couple), take master classes from some world famous chefs and of course indulge yourselves in the best the midlands have to offer.

Entry is simple (the way we like to keep it at M&H), so all you have to do is pop along to our website, hit register and fill in a few details. When the competition is over we'll do a prize draw and the winner will receive a pair of tickets to go to Taste of Birmingham on the day of their choice!

Taste of London Competition Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:05:00 +0000

Entry to our Taste of London 2009 competition has now finished and we have the pleasure of announcing the 2 lucky winners!

Congratulations to Mary Loader and Rebecca Courtney who have each one a pair of complimentary tickets to this years festival on the date of their choice!

Milk and Honey continues to sponsor the Taste Festivals so check back soon as we'll be running another competition to coincide with Taste of Birmingham.

Rehearsal Studio Cardiff

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:22:00 +0000

We try to be on the ball at Milk and Honey when it comes to cultural happenings in Cardiff, and music is certainly very high up on our list. Having been involved in various guises since the early nineties I wanted to write a post about Musicbox Studios - Cardiff's longest running and most prestigious rehearsal and recording studios.

Mark "The Bear" Foley

Musicbox was the brain child of Mark Foley, who took over a couple of run down rehearsal rooms in West Canal Wharf (which has since been redeveloped) back in 1990. As the music scene grew in South Wales (during the mid 90's it became a mecca for Record Label attention) as did the business, eventually outgrowing it's City Centre location and relocating to a bigger industrial unit on Daisy Street, Victoria Park.

The business went from strength to strength and 10 years later the 3 room setup was bursting at the seams so after joining forces with Andrew "Bernie" Plain they relocated to a brand new unit on Tollgate Close, just off Penarth Road.

Andrew Plain

It took the guys the best part of 18 months to build the new Musibox from scratch, and now complete it boasts 6 fully functional rehearsal rooms (including aircon, PA etc) as well as pro recording facilities, a kit shop, storage facilities and even a cafe!

Such is the reputation of Musicbox, you'll often find such luminaries as Super Furry Animals, Bullet for my Valentine or even Budgie walking the halls and rocking out in their respective rooms!

Musicbox is open 362 days a year, from 10am - Midnight, and can be contacted on 02920 373707.

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Win Taste of London Tickets

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:28:00 +0000

Hot off the back of 'Taste of Edinburgh' we're once again teaming up with the people at Channel 4 to provide the table linen for Taste of London 2009.

The event, hosted on June 18th - 21st in Regents Park, is building up to be the must attent food festival of the summer. With such chefs as Olivier Limousin and resturants including Le Pont de la Tour and Le Gavroche it's no wonder this year's event is sold out.

Fear not however, as Milk and Honey is giving you the opportunity to win a Pair of Tickets to Taste of London 2009 on the date you choose!

How do I win?

Entering this fantastic competition couldn't be easier. Simply register on the Milk and Honey website before 12th June and you will automatically be entered into our competition to win a pair of tickets to Taste of London 2009.

Good luck! x

Patagonia Restaurant

noreply@blogger.com (Milk and Honey) — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:17:00 +0000

Patagonia is the gourmet restaurant in Cardiff! Fine cuisine and clever subtle marriages of flavours leave your taste buds in pure heaven.

We absolutely love this family run restaurant. Not only is the cuisine refined and delicious (Ox Cheek and Beetroot terrine, anyone?) but their attention to detail, discretion and professionalism is second to none. We had such a great time in this little oasis, we'll be going back again that's for sure!

Sisley in Cardiff!

noreply@blogger.com (Milk and Honey) — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:43:00 +0000

Alfred Sisley is exposed in Cardiff in the National Museum Cardiff until 14th June2009. It is truly worth the detour if you are in the area as the collection showcased is about his return to Great Britain in 1897. You can see some of his colourful and moving pieces reflecting Stunning London and Dramatic South Wales Coastline.

I must admit that when I arrived in Cardiff nine years ago, I totally fell in love with the beauty of the Welsh coasts just like the artist himself s and being born and raised in Paris like Sisley the connection feels of course even closer to my heart...
Enjoy! x

Towel Buying Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Sun, 03 May 2009 20:18:00 +0000

With so many towels on the market nowadays, it's important to make sure you spend your money in the right place. Gone are the days when "one towel suits all" so to help you make the right choice, Milk and Honey has developed this handy Towel Buying Guide to assist you in your purchase.

"We shall base our definition of a good towel on its softness, absorbency, on its ability to dry quickly and finally on its longevity. What you should consider for your towel is first of all the feel - a towel should be plush, fluffy and feel soft to the touch..."

Happy towel hunting!

Win Tickets to Taste of Edinburgh!

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Fri, 01 May 2009 09:37:00 +0000

Milk and Honey has once again teamed up with the people that brought you Gordon Ramsay's "A Taste of Christmas 2008" and "La Dolce Vita 2009" to sponsor Taste of Edinburgh - The Worlds Greatest Restaurant Festival in Inverleith Park from May 29-31.

"Taste of Edinburgh brings together famous chefs from the capital’s best restaurants, as they serve up their signature dishes and share their best kept kitchen secrets whilst, star food and drink producers dish out samples and top up your glasses – the ultimate foodie day out."

To Celebrate this fantastic event, Milk and Honey is giving away 2 Pairs of Tickets in our exclusive Taste of Edinburgh Competition!

Entry to this fantastic giveaway couldn't be easier. Simply register on our site and you'll be entered into our prize draw to win a pair of tickets to this sold out show, on the day you choose!

Click here to Register and stand a chance of winning a pair of tickets to Taste of Edinburgh 2009

Earth Day

noreply@blogger.com (Milk and Honey) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 08:20:00 +0000

Happy Earth Day!

How to Choose the Correct Pillow

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Buying the right pillow to suit your needs is fundamental to a good night's sleep. However often it is treated as an afterthought by many people.

In order to help you choose, we've come up with this handy Pillow Buying Guide which will help you make an informed decision and ultimately lead to a refreshing nights sleep..!

"Choosing a pillow is subjective and depends on each individual needs and with so much choice, buying a pillow can seem quite difficult. A pillow is used to support and cushion the sleepers head and the prime qualities to look for in a pillow is resilience. The wide range can make it difficult to choose so here are the keys you must know before you choose:"

Bringing Art to the Masses

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:42:00 +0000

Not all of us can afford to hang a Picasso or Turner on the living room wall, but it doesn't mean we don't appreciate the joy admiring a piece of fine art brings. But have you ever wondered what happens those paintings or sculptures that aren't worthy of the National Portrait Gallery or the Louvre..?

The Museum of Bad Art is an Elephants Graveyard of neglected masterpieces by visionary and under appreciated Artistes, spanning movements such as cubism, renaissance and most definitely surrealism.

Our particular favourite at Milk and Honey, is Dog.

"A remarkable fusion of ski resort and wolf puppy -- stoical in his yellow-eyed silence, frozen beneath the ice-capped peak, Dog eloquently challenges the viewer to reexamine old concepts of landscape. "

Simply breathtaking.

Retro Wave, petit Nicolas, Obama?

noreply@blogger.com (Milk and Honey) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:33:00 +0000

A Retro wave in France has definitely arrived and I believe will be here in the United Kingdom for good too!

It seems to have all started on the other side of the Atlantic with the arrival of Obama at the presidency of the United States. It has had an even deeper and greater effect than anticipated as we all seem to feel the positive buzz from him and embracing the future (finally again!)... However why? I believe that it all bring us back to the 50s and 60s in the great time and steps of Martin Luther King finally becoming reality. I think this is a wave of change and hope hitting our nations threw a wave of nostalgia and retro as we can only consolidate the future on a deep great good old healthy foundation that is finally seeing the light after so much time, work and ache.

The French retro wave is perfectly illustrated with the major commemoration of the 50 year anniversary of a popular French

comic book character, little Nicholas or Le Petit Nicolas. Le Petit Nicolas and his classroom pals have been created by so talented Asterix co-inventor René Goscinny and genius illustrator, Jean-Jacques Sempé.

Little Nicholas is the wicked little schoolboy by excellence! He is a true representation of childhood and innocence surrounded by parents' unconditional love, the sound of chalk on a board and children playing in the schoolyard... Little Nicholas is I think incredibly French in the upbringing and “old fashioned” life but quintessentially so British in his Humour! It is a must have books for children and grown-ups as this will guarantee you laughter and happiness! Great pick up factor from the doom and glooms times of the credit crunch (for the adults)!

After Vintage, it is now time for Retro to come into our life, fashion and our homes. We couldn’t find a better way to start thinking positively for 2009!

Duvet Buying Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 07:51:00 +0000

There's a lot more than meets the eye to buying the correct Duvet to suit your needs. It's not just a simple case of grabbing the first one you see.

Over on the Milk and Honey site, we've written this handy Duvet Buying Guide to help you out.

"We cannot ignore the fact that a good night’s sleep means more energy for the next day and has a positive influence on performance. Choosing the right duvet is therefore essential. However selecting a duvet is not always easy as there are so many options available nowadays. A duvets primary aim is to retain the body’s temperature independent of the outside temperature."

St David's 2 - Cardiff's Credit Crunch Saviour?

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:19:00 +0000

With all this talk of financial doom and the credit crunch, it's nice to hear some positive retail news for a change. If you don't know, Milk and Honey is based in Cardiff and the talk of the town for the last few years has been the redevelopment of it's shopping area, which is now in it's last stages of development before its launch in Autumn 2009.

St David's 2 (which makes a change from "Millennium xxxxx" as most new projects have been named in Cardiff) has been many years in the planning. Since it's conception at the beginning of the 2002 there have been numerous issues (location, impact on public transport and spiralling costs) that have delayed the project and subsequently shunted the launch date into the most uncertain financial period this country has experienced in my lifetime.

It's easy to look at it with the benefit on hindsight and wonder why a city of Cardiff's modest size (circa 320k inhabitants) needs a further 967,500 sq ft of retail space hosting up to 128 stores when the city is already in the top 10 shopping destinations in the UK and has a travel infrastructure barely capable of supporting it's own citizens let alone the further hundreds of thousands the city attracts from surrounding areas on Weekends.

However, I think the timing could not have been more appropriate. In these desperate financial times the City is guaranteed to create 4,500 new jobs to support this project. Jobs have ranged from architecture and construction in the development stages to retail assistants and security when the site is opened. New parking zones and roads are popping up all over the City in the knowledge that such a big project is going to bring a massive amount of consumers to the City which will also have a knock on effect on tourism and leisure activities in Cardiff.

Of course, the main focus will be the shopping experience. St David's 2 has attracted huge retailers such as John Lewis and many top brands including Reiss, Kurt Geiger and Hugo Boss - something the likes of Cardiff has never seen before. It is estimated that the introduction of these new shops will boost our shopping destination ranking into the top 5 along side London, Manchester and Birmingham which is no mean feat considering Cardiff's location and size. Add to this the fantastic waterfront development and international airport, things are set to go from strength to strength.

Some may argue against the "spend our way out of the crisis" approach the Government has taken to tackle the credit crunch and when you look at St David's 2 it's very easy to see it as a perfect example of where we are going wrong. But look a little deeper and you may find that this is the very tonic needed to bring skills, jobs and wealth back to our struggling nation.

British Summer Time Begins!

noreply@blogger.com (Milk & Honey) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:00:00 +0000

A quick reminder to everyone that the clocks go an hour forward today!

I dont know what the weather is like elsewhere in the world but here in Cardiff it couldnt be a more beautiful start to British Summer Time. The sky is clear and the sun is shining - perfect!

Time to start on the allotment I think.