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Coming soon…

May 13th, 2011

We are in love with these beautiful cushions and mugs from designer Michelle Mason and can’t wait for them to come into stock very soon!

Michelle Mason designs contemporary interior and giftware products with all products being designed and made in the UK.

This new collection of cushions shows scenes from London life and features the iconic red Routemaster bus. Digitally printed onto soft but hardwearing cotton satin and backed with unbleached calico.

We will also be stocking these lovely travel mugs with a twist! These new fine bone china mugs, made in Stoke on Trent, follow in the footsteps of our popular bus destination cushions. Three colourways depict different London routemaster bus destinations and include: Angel Islington, Trafalgar Square, Brixton, Chelsea World’s End, Oval, Dulwich, St Pauls, Ladbroke Grove, Hoxton and many more.

Adorable! We can’t wait to proudly stock these products and many more from the lovely Michelle Mason range.

Posted in Biome Lifestyle, Eco Home, Eco Living

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From the catwalk to the table…

May 6th, 2011

Finally, spring is in the air! It’s time to throw back the curtains and let the spring sunshine pour into your home! The Spring/Summer catwalks were dominated by bright & cheerful colours, so this week’s newsletter will follow suit by focusing on bold colours for your home.

Bright lime green was the colour of choice at London Fashion Week. So why not update your home by adding these fantastic raffia and wood lime green table mats ?

The mats are carefully made by hand, and come in a set of 6 , fairly traded from South Africa.

They look great against a white or wooden table and will bring a touch of modern style to your home. Perfect for indoor or outdoor use.

Posted in Biome Lifestyle

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Freshen up for Spring!

April 8th, 2011

The sun is shining and it’s time for a good old Spring clean!

Here are some of my favourite Springtime tips to help freshen up your home below:

• Open the windows. After a winter of closed windows and almost constant central heating, open all the windows in your home to let the fresh air in!

• Bring sprigs of flowering plants indoors
I love a few daffodils in a jar to add some Springtime cheer to your home! Or even better purchase a few potted plants which will last much longer and add some fresh greenery to your home.

• Enjoy citrus. Lemons can be used in so many ways around the home, they provide a fantastic natural detergent. For example, rub lemon on your faucets to remove lime scale, hard water stains, and soap residue. Or for a mild, stain-free bleach, soak your delicates in a mixture of lemon juice and baking soda for at least half an hour before washing.

• Light an all-natural, soy or beeswax, lead-free candle in a springtime scent like bay leaf, tomato leaf, eucalyptus, citrus, meyer lemon, and more.

• Clean the sheets (and couch cushions and pillow covers and dog beds for that matter)! Opt for an all-natural lavender or eucalyptus scented detergent and then top it off with line-drying in the sun.

• Make your own chemical-free homemade air freshener: Follow this easy to recipe to freshen up your home:

* 1 oz gin, vodka, or rubbing alcohol

* 6 oz filtered water

* 20 – 40 drops of essential oil, a few suggested oils are: peppermint, jasmine, citrus oils

My preference is to use gin as your alcohol and jasmine as your essential oil, but you should experiment to find a mix that you like. Simply mix in a spray bottle and spray around for instant freshness. This mix will keep well for at least a month.

• Line the closets and drawers with sachets of fresh lavender. You’ll feel more relaxed, and all your linens will smell ready for spring.

 

Posted in Biome Lifestyle, Eco Home, Eco Living

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Aromatherapy for the home

March 25th, 2011

I am always keen to avoid chemicals. In general, I buy organic food when I can, wear organic cotton and recently I have replaced practically all of my toiletries with chemical-free products from deodorant to toothpaste (and I am quite amazed that they really do work!).When it comes to cleaning the home, I love Method products as not only are they chemical-free, they really do work & smell great!

Here are a few of my favourite ways in which essential oils can be used around the home to help create a healthy and chemical-free environment to live in.  A small bottle of Essential Oil can last a very long time & amazingly certain oils have so many uses; from clearing stuffy noses to cleaning dirty work surfaces!

Scented tissues for stuffy noses
Place up to 10 drops of Eucalyptus or Tea Tree Oil in different places throughout the box of tissues. Seal and leave overnight for the scent to permeate the tissues.

Kitchen wipes
After cleaning the kitchen work surfaces and chopping boards, add a few drops of Tea Tree and Lemon to a clean dishcloth and wipe around units etc. Leaves a fresh clean smell while helping to eliminate bacteria.

Clean floors and walls
Leave a fresh fragrance and help eliminate bacteria by adding a few drops of Tea Tree & Lemon oil to the water for washing down floors and walls.

Freshen up Carpets
Make up your own carpet freshener: add drops of essential oils such as Lemon or Bergamot to a container of bicarbonate of soda and shake well to infuse the oils. Sprinkle on carpets and leave overnight; vacuum the following day. This is much kinder to pets and leaves a natural freshness around the home.

Sweet smelling laundry
Add 3-4 drops of essential oils to the fabric conditioner compartment of your washing machine.
Put a few drops of essential oil onto a piece of cotton cloth and place into the tumble dryer with laundry.
Add a drop of lavender to the corners of pillows to help restful sleep (ideal for guests).
My suggestions are Lavender, Bergamot, Lemon, Sandal-wood.

Fresh waste bins
Place a kitchen towel at the bottom of your waste bin and add a few drops of oil to the paper before inserting the bin liner. This will keep the bin fresh and germ-free. My recommendations are Tea Tree, Lavender, Pine, Lemon.

Beautiful atmosphere
Create a romantic atmosphere by adding a drop of Rose or Geranium oil to a lighted candle or oil burner. Geranium relaxes and creates a good mood. Rose is omantic, extravagant and truly decadent!

Posted in Eco Home, Eco Living

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Reclaimed furniture

March 18th, 2011

I came across a new furniture company the other day and just loved some of their quirky and unique designs. The company is called All About Boats and as you may have guessed, everything is made from boat wood!

Here’s some further details below from their website…

“My name is Achmad Kurt and I’m a German living in Indonesia. I have a passion for the sea, for design, and for doing my part to help our ailing planet. I have been buying fishing boatsshelving, pintus, wine racks, and sofas. Hunting the broken boats was not only a profession – it was a passion. I loved everything about the process; the search, the travel, the villages, and the people, who were often perplexed as to why I wanted to buy their old boats!”

I just love the idea that a piece of furniture can have such an amazing history and story connected to it! Every piece has such character too!

Here are some of my favourite designs below, I hope you like them as much as I do! x

phoca_thumb_l_2_k1phoca_thumb_l_2_drawer6phoca_thumb_l_mirror_3

Posted in Art, Eco Home, Eco Living

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Ideal Home Ticket Giveaway!

March 11th, 2011

New Competition!

Ideal Home Show 2011 LOGO
We are proud to be part of this year’s Ideal Home Show - our lovely ethical products have been selected to dress George Clarke’s eco Ideal Refit House!

George_Clarke_081014_190FDE
To celebrate our involvement we are giving away four tickets to the show. Just tell us, what would make your ideal home by leaving a comment below!

The competition will close on Friday 18th March.

Posted in Biome Lifestyle

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Life goes on…

February 18th, 2011

The amazing thing is, that despite the near-universal custom in Britain today of couples living together before they get married, and despite everything some politicians say about the troubled state of British society, some traditions have just not changed. Marriage for example has never been more popular. Yes, couples are marrying later. And yes they may have a couple of kids before they tie the knot, but they still are getting married. And when they get married, they expect to do it in style!

White veil, wedding cake, and embarrassing speech from the best man- some things never change. Some do, of course. The traditional drunken stag night for the groom and his mates has somehow morphed into a stag-several-drunken-days. And booking a room in June has turned into trying to find a “venue” any time in the next 18 months!

Wedding presents have actually become a bit of a challenge. Your average British newly-weds today have probably been building a home together for years, so a tea service or a canteen of cutlery “to help them get started” are not on their wedding list at all. They’ve got a sense of their joint style. And their gift list reflects it. Not just what’s on the list, but where they set it up.

We think our wedding gift list service is second to none. Everything in Biome’s range of house-wares has style. It all looks great. But just as important, everything has a story to tell. Biome is the UK’s No1 on-line ethical house-ware store, and they take time and trouble to research what they sell, and make sure it meets some demanding standards. Sustainable or recycled raw materials, fair trade, and decent wages and working conditions are part of the picture, but there’s much more. Check out our website, and see for yourself. There’s no better place for a wedding list.

But what if you’re going to a wedding, and the couple haven’t set up a list? No problem; Biome has wedding gift vouchers available in multiples of £10. And they’re printed on recycled paper, of course!

Posted in Biome Lifestyle, Eco Living

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Love is in the air!

February 11th, 2011

Love is in the air, everywhere I look around!

It’s Valentines Day on Monday so love is certainly in the air! Every shop I enter into seems to be full of hearts, love cards and pink chocolates! I am not the biggest advocate of Valentines but do feel it’s harmless fun, plus it seems down right miserable to ignore it completely!

So this Valentines, why not treat the one you love to a special home cooked dinner or even breakfast in bed (bliss!). However if you are away from loved ones at this time of year then I have picked a few of my favourite little Valentines gift you can give to that special someone instead…

Love Tea – of course!

love teaLovely love cushion!

love cushionLove door pouch

love door pouch

Posted in Biome Lifestyle

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Seasonal Recipes

January 21st, 2011

This time of the year, it seems that ‘going out’ is the last thing on our minds.

Following the excesses of Christmas and the dark, cold evenings all I feel like doing is drawing the curtains, pulling my big woollen throw over my legs, watching a DVD and staying inside where it’s warm & cosy! Or maybe I am just growing old!

Another of my favourite current ‘cold season’ pastimes is cooking. I have many cook books but also love trawling the internet for some great culinary inspiration.

figporridge

I always try and use only seasonal products, ideally organic too, so it’s an extra challenge picking out only seasonal and healthy recipes (although a couple of the great websites below are actually seasonally based).

I have picked some of my favourite websites below, hope you enjoy reading through and attempting the recipes as much as I do!

http://www.mostlyeating.com - One of my personal favourites, offering lovely sustainable, seasonal and nutritionally balanced meals

http://seasonalfoodrecipes.co.uk/

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes

http://www.supernaturalrecipes.com/

Happy cooking! xx

Posted in Eco Living

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Grab a bargain, while you can!

January 14th, 2011

Discounted products seem to be everywhere at the moment – not like I am complaining!

Biome Lifestyle’s sale is still running and will continue for a further week or so… with prices starting at £1 you really can grab a bargain!

Once the sale has finished though, it’s inevitable that prices will increase everywhere. Our suppliers have already hiked up their prices due to the increasing transport costs and cotton prices, so I am afraid we will be left with no choice but to increase our prices a little in 2011 too. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but as they say, it’s a sign of the times!

I know I am enjoying the sale prices whilst I can and I thought I would share some of my favourite stores with you too, as long as you don’t buy everything up before I do!!

Take a look at this gorgeous Sweetheart dress from People Tree, reduced to just £37 from £75! Fair trade from India.

people tree dressFor further lovely sale items, go to www.peopletree.co.uk

Another of my favourite stores, which is great for everyday and weekend way is Howies. I am very tempted by this Fairisle pattern cardigan in soft & cosy lambswool…

104L-L414-1963-SEREN-CARDI-navy-feathered

Our local Whole Foods store also has a fantastic range of discounted beauty products, in particlaular Tisserand which is one of my personal favourites as it’s so gentle on sensitive skin.

Oh the choices, the choices! Hurry up pay day, we need you!

Wishing you all a great weekend! x

Posted in Biome Lifestyle