The Interior DIYer
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Winter is coming; the right way to tilt your blinds

It may be a distant memory for some [ahem, me], but some of you may remember that in day one of science class in primary school we are all taught that hot air rises. This may seem like a passing thought, but when it comes to keeping your home warm in the winter this is an important thing to remember. Believe it or not, the direction that your blinds are tilted will either help keep your home warm or act like a giant wampa and steal all the hot air and life from a room.

It’s a very simple trick – one that we’ve been doing for years. And while I cannot guarantee a substantial increase in the temperature of your home or a difference in the cost of your heating bill, I can say that it’s a small step you can take to keep your home warm this winter … 

BLINDS TILTED DOWN = BAD

If you tilt your blinds down, as hot air rises from your heaters it will be drawn to and encouraged to escape through the gaps in your blinds. From here, it will meet a fast and painful death as it hits your cold windows and will never be remembered. Ain’t nobody wants that. To somewhat better explain what I mean, see my badly executed diagram below … 

BLINDS TITLED UP = GOOD! 

However, should you tilt your blinds up as shown below, as the hot air rises from your heaters [or if you’re a lucky bastard, from your underfloor heating], and having your blinds tilted in this direction will continue to direct the hot air up and keep it circulating within your home. Yay! o/

I know it’s not a groundbreaking tip, but it’s one of those things I think of far too much and when I see people’s blinds tilted the wrong way, especially leading into the colder months, I scream internally and want to knock on their door and help them. We then have a nice hot drink by the fire and share stories about our cats. We then become lifelong friends and go on skiing trips together. 

So there you have it! A minuscule change you can make to help keep the hot air in your home this year. I hope it helps in some little way. Happy heating 🙂 
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A weekend in Edinburgh

This weekend husband and I spent 3 days in Edinburgh, Scotland. We got home late last night and would give our right arms to have stayed another 3 days. Edinburgh was immense. Even when I went through our photos this morning, I had a tough time narrowing down which ones to share. I whittled it down to 24. And even that was a struggle.

We flew over early Friday morning and checked into The Glasshouse Hotel, all sneakily booked and organised by husband. He did good. 

When we checked in, we were bumped up to a delux suite which was nothing short of lush. At the end of each day we longed nothing more than to go back to our hotel room. After walking 10+ hours, all we could think about was the larger than life bath tub and fluffy bed which were perfect for getting over the bitter weather. Less than a 10 minute walk from the centre, if you find yourself in Edinburgh, I strongly suggest you stay here. It’s luxury.

When we hit the streets of Edinburgh on Friday, I was rather pleasantly surprised to spy my favourite colour. Everywhere! Edinburgh had a running theme of my favourite berry hue. I’m assuming this is the city’s colour, as it was everywhere. But you won’t hear me complaining. I did however wreck husbands head by pointing it out at every opportunity. 
I don’t know what we were expecting from Edinburgh, but we weren’t expecting what we found. The buildings, the streets, the scale and the history. And the buildings. Did I mention the buildings? Edinburgh was a feast for my eyes. 

On Friday we took a bus tour around the city and further wandered for hours around Our Dynamic Earth, the Scottish Parliament Buildings, and the Palace of Holyrood. Stopping and creeping and photographing. We had bright blue skies met with bitter cold. We weren’t well prepared for the cold so sitting on the open-top tour bus took its toll. It snowed in the late evening but as we love snow, it just made is squeee an embarrassing amount. We walked up Calton Hill before retiring to our hotel. We were so cold that we basically slipped into hibernation the moment we got to our room. 

The next day we were a bit more prepared for the cold. It was a colder day, but as we wore all the clothes we packed, we were warmer. I wore my dress, skirt, 2 scarves, 2 pairs of tights, hat, faux fur thing, gloves and coat and I even used my own hair as insulation inside my coat. We were still cold. But it was a good excuse to stop in for whisky and hot beverages every chance we could. We ate haggis [which I now adore. I found it to be a cross between white and black pudding] and drank all the Innis & Gunn. 
On Saturday we ventured around Edinburgh Castle. We made our way up, and the views were mind = blown … 

The view from Edinburgh Castle was immense. I can’t even. Snowy mountains, mismatched rooftops, spires and even a soldiers’ dog graveyard. This and the tale of Greyfriars Bobby got us right in the feels.

We wandered up and down The Royal Mile, visited the Games Masters exhibit in The National Museum of Scotland, and stopped in for lunch at the Whiski Rooms. Again with the Edinburgh berry. On point. Oh and though it’s more of a Glasgow thing I think, we indulged in a deep fried Mars bar. And I thought it was heaven. 

We visited the Edinburgh Dungeon at night which was equal parts creepy, informative and terrifying. We could have done with a few more days in Edinburgh, but we managed to pack in a serious amount in the 3 days we were here.

Edinburgh, you blew our minds. We will be back. 

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From me and mine to you and yours …

May your holidays this season be filled with an abundance of love, happiness, cookies, cake, onesies, carols, cheesy movie marathons, wine, couch cuddles, spiked coffees, mince pies, and more wine.

I’ll be taking some time away from here over the past week or so, and in the most loving way possible, I strongly suggest you do too. 

xx A