If you’ve seen any posts about our house before, you’ll know that a nautical/maritime theme runs throughout, as it does, indeed, in our lives.
I’ve mentioned briefly on here before, but Tom and I met on board a sailing boat as part of a training event at work. I volunteered myself for the ‘sailing challenge’ as my friend at work said we should do it together, but just before the event she fell ill and was unable to go. The thought of doing it on my own (three days on a boat with people I, for the most part, didn’t know) petrified me and I nearly dropped out but in the end I decided to go ahead with it as it was a totally new experience for me. I also thought it would give me some useful knowledge for the workplace – I work in the maritime sector but up until then had never set foot on a yacht or anything smaller than a ferry. It was a really challenging experience for me – crammed on a yacht for several days, learning how to sail, being out at sea and meeting lots of new people (our organisation has offices and stations all around the coast). Tom hadn’t elected to take part but when my friend was unable to go we were a First Mate down and he stepped in at the last minute to replace her. We’d never met before but clicked from the moment we met, and the rest, as they say, is history. Because we met whilst sailing (and work for the same maritime organisation), the sea has always been really symbolic to us, which is why we’ve filled our house with nautical trinkets and references. We used to work at two different locations an hour and a half apart but we moved to our Training Centre and now work and live together.
Of course then, I fell for this print of the Shipping Forecast sea areas by Next on first sight. We would listen to the shipping forecast whilst out on the yacht and I think there’s something really poetic and soothing about it. I knew it would make a wonderful addition to our home, and so when Next kindly asked if I’d like to feature one of their items on my blog I immediately knew what to choose. We had a new front door fitted this week (at a cost which makes me feel slightly sick!) and so the hallway is much more presentable and certainly brightened up by this beautiful canvas.
The canvas* is available from Next for £60.
I am a huge fan of Next homeware and their current range is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve already bought a few treats over the last few weeks, including this ‘salvage yard’ clock, which doesn’t appear to be on their website..
And the daisy print jug and candle holder pictured below – bought from a nearby Next Home store but again not online.
I’m over the moon with my new canvas and will definitely be visiting Next again soon for some homeware treats. Next on the home agenda is to paint our hallway and then completely redo our conservatory, which is a mammoth task but my parents have kindly offered to help.
Are you a fan of Next homeware?
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