I have a new procrastination outlet hobby... Perusing the 'Paris' search on Christie's Real Estate. Oh, man. Major address envy. I knew stunning real estate exists in this city, but some of these are incredible. I love the extra comments such as "Private Elevator" and "Staff bedrooms and parking spaces may be acquired"...

COS x HAY

This week two of my favouite Scandinavian brands release their collaboration...

After many years of using Hay furniture in their stores, COS, the Swedish minimalist high-street brand from the H&M company, have collaborated with the Danish design house to bring a curated collection of home-furnishings and serving wear to COS customers.

UJB #2 :: Spring Inspired Styling

The brief for this month’s Urban Jungle Bloggers was two-fold - Judith and Igor asked for us to style our little green friends along the themes of 'Spring' or 'Easter'. I know already in Blogland Easter is upon us, and Easter crafts, DIYs and stylings are popping up left, right and centre. However on planet Lauren Lou Bate it’s a whole month away and I’ve not even started to think about the the chocolatiest of all holidays.

Spring, however, has arrived ridiculously early, there’s been absolutely no denying it! And, so far, the arrival of this joyous season has meant undertaking a huge Spring-clean of the apartment, purging crap unnecessary items accumulated in the FOUR years (yes, this month also celebrates my four year occupation of the “Beehive”) spent living in the same space, deep cleaning the kitchen and bathroom*, and rearranging the furniture and deco to better suit my our aesthetics.
 
One of the first areas I tackled was my desk and “office” area. Sitting down at my computer to work has to be a calm and inspiring experience, otherwise I avoid it like the plague. Which then equals no work produced, and a very cranky me. So, for my second installment of the Urban Jungle Bloggers series, I got to work with a bottle of my favourite pink grapefruit cleaning product, and using its scent as the inspiration, as well as a change-of-season cold I was suffering the day I shot these pics, put my desk-scape together in fresh, Vitamin-C-filled, citrusy harmony with the help of Marcus the ficus and Makmood*,  whose pot I decorated with some skinny washi tape.

Having these two plants around makes my desk feel more alive and energising. I now feel like celebrating each corner of the apartment I get through in my spring-cleaning mission with some urban greenery.
Pretty decent motivation if you ask me!

'To-do' list notepad from the new Garance Doré x Rifle Paper Co. stationary line, available at Colette. 

*Special thanks goes out to the man of the appart', Mr M, who helped me with this shoot by holding up my reflective foam core boards on a very dimly-lit afternoon, who cleans the bathroom - my most despised chore - without complain, and likes to give our houseplants really obscure names.

xx

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series initiated by 2 bloggers: Igor (Happy Interior Blog) and Judith (JOELIX.com). Every month we share ideas to create an urban jungle through styling ideas, DIYs and green tips & tricks. You can find additional inspiration on our Urban Jungle Bloggers Pinterest board and keep up-to-date via our Facebook page. Want to join? Use #urbanjunglebloggers on twitter and instagram. Or let let Judith and Igor know you're keen and I'm sure they'll share all the details. Let's bring some green into our homes and blogs!

H&M Home is coming

Announced in a tweet by H&M France on January 30, the very popular H&M Home line will soon be available in France. Firstly, there will be a corner dedicated to kids products launched in the Parisian de la rue Lafayette store from March 13, with two dedicated stores opening by the end of spring; one in the 13th (whhhyyyy???) and one at Mulhouse, in the Haut-Rhin region of France. E-tail will follow by the start of summer.

I have a love-hate relationship with H&M; I love that if I'm feeling really uninterested in anything in my wardrobe I can head to one of their stores for an inexpensive pick-me-up. I also think their basics are awesome. But I have to question how they can produce their items so cheaply... (This excellent video series by Planet Money gives you some insight. After you've watched that, and you should, it's brilliant, read this).

But, back to Home - I'm currently in the process of 'sprucing' mine. A little while ago I resigned to the fact that I will be living in Europe for a little while longer and decided my home should really be my sanctuary, not a temporary shelter.

So, after scouring the UK site I've chosen my picks from the current Home range.

1 Perfect next to the sofa for the knitting :: 2 For all the craft supplies I come home with before I file them away :: 3 To bring some sunshine inside :: 4 And, to go on the bed alongside my new Brakig cushion :: 5 A couple, lined up, full of bathroom things, and 6 :: Because, they're Galahs!! For a little bit of Home in the home.

All images; hm.com/gb/department/HOME

xx

**UPDATE; the full collection is now available online with the launch of the H&M France e-store - http://www2.hm.com/fr_fr/maison.html