Our Tips For The Ultimate Spring Clean And Tidy Up

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Robyn

Spring is just around the corner and after a long winter stuck inside the house, you certainly wouldn’t be alone if your home is in need of a bit of TLC. The long-awaited spring clean is the perfect opportunity to tidy, declutter and blitz the house from top to bottom, getting everything back to ‘shiny and new’ – or as close as it can get! With the right tips and tricks, you can get your spring cleaning done quickly and efficiently, leaving you with even more time to enjoy the new, tidy space. Here are our tips for doing exactly that.

Invest In Storage Early

There’s nothing worse than getting stuck-in with cleaning and organising, only to find out that you just don’t have enough storage space for what you want to keep. Making sure you have storage on hand for anything you want to put away such as decorations or winter clothes, can help speed up the cleaning process in the long-run. Ottomans make for the perfect dual-purpose storage solution, offering a stylish piece of furniture for any room that can act as a seat or surface, as well as a convenient place to store whatever may need a place.

Product — *Pictured: Levante Cream and Bordeaux Oak Blanket Box*

Make A Room-By-Room Checklist

Rather than overwhelming yourself with one long list of things that need to be done, break down the tasks by room. In the bedroom, for example, a list could look something like this:

Flip the mattress
Clean under the bed
Clean out the closet
Dust all surfaces
Vacuum The Floor

A checklist for the bathroom, however, will look different and could include anything from washing bath mats, to cleaning down the tiles, floors and walls. By breaking down your checklist into smaller chunks, you can tackle each room one at a time and prevent yourself from getting overwhelmed.

Enlist Help From Your Family

We’d all like to think that everyone chips in when it comes to the cleaning, but the reality can be very different. It can sometimes feel like a solo battle but when it comes to the big spring clean, make sure to enlist some help! If you have kids, get them involved by setting them fun, bite-sized tasks that can help you out along the way. Whether it’s just putting their toys away or putting on a fashion show of their clothes to work out what will or wont stay, injecting a bit of fun into cleaning and tidying can encourage them to get involved and ultimately lessen your own workload.

Try Using Natural Or Homemade Cleaning Products

Cleaning products, particularly those with high volumes of bleach or other toxic chemicals can be harsh to be around for lengthy periods of time. For that reason, more and more people are taking to natural alternatives, as well as their own concoctions to not only reduce the fumes in the home but cut down on the costs too. For a simple, but still lightly scented all-purpose cleaner, you can mix the following ingredients together, leave to infuse for a few days or up to a week, and then use in a spray bottle:

One part White Vinegar
One part Water
Lemon Rind
Rosemary

For a kitchen-specific cleaner, ideal for cleaning off kitchen counters, appliances and even the inside of the fridge, the food-safe mix of 4 tablespoons of baking soda and 1 quart of warm water offers a simple but effective cleaning solution. You can find all kinds of recipes for self-made cleaners online, including this list of 8 homemade cleaners on GoodHousekeeping.

De-Clutter As You Go

Cleaning and tidying up the home relies on more than just putting things away – it can also be the perfect opportunity to start throwing out the clutter that doesn’t have a place or use. Whether it’s clothes you haven’t touched in a couple of years or that simply doesn’t fit anymore, or those books that have been gathering dust for too long and will likely never be read, de-cluttering will put you in a better position for the year to come. Make sure you organise your clothes, check through the junk drawer, organise that paperwork that’s been gathering dust – anything that will put you in a better position in the coming months.

Get Motivated With Music

Struggling to get motivated? Crank up the music! Whether you make your own playlist or just put your local radio station on, a bit of music can do wonders not only for motivation, but for your mental health. Music can not only make things feel like they’re going faster, but around 94% of people that listen to music while cleaning claim that they felt positive while doing so. 66% even claimed that it made cleaning more enjoyable. Stick on your favourite albums and see just how much of a difference a bit of music can make to your spring cleaning routine.

For more information about our ottomans and blanket boxes and how they can work as the perfect storage solution in your home, feel free to contact a member of our team, today.

Treat Yourself This New Year: Why An Ottoman Is The Perfect Addition To Your Home

Posted on January 27, 2021 by Robyn

While Christmas and New Year’s Day may be well and truly behind us, 2021 is looking to be another year where self-love and care are at the forefront of everyone’s minds. From taking extra care to look after yourself and your loved ones to revamping the home to create a more comfortable and nurturing environment, making a few moves to keep your chin up through the pandemic can make a world of difference. Treat yourself this new year to set yourself on the right foot – here’s why we think an ottoman should be your treat of choice.

Extra Storage

Somehow, without fail, every year after the winter holiday season, we’re always left struggling for space. You can try and pack the decorations back into the box they came in and yet somehow, something doesn’t fit quite right. The same can be said for everything from tablecloths, to leftover wrapping paper, unwritten Christmas cards and other bits and pieces you’ve picked up over the past weeks. Ottomans provide a bit of extra storage space for those things that need to be tucked away until the next festive period.

Extra Seating In A Pinch

While we might not be able to entertain guests just yet, an ottoman can offer extra seating in a pinch when things open back up again. An upholstered ottoman in the living room offers another soft and comfortable surface for guests or even just for taking a perch for a moment during the day. An ottoman at the end of the bed in your bedroom offers you somewhere to sit while getting ready in the mornings, while doubling up as storage for blankets, cushions and other linen. Taller ottomans could even be used as an extra stool at the dinner table for your next family meal – the possibilities are endless.

Easy To Use In Any Room

The sheer range and variety of ottomans available on the market today, a huge number of which we stock here at Just Ottomans, means that there is truly something for every space and room in the home. In the living room, a large wooden Ottoman could double as a coffee table, or an upholstered ottoman could double as a footstool or extra seating. In a bedroom, any ottoman will look great by the bed, offering storage and somewhere to perch while putting on your shoes. On a similar note, an ottoman in the hallway as shoe storage doubles as a seating option when you’re just about to leave the house.

In kids bedrooms, ottomans act as toyboxes and tables at the same time, offering a strong surface for colouring or crafts, which opens up to store away any toys or crafting materials for another day. In a home office, an ottoman could be used for paperwork storage while acting as a footrest or somewhere different to sit while making calls. There really are a huge number of places and there isn’t a single room in the home where an ottoman couldn’t fit in and be of some use.

For more information about our ottomans and how they could fit into your home, feel free to contact a member of our team, today.

Create A Jungle Hangout Bedroom For Your Kids With These Tips

Posted on November 20, 2020 by Robyn

Themed rooms for kids can be a great way to inject some fun into a bedroom, playroom or other space. Jungle themes are an ideal, neutral but exciting way to bring nature and wildlife into the space while encouraging imagination and creativity in your kids. Watch them embark on jungle adventures as explorers and sleep under jungle canopies with a simple jungle hangout bedroom.

Keep The Furniture On Theme

From the bed and drawers, through to tables and storage, keeping the furniture on theme will help blend everything together to truly cement the theme. Wooden furniture will fit in best with a woodland or jungle theme on it’s own, but you can also get the same uniform effect by choosing by colour. White offers a simple base that’s easy to repurpose as your child grows, or you could opt for leafy greens, browns and beige tones to really invoke that jungle atmosphere.

Our Jungle Upholstered Toy Box is the perfect storage solution for a jungle themed bedroom, offering a multi-purpose piece that will blend in perfectly. Available in two different sizes and two different patterns, you can match it perfectly to your child’s room as both an ottoman for storage, and a comfortable stool.

Try Out Fun Wallpaper

Nowadays, fun but stylish prints are common when it comes to wallpaper, which just so happens to offer a quick and easy way to create a jungle theme in your child’s bedroom. Whether you cover ever wall with animal-themed paper, or stick to one wall for a dense jungle backdrop, trying out fun wallpaper designs can be a great way to not only create that theme, but to spend some time with your children picking out the design and, if you’re up to the challenge, decorating.

Use Real And Fake House Plants

No jungle theme is complete without plants. Whether you choose real house plants or fake ones will depend on your own personal preference and lifestyle, but both can offer the same overall jungle feeling. Real plants can be a great way to encourage your child to get into routines with watering and caring for them, as well as providing all the benefits of increase O2 production in the room. These benefits include better sleep, reduced stress and improved mood.

To fit the theme, tall, dark-green leafy plants fit in best, however feel free to play with colour and style to suit the theme and your child’s own preferences. Similarly, the use of fake vine can really bring the jungle theme to life. Try wrapping it around furniture or using it to hang things from the walls for an authentic finish.

Decorate With Stuffed Toys And Fake Furs

No jungle is complete without animals, and what better way to create that jungle look than with plenty of them dotted about? Stuffed animals, toys and even figured can be used to create your child’s very own animal kingdom, whether that’s bundled up on a wall in a net ready for play at any time, or dotted around the room as you see fit.

Similarly, fake furs and animal print can create a cosy Jungle bedroom, whether that’s in the form of a rug, a blanket or even pillows and cushions for the ultimate comfortable jungle experience.

Winter Is Coming: Here’s How To Store Your Summer Clothes

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Robyn

As much as most of us want to cling onto those warmer days, winter really is just around the corner and for most of us, that means breaking out those warm jumpers, jeans and other seasonal garments, and saying goodbye to our summer wardrobe. For those of us in need of a bit of extra space for all those bulky winter jumpers, this means storing away summer clothes until the weather warms up again, but what is the best way to do it? Here, we’ve put together some tips to help you store your clothes and prevent damp, deterioration and more.

Wash Everything First

Washing dirty laundry is a given, but before storing any clothes away, including those in your drawers or wardrobe, it’s best to take the time to run it all through the washing machine and dry it thoroughly before storing. Dirt and dust can get on your clothes even when tucked away in the drawers, so a quick wash will ensure they’re clean and fresh, ready to be stored away. This can prevent staining or that musty smell that can come from stored clothes, meaning come spring next year, all you have to do is pull them out of storage.

Sort And Clear Out

Now is the perfect opportunity to go through your clothes and donate or throw out the ones you don’t wear anymore. If you see anything in your drawers or wardrobe that isn’t suitable for winter and you haven’t worn it all summer, it may be time to consider donating it or passing it on to someone who’ll get more use from it. We’re all guilty of keeping hold of garments because we might wear it one day, but from time to time, it’s best to be brutal and sort through our clothes ruthlessly, making room for new purchases.

Does It Need To Be Hung Up?

Not all summer clothes are fold-friendly. Certain materials don’t take kindly to being folded or rolled up, so may need to be popped into a garment bag and hung up in your wardrobe. This is particularly important for more delicate items, or where the material is likely to crease up while stored. As a general rule, formal wear such as expensive dresses, suits and similar will need to be hung up in a breathable clothes bag, where mould and mildew can’t build up.

Invest In Good Storage

So you have your clothes sorted – now what? Well, you’ll need a good place to store the clothes and unfortunately, a carrier bag at the bottom of your wardrobe won’t do it. Instead, you should invest in good storage solutions and call us biased, but an ottoman makes the perfect spot. Ottomans offer easy access to clothes if you’ve stored something accidentally, with the additional use of offering an extra surface in your room as a seat or a table, and will often sit nearly at the end of your bed or as a bedside table. Ottoman beds offer the same benefit, but without the need to find additional room for an ottoman – the storage is under your bed, easily accessible with assisted lift functions.

*Pictured: Levante Cream and Bordeaux Oak Blanket Box*

Don’t Overfill

Overfilling clothes storage can undo all your hard work of washing and nearly packing away your summer clothes. Overfilling can lead to the lid not shutting, or simply offer more opportunity for damp to build up in the small, dark spaces between the garments. By avoiding overfilling, you can ensure that everything is stored safely and securely.

Be Smart With Packing Styles

If you find yourself running out of space to store things, you can try rolling your clothes up rather than folding them. Rolling clothes is a good way to avoid wrinkles and fit more into limited space without overfilling or overcrowding. For garments particularly prone to holding onto damp, such as swimsuits and towel cloth, you could store these in vacuum bags to ensure that they’ll not only stay fresh, but avoid contaminating the other clothes in storage if they were to develop mould.

Storing summer clothes doesn’t have to be a huge ordeal – with the right ottoman and storage techniques, your summer clothes will be packed away, ready and waiting for the next big heatwave. Happy packing!

Why A Wooden Ottoman Should Be Your Next Home Staple

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Robyn

It’s no secret that an ottoman can be a handy piece of furniture to have around the home. Whether it’s a key storage solution in your bedroom, or an extra seating option in the living room or even just a surface to rest your feet on after a long day, investing in a good ottoman gives you access to a flexible storage solution perfect for any room. Our wooden ottomans come in a wide range of finishes, sizes, styles and colours to suit your home – here’s why you should invest in one as your next home staple.

Wood Is Better For The Environment

Wooden furniture is some of the most environmentally friendly around, offering you a long-lasting piece that you can cherish without harming the environment. Wood is a renewable resource that, when planned correctly, can be harvested and replanted in a way that ensures sustainability. Some work needs to be done to ensure that selective and sensible harvesting practices are followed, but with responsibly-sourced wood, you can buy brand new pieces with extra peace of mind. Wood harvesting and manufacturing is also becoming a zero-waste industry, with long-lasting furniture and decorations that can be sold on again and again, and the remaining wood from a tree can be used for bark, fuel and more.

Ottomans Are Multi-Purpose

Any ottoman, whether it’s wooden, upholstered, plastic or something else entirely, is a great multi-purpose piece that offers storage, seating solutions, somewhere to rest your feet and can even act as a coffee table or side table. Wooden ottomans in particular are great for personalising with runners or blankets to create a softer look, or to be left free-standing as toy boxes, craft storage or even linen storage for bed sheets and blankets.

They Fit Any Room

So you bought an ottoman for your bedroom, but no longer need it in that particular space – move it! Ottomans can fit in with any room, whether that’s a living room, kids bedroom, home office, family room, media room and in some cases, even a bathroom. With the right treatments and care, an ottoman could make great towel or bathmat storage in a bathroom, offering easy access right when you need them. There’ll be no more forgetting a towel after a shower!

Wood Can Easily Be Painted Or Treated

Wooden ottomans already come in a vast range of colours, finishes and styles but the good thing about wooden furniture is that, with a little preparation, it’s easy to paint or re-treat to match a chance in interior design. Whether you’re looking to modernise your home and want to paint it white or a stylish shade of grey, or you want a pop of colour in a newly decorated bedroom and are breaking out brighter tones, wooden ottomans can be painted and repainted to keep them looking fresh and brand new for longer.

It’s Durable And Sturdy

If there’s one thing we all want from our furniture, wooden or otherwise, it’s that we want it to stand the test of time. Furniture can sometimes be costly and so it’s important that the furniture you do buy for your home is durable, sturdy and will last. Our range of wooden ottomans are tried and true styles that could even last a lifetime with the right care and maintenance. Rest assured they are sturdy, strong and durable, perfect for storing everything from books and magazines, to toys and costumes for your kids.

Take a look at our wooden ottomans to find the perfect new staple piece for your home. For more information or advice on your purchase, feel free to get in touch with our team, today.

Keep Your Kids Room’s Tidy With These Fun Toy Boxes

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Robyn

If there is one thing you can more or less guarantee when it comes to having kids, it’s that your home will never stay completely tidy again. With toys in seemingly every room, constantly clearing up and finding a place to put all of the odd bits and pieces can seem like a full time job. With a sturdy toy box, you can at least solve the problem of knowing where to put the toys and if you’re lucky, it might even encourage the little ones to help you tidy up. Here are some fun toy boxes you could try.

Plain But Colourful

If you’d rather keep things plain and simple but perfect for a child’s bedroom, the Ethan and Katelyn Faux Leather and Suede Ottomans offer plenty of space and a simple block-colour design. Available in an array of colours and either a faux leather or suede finish, it can be matched to the existing theme in the room or to your child’s favourite colour. Each one measures at 81 x 42 x 48, giving you plenty of room for toys or even clothes, blankets, dressing up costumes and more.

Fun Patterns

Fun colours and patterns can brighten up any room but for kids in particular, it’s a great way to inject a bit of fun into their bedroom or play area. The Striped upholstered toy box is a simple yet fun gem that’s perfect for storing toys and costumes and with a soft top, can even be used as an extra seat to perch on while getting ready in the morning. Available in two different colour schemes – paintbox and graphite – it’s ideal for both younger and older children in need of some storage space.

Cute Characters

Younger children in particular love a cute character or two, so why not get a toy box to match? The Panda Upholstered Toy Box is a soft-top box available in punk, aqua and Bamboo, making it an ideal choice to match any bedroom or child’s preference. It comes complete with cute panda cartoon designs for a fun addition to the room.

If Panda’s aren’t quite enough, the Jungle Upholstered Toy Box is also a great way to introduce cute characters and animals into a child’s bedroom. Available in ‘Paintbox’ and ‘Orange’ with each featuring different animals, you can cater to whatever your child’s favourite animal might be.

Both toy boxes come in two different sizes – small and large, with the measurements for small sitting at 58.5 x 39 x 44cm, and large sitting at 86.5 x 35.5 x 39cm depending on how much space you may need for toys, games, costumes, clothes and more.

While a toybox isn’t a foolproof way of keeping the home tidy, it does offer a fun storage solution for packing away toys at the end of the day. For more information about our children’s toy boxes or to place an order, get in touch or browse our range, today.

Make The Most Of Your Ottoman With These 8 Uses

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Robyn

If you’ve been looking to buy an ottoman, chances are you already know just how convenient they can be. Perfect as a stylish storage solution, ottomans and blanket boxes come in a huge variety of different shapes and sizes, meaning they can fit into any room in any odd spot without too much trouble. All that’s really left to do is decide what you want to store inside. If you don’t already have a designated We’ve got eight potential uses to help you get started.

An Organiser

Need a bit of extra storage in your living room or office for those important documents? Whether you work from home or just have a lot of paperwork you need to store, an ottoman could easily be fitted as an organiser or filing cabinet. Whether you add files, boxes or baskets to add segments to the space or just pop your paperwork directly into the space, it can be a great way to keep things all in one place and not laying about cluttering your home.

A Toy Box

What better way to tidy away all the clutter and toys your kids leave laying around than with a convenient ottoman? Doubling up as a seat for them to perch on, an ottoman toy chest makes it easy to tidy up at the end of the day with one place to put all of the toys and teddys to keep things clear as much as possible. What’s more, they can be set up in a nursery or bedroom, or in a living room for convenient toy access throughout the day.

Craft Boxes

Whether you’re a crafty person yourself or your kids have a love for all things arts and crafts, ottomans make for a great place to tuck away your supplies when they’re not being used. Whether it’s boxes of beads or sewing stuff, or balls of yarn, papers, glues and frankly anything else you can think of, an ottoman can help give you a place to tidy away all of the clutter if you don’t have the space for a craft room in your home.

Dress Up Boxes

Dressing up is undoubtedly one of the most fun things a kid can do, embarking on make-believe adventures dressed up as their favourite characters or animals to spend the day as someone else. At the end of that day or when they’re done and want to move on to the next activity, you can pop the costumes back into the ottoman and they’re tidied away ready for the next make-believe adventure.

Shoes

Whether you’ve got loads of shoes, or just have nowhere to put the few pairs you have, an ottoman offers a useful storage solution to keep them from cluttering up the hallway. Set up the ottoman by your front door for easy access to shoes as you leave, and somewhere to pop them on your way back in. There’ll be no more manic searches for your shoes when you’re already late and if you have kids, you can even double it up as somewhere for them to sit while they put their shoes on and get ready to leave.

Double Up As A Coffee Table

Multi-use furniture is becoming more and more common, from storage beds to footstools that double as temporary spare seating – they all offer more than one use and save on space at the same time. Larger ottomans can make perfect coffee tables that not only offer you a solid surface for drinks or remote controls, but will provide ample storage for anything from magazines and books, to cushions and throws. Our Selma Two-Tone Solid Wood Blanket Box, for example, provides plenty of storage space and a unique design for any living room. Pop a runner over the top for a softer finish and to protect the wood top.

Store Bedding

One of the best places to keep an ottoman is at the end of your bed, and where better to store your bedding? Whether it’s spare sheets, a spare quilt or even an extra blanket or two for the particularly chilly nights, ottomans are ideal. They also provide a more solid surface to perch on when getting dressed or even an alternate bedside table, with room to place books, laptops and more.

Store Memories

Finally, if you’ve stored all that needs to be stored, why not use the ottoman to store your more precious items that won’t fit on the shelf? You can use your ottoman as secure and safe storage for photo albums, letters, significant clothing items or anything else you hold dear that needs a place to sit. They’ll be safe and organised in a blanket box, and easily accessible any time you feel like a trip down memory lane.

For more information about our blanket boxes or what you can use them for, feel free to get in touch with our team or have a browse of our full range and see what suits you and your home best.

Caring For Your Wooden Blanket Box

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Robyn

Wood is one of the most versatile and unique materials available today but like any, can always benefit from a little TLC throughout its lifetime. Properly maintaining any wooden furniture can help it to withstand the test of time and keep it looking brand new for longer but if you’ve never cared for wooden furniture before, knowing where to start can be daunting. We’ve compiled a few tips to get you started.

Protect It From Heat

If you’re planning to use your brand new wooden ottoman as a coffee table, it’s important to make sure you use coasters for hot drinks and other protection such as placemats or potholders for other hot items. Tablecloths can also be used to protect from spills and simply removed if you want to access whatever you choose to store inside the ottoman.

Pictured: Selma Two Toned Solid Wood Blanket Box

Consider Potential Environmental Damage

Sunlight is one of the last things we think of when it comes to environmental damage, particularly on furniture we have indoors. When wood is subject to light and heat for prolonged periods of time, the colour can fade and the material can be damaged and even become dry and brittle, ultimately leading to breakages. Keep your ottoman away from the window where possible, or cover it up on particularly hot or sunny days if you can.

Keep It Clean And Dust-Free

Regularly dusting and cleaning off your ottoman is a must if you want to keep it scratch and smudge free. While it doesn’t seem like a particularly corrosive substance, dust can lead to scratches on the surface of your wood and build up a film layer that can discolour and damage it too. For this reason, it’s important to keep on top of dusting your wooden ottoman with a soft cloth, ideally microfibre or cotton. On the occasions where dusting isn’t quite enough, cleaning the wood can keep it in top shape. Use wood-specific cleaners or even a mild dish detergent, but avoid all-purpose cleaners, as this can damage the finish on the wood.

Treat Any Wear And Tear

No matter how much care we take with wooden furniture, scratches and general wear do happen but it’s how you deal with these that matters. Liquid polishes can hide any scratches or abrasions and have things looking good as new providing that the damage isn’t too bad. If the scratches or damage are too deep for the polish to handle, you could give the furniture a new lease of life with a coat or paint.

Oil Or Wax As Needed

Wooden furniture can get dry over time, which is where oiling comes in. All of our ottomans are treated, but you can re-oil or re-wax in the future to improve the longevity. For oiling, you’ll need to first clean the surfaces with an appropriate oil soap or cleaner, then liberally apply whichever furniture oil suits your ottoman best. For waxing, this will need to be done at intervals over the years to build up the protective coating where it may otherwise have worn down.

Keep On Top Of Stains

The longer a stain sits, particularly on wood, the harder it is to remove and it’s for this reason that it’s important to clean up any stains or spills as quickly as possible after they happen. If the spill or damage has already been done, you can look into different ways to remove particular marks, such as vinegar for dark water damage spots, and a toothpaste-baking soda blend for white rings created from a wet glass.

Wooden furniture offers a unique and undeniably stunning addition to any home and ottomans are one of the most convenient and useful furniture pieces available. Take a look at our full range of wooden blanket boxes to find the perfect one for you.

5 Ways To Style Your New Ottoman

Posted on May 20, 2020 by Robyn

Ottomans come in a huge range of shapes and sizes, and for good reason. These versatile pieces of furniture are an ideal storage solution for a bedroom, living room, dining room or frankly any room in your home you see fit and with plenty of ways to style and use them in your home, they offer endless possibilities. From using a drape or table runner to create a stylish surface, to using your ottoman as a coffee table, here are just 5 ways you can style your new ottoman.

Pick The Right Size

First thing’s first, before you even order an ottoman you need to make sure you’re getting the right size for the space you have. There are two ways of doing this – picking an ottoman that compliments that other furniture in the room, and picking one that makes it stand out as a centrepiece. Depending on your intended use, you’ll want to keep it at roughly the same height as the sofa, bed or couch, though in a bedroom in particular, a slightly shorter ottoman at the foot of the bed can still blend in well.

Use A Throw Or A Runner

If you want to make your ottoman a centrepiece or a stand-out piece of furniture in your living room or bedroom, using a table runner or a small blanket or throw can soften an otherwise hard-looking wooden ottoman, or add a unique contrast to an upholstered one. Ottomans offer a visual interest to a room as standard, but with the right accessory decoration, they can become a well-integrated storage option that enhances the decor too.

Use It As A Coffee Table

Ottomans are regularly used as coffee tables, and for good reason – having an ottoman in the centre of your living room offers a useful surface for drinks, books, remote controls or whatever you want to place on a table, but with the added benefit of storage space for everything from cushions and throws, to books, magazines and more.

Extra Seating

The right ottoman can make for the perfect additional seating in a living room for guests. Many upholstered ottomans and pouffes are cushioned enough to provide a comfortable place to sit and relax and often at the same comfort level as a couch itself, meaning you always have an extra chair available when there’s an extra person around. When things are normal and the extra seat isn’t needed, it still acts as a useful storage solution for anything you need to tuck away during your average day.

Kid’s Play Table

Whether you order a children’s blanket box or a wooden ottoman, they offer a unique play space for kids that can keep bedrooms, living rooms and any other rooms tidy. With child-friendly fabrics and wood varnishes, they can be easy to wipe off from drawing, painting or general grime and offer somewhere for toys or craft supplies to be kept when they aren’t in use without disrupting the surrounding space.

Hopefully these style ideas have helped you start your journey to finding the perfect ottoman. For more information about the ottomans available here on our website, or to find the perfect fit for your home, get in touch with a member of our team or take a look through our products, today.

Tidy Home, Tidy Mind: Why Tidiness Is Important While Working From Home

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Robyn

If you’re in the unusual situation of having to work from home under the current situation, you’d hardly be alone if you’re struggling to get into the swing of things. For those of us who aren’t used to setting up at our dining table for a full day of work, you’ve probably already fallen into the trap of taking a ‘break’ from work to tidy something, put the washing on or run the hoover round. The pressure of keeping things organised while we’re supposed to be working can build stress, anxiety and reduce productivity which is why tidiness is a must when working from home.

Our Logan Pine Ottoman Blanket Box makes for stylish storage of clutter to keep things neat and tidy around the home.

It’s Good For Your Health

Keeping things clean and tidy can do wonders for your health, not just during the work day but during everyday living too. A tidy bedroom, for example, can help you sleep better and a home office that’s kept clean will limit the potential spread of germs. Keep clutter to a minimum to limit places for dust or grime to build up by tidying away documents or supplies that you don’t need. Give your keyboard and mouse a regular clean too just to make sure that things are kept as clean as possible.

You Can Focus Better

A tidy space is a must-have if you want to be able to focus throughout the work day. With too much clutter or mess around you, it can be difficult to focus on one thing at a time. Your mind is always looking for the most important thing to focus on and it can be too easy to drift towards frankly anything that isn’t your work. Whether it’s organising paperwork, cleaning a mug, making a coffee or taking the time to tidy up, they can all distract you from the task you need to get done first. Take the time in the evening after work or at the weekends to have a complete top-to-bottom tidy of your work space and try to keep things down in the evenings or before work throughout the week to promote better focus.

Reduce Stress

Stress and fatigue are two of the biggest problems for people working from home, particularly for those who have never done it before. Working in a messy or unclean environment gives you something else to worry about on top of your existing workload and the accompanying stress of working in an unusual environment in the current situation. Clutter can also cause fatigue simply because your mind is never really at rest. Even if you’re taking a ‘break’ from work for the day, your eyes will be drawn to clutter and will be constantly working, leading to fatigue over long periods.

Increase Efficiency

There’s nothing worse than not being able to find the one thing you need to complete a task. Whether it’s a particular document or a form to fill out, or even just a pen, a messy home office can make efficient working shockingly difficult. The more organised your workspace is, the less time you’ll spend trying to find things when you need them most. With easy access to what you need and minimal distraction, efficiency and productivity have the potential to be at an all-time high.

Whether your home is in need of a good clean out or you just need to tidy things up to keep them workable, ottomans provide a useful storage solution to keep clutter down. Take a look at our range of ottomans or get in touch for advice on where to start.