I’ve been in full-blown autumn mode the past few weeks, and I’ve had my mind set on three things: making a fall floral arrangement, getting autumn household decorations, and drinking fall-flavoured coffee. Now, you might be thinking, but where can you go to get all those things at once? The answer is Home Sense!
(P.S. This isn’t sponsored in any way, I just like shopping there)
I never fully appreciated the American/Canadian knack for autumn home decor until I moved to the UK. Since finishing my PhD and moving into my own home, I’ve found myself wanting to decorate for Halloween and Thanksgiving here in the UK, but not a single autumnal wreath or ornamental pumpkin could be found recently. It seems that American YouTubers especially enjoy doing autumn decor hauls at the end of August, so perhaps I’m being inspired to decorate a bit too early, and with unreasonable expectations given that they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here, and Halloween has only recently grown in popularity.
I’ve had a Home Sense close to my parents’ house in Canada for years but never really took advantage of it. Home Sense came to the UK in 2008/09 but, in any case, I don’t have a location close to me. This is unfortunate because I know that it’s a great place to shop for candles, pillows, and general household bits at reasonable prices; after all, I don’t have a huge budget for decorating. So, last weekend I persuaded Lucy to go on a road trip to Swindon and check out the Home Sense there. We were not disappointed! 🙂
For around £50, I picked up three candles, three dish towels, and three bags of flavoured coffee. Lucy also bought some lemon oil (for cleaning wood) and a bathroom bin. I promised her I would mention that she is happy with her purchases also.
Without further ado, here’s what I got!
Coffee:
One of the main reasons I love Home Sense is that you can get flavoured ground coffee. This is actually really hard to find in the UK! I like that Home Sense has a lot of “American” and seasonal flavours, and I also like that you can have a flavoured coffee, without the added sugar. We picked: Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, Vanilla Cinnamon Toffee Crunch, and Pumpkin Pie. These bags were £4.49 each, but one was on offer for £4.
I’ve been testing them out all week and I enjoy them all, although the Vanilla one is the best. The Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie flavour has a hint of peanut, but doesn’t taste very chocolatey. The Pumpkin Pie flavour is nice, but could be more strongly flavoured with cinnamon/nutmeg. The Vanilla one smells like a mix of warm doughnut or sticky toffee pudding, coffee, and custard. It’s delicious!
If you like flavoured coffee (and unusual flavours at that), I highly recommend checking out Home Sense if there’s one near you! P.S. They also sell discounted teas and hot chocolate.
Candles:
Home Sense is a great place to shop for candles because they have a huge selection from different brands, often at discounted prices. The candle section in the Swindon location was one large display unit with hundreds of candles, somewhat organised by scent theme. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Christmas scents they had, but I fell in love with the pumpkin candle I picked up!
White Pumpkin and Nutmeg
This candle was originally £30 and I got it for under 10. Rather than being a sickly sweet vanilla pumpkin scent, this one has a warm depth to it. I get headaches easily from overpowering musky and floral scents, and Lucy doesn’t like the food scents. This candle was a great find for being a sophisticated pumpkin smell with the nutmeg, rather than vanilla note.
Rosemary Quince
This candle was around the £7 mark and makes the perfect bathroom/kitchen scent. Oddly enough, it smells nothing like rosemary and more like a fresh mango or tropical scent. We really enjoy lighting it in the bedroom before bed to give the room a fresh, aromatheraputic feeling.
Coastal Woods
This candle is an odd choice for me because of the woody scent. Again, normally those deeper men’s cologne-type scents smell amazing, but give me a migraine. This candle is such a complex fresh yet woody scent that it actually doesn’t bother me, and it leaves the flat smelling like an expensive man/boutique hotel room (around £5).
Dish Towels:
Last, but certainly not least, I bought a set of dish towels. I’m obsessed with all things dachshund and Lucy has given in to this by allowing me to have a collection of doxie household items until I can get the real deal. These were also around £7 for three and they’re lovely and soft, and I think will be very absorbent.
The Halloween decorations at Home Sense weren’t really my style, but stay tuned for next week’s post to see the autumn floral arrangement and mantle decorations I’ve made.
I’m always interested to know where everyone else shops for household items, so please do comment where your go-to place is to find candles and seasonal decorations!
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