Adding light to your life….

In an earlier post, I shared that Mr PB had made a plea…..no more cushions. I believe a similar plea may come soon……no more candles!

I seem to have acquired, over the past few years, an eclectic array of candles, tealight holders, lanterns and more.

in all the rooms in our home, there will be a candle of some sort – whether that be decorative, scented or both. I just seem to get a lot of satisfaction purchasing candles. If it is a dull day outside (and there are plenty in the UK), I get so much pleasure lighting all our candles and snuggling down with a good book.

I also love styling a space with a unique collection of lanterns and tealight holders. This has grown since we visited South Africa.

During our stay at Lairds Lodge, Plettenburg Bay, the top of a chest of drawers was filled with a variety of candles – hurricane lamps, lanterns, tealights, candelabras and more. I was keen to try and reflect this look in our home and I am getting there….slowly.

Whilst on safari at Gorah Elephant Camp, Addo, candles were a necessity in the evening due to the permanent lack of electricity. Arriving back from a night time drive around the park, hundreds of hurricane lamps and lanterns would be lit and would emphasise the colonial warmth that the country exudes.

So, here is the collection….(so far!)

The 2 tall lanterns along with the rectangular lantern sit on a wide windowsill in our garden room. These were purchased from Debenhams and Matalan a few years ago. I am not sure these exact lanterns exist currently but I know that similar types will be available in most home accessory stores.

I love up-cycling, converting a item from its standard use. When preparing for a baby shower, I purchased these Mason Ball jars from the U.S to use as vases around the room. I now use them as tealight holders. Sitting alongside our lanterns and with the garden room having a blue and cream theme, they really add a pop of colour.

You will recognise the rose gold tealights from a previous post and to compliment these on the fireplace surround, I added the peach candle holders from Dunelm Mill and these delightful copper tealight holders from Culinary Concepts – a superb online shop offering both unique kitchen and home accessories. These were in a recent sale at £4.95 each. Although no longer available, Culinary Concepts do still have similar items on their website.

Finally, I own a fair amount of scented candles. You will have seen Jo Malone featuring as a regular guest in my photos. The Wild Fig & Cassis is such an intense smell and fills a room within a matter of minutes. That also means that it lasts for ages and given its price compared to other candles, that is a good thing!

I tend to purchase other scented candles from…..TK Maxx (surprise, surprise!). My local store has a great range and my recent favourite is the Thompson Ferrier candle in the scent Crushed Lavender – perfect for this time of year.