Capri Teak Sofa
Morning ladies with the next Bank Holiday weekend just days away I'm sure we're all keeping our fingers crossed for some glorious sunshine. So for today's post in collaboration with Marks & Spencer I thought we'd talk al fresco dining.
I don't think there's anything better than waking up on a non-working day to glorious sunshine & the thought of spending the day in the garden topping up our Vitamin D & delegating the dinner to our other halves by putting them in charge of the BBQ. Perhaps a spot of gardening, followed by loosing yourself in a good book with a glass of vino followed by a cheeky siesta & maybe if you're lucky waking to the smell of dinner cooking. That's certainly my ideal of bliss & second best to lying on a sunlounger by the pool on holiday. The smell of a neighbour's dinner sizzling on the BBQ is sure to get your tummy rumbling & hoping for an invite ;-) not to mention start the summer holidays conversation & looking forward to time spent with loved ones & wall to wall sunshine.
Herb Babylon Planter
In recent years outdoor living has definitely got more of a thing, it's just a shame our weather can't keep up with the trends! However, one thing us Brits are good at is being ever hopeful at the start of the season & hoping for a sizzler of a summer. I know after the winter we've just had I've certainly got my fingers & toes crossed.
So with the idea of lazy summer days in mind I've put together my top picks from Marks for dining outdoors in style. Whether you're in need of some new garden furniture to some new dining sets there's lots of great choice.
In fact if like us, you're needing to invest in some gardenware then you're spoilt for choice. From stylish rattan dining sets with everything from comfy sofas & armchairs perfect for arranging round a fire pit to dining table & chairs. To cottage garden wrought iron sets that would bring any corner of your garden to life to modern wooden sets there's something to suit all tastes.
Rosedale Bench
Or if you just fancy a few new pieces for dressing the table - whether that be a pretty table runner, to brightly coloured tableware, to the perfect glasses for serving that chilled glass of vino or cheeky cocktail then Marks have got lots of inspiration all perfect for entertaining. In fact the only thing you won't find is a guarantee for the weather!
I've previously mentioned in past posts we're in the middle of a bit of a garden re-design having lost a large proportion of our plants & hedges during the bad winter & heavy snow showers. Whilst Hubby & I are the first to admit that we're not that highly skilled or up on our horticultural knowledge we luckily do have a shared vision of how we want the garden to look & have found that a mix of asking lots of advice at our local garden centre to just planting & keeping our fingers crossed has generally got us some ok results. Despite lots of man-hours over the past few weekends the main part of our garden is still a huge work in progress that is going to involve lots of application of Miracle Grow in the hope we can magically grow some plants at the same rate as Jack from Jack & The Beanstalk, but at least thanks to some new garden furniture & dining pieces our patio area is summer ready :-)
Table & Chairs - Marks & Spencer *
Table & Chairs - Marks & Spencer *
Pasta Bowl - Marks & Spencer *
Glass Jug - Marks & Spencer *
Hi Ball Glasses - Marks & Spencer *
Wooden Platter - Jamie Oliver, similar here
Champagne Flutes - Marks & Spencer *
Side Plates - Marks & Spencer *
Small Bowls - Homesense, similar here
Serving Platter - Marks & Spencer *
Cake Stand - John Lewis, similar here
Serving Bowl - Marks & Spencer *
Salad Servers - Marks & Spencer, similar here
Cutlery - Zara Home, similar here
Table Runner - Zara Home, similar here
Table & Chairs - Marks & Spencer *
Table & Chairs - Marks & Spencer *
Pasta Bowl - Marks & Spencer *
Glass Jug - Marks & Spencer *
Hi Ball Glasses - Marks & Spencer *
Wooden Platter - Jamie Oliver, similar here
Champagne Flutes - Marks & Spencer *
Side Plates - Marks & Spencer *
Small Bowls - Homesense, similar here
Serving Platter - Marks & Spencer *
Cake Stand - John Lewis, similar here
Serving Bowl - Marks & Spencer *
Salad Servers - Marks & Spencer, similar here
Cutlery - Zara Home, similar here
Table Runner - Zara Home, similar here
Table & Chairs - Marks & Spencer *
Table & Chairs - Marks & Spencer *
Pasta Bowl - Marks & Spencer *
Glass Jug - Marks & Spencer *
Hi Ball Glasses - Marks & Spencer *
Wooden Platter - Jamie Oliver, similar here
Champagne Flutes - Marks & Spencer *
Side Plates - Marks & Spencer *
Small Bowls - Homesense, similar here
Serving Platter - Marks & Spencer *
Cake Stand - John Lewis, similar here
Serving Bowl - Marks & Spencer *
Salad Servers - Marks & Spencer, similar here
Cutlery - Zara Home, similar here
Table Runner - Zara Home, similar here
Back to today & it's all about simple laid back style. So I've teamed a maxi skirt with an oversized off the shoulder knit & ballet flats.
Jumper - Iris & Ink
Skirt - Hush
Ballet Flats - J Crew
Shop My Style
Jumper - Micha
Ballet Flats - Next
So ladies are your garden's heatwave ready? I've just put together a small edit of the delights Marks & Spencer have to offer but you can see their full range of garden furniture here, as well as their tableware here. One things for certain heatwave or not I'm certainly planning on stocking up on some treats from their food hall this Bank Holiday weekend.
Enjoy your day ladies & let's all keep our fingers crossed that this coming weekend may involve some outdoor living & firing up of the BBQs......well it's good to be hopeful right?!
Back as always in the morning.
Back as always in the morning.
Please note some of the links contained on my site will be affiliated & should a purchase be made via such a link it may result in a small commission being paid.
* Items gifted or bought with a gifted gift voucher.
This post was written in collaboration with Marks & Spencer.
* Items gifted or bought with a gifted gift voucher.
This post was written in collaboration with Marks & Spencer.
Your back yard is very pretty -- quite lush, especially compared to our back yard at this point. The final snow here JUST melted, and our spring clean up crew worked their magic yesterday. There is no green yet to speak of -- no leaves on the trees yet and the grass is still brown, coming out from hibernating under 2 feet of snow! We have been known to get snow in May, but towards the middle of the month, people start to at least get their pots and gardens planted. Looking at your sources, I was surprised to see the Homesense exists in the UK -- is that a new thing? In Canada, Homesense has been a destination for most people when looking for home decor bargains, and their counterpart, Winners, is a great spot for scoring some bargain priced designer clothing. Enjoy your long weekend, we don't get our long weekend until later in May!
ReplyDeleteGosh Brenda your winters make ours sound so much better, although it seems to have really dragged on this year. It's so nice to watch the garden coming back to life though & looking forward to sunnier warmer days.
DeleteNo Homesense have been going for a while here & is a brilliant place to pick up some unique bargains. I don't think you can ever visit without making a purchase!
Have a great weekend too. May is a brilliant month for us as like you we also get a long weekend at the end of the month too :-)
Jane xx