Creating an Inspiration Wall with Desenio Prints

I'd never consider myself to have a good design eye. I look at other peoples homes and blog posts about interior design and I wish that even a corner of my house could look as stylish and gorgeous as theirs do. But alas magnolia seems to be my colour and homely and lived in seems to be the main design theme of my home. 

However, Desenio have made it easy for me to create a trendy inspiration wall in my dining room with their prints. This is a room that we spend a lot of  time in as a family and I wanted really positive messages to be impacting the children and our pastoral group as we eat and enjoy spending time together. It's a functional room where we eat, the children craft and I dry the washing and do the ironing - it really is multi-purpose and as such style is not normally key in this room. But I like what I've done on one of the walls with the Desenio framed prints (above) and as Miss M said 'they make it look much more modern Mummy'.

The Ultimate Christmas Gift Guide for Teenage Boys - 12 Great Ideas

Personally I always find girls so much easier to buy for than boys and if you were to ask my 14 year old son what he'd like for Christmas, do you know the answer you'd get? Money. That's all. Everything he wants costs hundreds and hundreds so what he wants is money to put towards his next big purchase and for him right now, that's a gaming PC. He already has a laptop, iPad and phone but apparently none of those are quite up to the job and he needs more ram and a better CPU!

Whilst he will get some money from us for Christmas, I do feel he also needs a few different things to encourage him off of his tech! I like him to have at least a couple of presents to open and then he won't feel totally left out.

So here are 12 ideas of what to buy a teenage boy this Christmas -

Young driver course
I'm keen on giving anything that gets my son away from his tech, so this young driver course is just perfect. There is the option of a 30 minute or 60 minute taster lesson and you can attend at one of 60 centres across the UK. If you live close by and your child enjoys it they can then book more lessons and build on their skills ready for when they are 17 and can get their provisional license and do it for real. It is £34.95 for 30 minutes or £64.95 for a full hour but I've seen cut price deals on Groupon a few times. So have a google and see what you can find.

Derwent Pencil Wrap Set
My son is keen to colour, he finds it therapeutic and it really satisfies his need for things to look perfect. He is happy to sit there and intricately colour an adult colouring book with the most minute details. However he has been moaning recently that he doesn't have any nice colouring pencils. Well I think he'll be super happy to see this gorgeous 24 pencil wrap from the world leading British artists' brand Derwent.

The canvas and leather wrap is very stylish and a great colour for a young guy to feel happy to carry with him. The wrap is available with 24 pencils from any one of the four Derwent pencil ranges - Procolour, Watercolour, Inktense or Coloursoft and there are an additional 6 slots for your drawing pencils or fineliners. This quality wrap retails for £44.99.

Desenio - Kitting our House out with Gorgeous Prints

I have to be honest, I don't have the best eye for interior design. I know what I like and I'd love to be able to create something really eclectic and beautiful but I just don't seem to have been born with that skill. My house is always very comfortable but quite safe in its decor and things often match a little too much rather than compliment.

When Desenio.co.uk got in touch to ask me to review some of their prints I was a little scared at first. Yes there are hundreds of gorgeous poster and print designs in their shop but how would I know what works well with what? I needn't have worried as their inspiration and beautiful partnerships sections are great. Just what I need to spark some ideas of how things can look really stunning. I now know that mixing frames, print sizes and inspirational quotes with images all work fantastically.

I was a bit blown away when I started to search their web shop. There is so much variety and with starting prices of £2.29 for a 5 x 7 poster it doesn't have to be expensive at all to buy something gorgeous. It is also impressive that the 8 x 12 'Life is' quote (£4.49) and white wooden frame to match (£6.57) that I got as a gift for my niece, cost just £11.06 and that is her Christmas gift sorted.