CURLY AND CANDID

There has been a lot of buzz in the press about large corporations taking more than their fair share of the retail market and smaller enterprises and more local, as opposed to national companies feeling the squeeze. This trend is in part caused by the way in which we, as consumers, choose to spend our money.

I am the first one to put my hand up and say that I am guilty of shopping online at big recognised stores purely because it is quicker, easier and one would assume (not always correctly) cheaper. What I really want to do is source my gifts, household items and more from local retailers however to be honest I’m not sure I have the time or the energy to do this when with just a few clicks elsewhere and what I want comes from wherever it comes from.

Made Closer is the brain-child of John Palaguta-Iles who, like many of us wanted to shop locally when buying items for a new house. John found the time it took to source such items excessive and this spawned an idea which could potentially revolutionise the way we shop. Sensing a gap in the market for those want to support the local economy, to buy items which have a significantly lower carbon footprint having not been shipped from thousands of miles away and to help support the UK job market John launched MadeCloser.

Made Closer enables shoppers to search for and buy a wide range of items from electronics to gifts and toys within the UK or even with the region they live in. Giving the site a bit of a road test I was surprised by how easy it was to use. Entering my postcode and then browsing the items merchants have on offer allowed me to see clearly where they would come from.

I could easily see as I browsed which items were very local to me (within 50 miles) and where everything else came from without scrolling through pages of information or even having to contact individual sellers.

This is the convenient way to enjoy guilt-free shopping. The range of items available is wide and growing weekly which is why I have bookmarked MadeCloser and will check it first when shopping before automatically visiting one of the larger and faceless international brands. Clearly John Palaguta-Iles has his finger on the button as not only does he care about boosting the local economy; he understands the pressures on the consumer when it comes to simply not having time to shop around ourselves. MadeCloser offers a real, practical and progressive option for changing your shopping habits in future and I for one am pleased to see it.

If you want to know more about John’s vision and the ideals behind MadeCloser this article may well be of interest. Do have a look at the website and keep in touch via either Facebook or Twitter as mark my works, MadeCloser is going places!

Just one example of the many fabulous products local merchants offer on MadeCloser. This lovely starfish pendant is both affordable and clearly marked as being sourced from Cornwall.

*This post has been written in association with MadeCloser and yet remains true to my own thoughts, feeling and experiences

My two boys love building things, pretending to be things, arts and crafts, dancing and (often) wrestling on the floor), jigsaws and puzzles and just about everything else that young boys find riveting. While I’m thrilled they enjoy such a wide range of activities my problem has always been storage, as you can see!

Gradually the playroom has been reclaimed by the grown-ups as a dining room once more and the majority of the toys and games have moved upstairs to their bedrooms. While this is blissful for us when downstairs, tip-toeing around toys and walking over Lego in the middle of the night is becoming quite an issue. Extensive research (and bitter experience) has taught me the following:

Storage furniture doesn’t need to be ugly

In an effort to store toys properly I have mixed buckets, nets, boxes (with and without lids) and much, much more. In reality this half-hearted mixture has simply resulted in a collection of miss-matched and rather ugly dumping areas for toys, teddies and more.

If you have a look at the Great Little Trading Co. toy storage page you’ll see that there are a number of ways in which toys, games and everything else may be stored safely and allow easy access while still looking fantastic.

Plastic boxes have their place

A boy’s bedroom or a playroom is not the right place for plastic boxes (well not in my house anymore!). Boxes will quickly be emptied all over the floor to be used as pirate ships, cars or turned over to become stepping stones. We nearly learned a lesson the hard way as Taylor did just this; climbed up on a box to jump on the next one and put his foot through it as the plastic cracked! Fortunately he was wearing slippers else he’d have cut himself.

Storage solutions need to be versatile

Taylor used to be into teddies, now he is into Duplo. Kieran used to be into cars and now has hundreds and thousands of itsy bitsy Lego pieces scattered all over his room. Children grow and their interests change, as do their storage needs. Buying lots of smaller storage cubes, boxes with lids and what not is quickly going to prove futile whereas a piece of furniture with open storage or larger pull out sections are much more versatile.

I am not the only parent who has wrung her hands in frustration over a lack of decent toy storage. I doubt I am the only one fed up of seeing toys all mixed up so that finding everything needed for a specific game or play session is difficult. I wish, going back that I had invested in good quality, long-lasting and versatile toy storage from the beginning rather than constantly moving, replacing and tidying miscellaneous gaudy plastic buckets, bags and cheap and nasty boxes.

So, my advice for today…. Research toy storage options properly and don’t be fooled into thinking that cheap and cheerful always wins the day, it doesn’t!

Bringing it Home with MadeCloser

Getting Toy Storage Right