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Megastore John Lewis & Partners has revealed their best-selling decorations so far this year – and there’s not a Christmas gonk insight.
With the festive period fast approaching and under nine weeks until the big day itself, online searches for ‘Christmas’ have gone up 40% from last year according to the folks at John Lewis & Partners.
Image credit: John Lewis
Now, you might be expecting nostalgic or traditional-looking baubles to be the most popular, but in fact, it’s the fun, quirky Christmas ideas that seem to appeal to online shoppers right now.
Pop them on the tree, in a bowl or use them as Christmas wall decor – just make sure they’re easily visible for everyone to enjoy.
Here are John Lewis most popular Christmas decorations for this year (so far)?
Image credit: John Lewis
So popular that it’s currently out of stock, this colourful yellow submarine makes a change from the usual sleigh decorations. Inspired by digital imagery, simulated environments, cartoons and interactive exhibitions, it’s a true escape from reality.
Technicolour Supernature Yellow Submarine Bauble | £8, John Lewis
This yellow submarine is a must for any Beatles fans, or if you’re keen to cover your Christmas tree in retro vibes.
If you like this decoration, you might want to check out other underwater baubles from the same range – we spotted a starfish, a pink seal and even a turtle, jellyfish and mermaid, so you can go all out on the ocean-inspired theme.
Image credit: John Lewis
The Christmas period is well-known for being a time to enjoy a tipple or two, so why not bring that to your tree with this novel gin decanter decoration? We love its glitzy stopper and gem-encrusted glass design, which is guaranteed to give your tree a glamorous edge.
Luxe City Gin Decanter Bauble| £8, John Lewis
If you are a fan of a G&T’s this decoration is a perfect way to celebrate your favourite tipple on the Christmas tree with a touch of sophistication.
Part of John Lewis’s Luxe City range, which is inspired by cities and their architecture, this decanter pairs nicely with the gold champagne bucket and frosted champagne bottle decorations. The gold camera, globe and quilted handbag baubles all make great choices for the style-conscious among you.
Image credit: John Lewis
Move over Rudolph, there’s a new festive animal in town! Yes, this blue balloon dog isn’t the usual sort of design you’d see at Christmas, but we say why not?
Inspired by Jeff Koons iconic balloon dog, this decoration is just one of many creative baubles in this year’s John Lewis Christmas decoration lineup.
Technicolour Supernature Blue Balloon Dog Bauble| £5, John Lewis
Available in gold as well as metallic blue, this decoration is still in stock, but not for long we’d bet.
If you’re looking for an even more creative twist why not invest in one of the other quirky animal ornaments such as a Brontosaurus, unicorn or colourful whale shark?
Which is your favourite? And has this inspired you to try something different this year?
The post Revealed: John Lewis & Partner’s best-selling Christmas decorations this year appeared first on Ideal Home.
If you’re lucky enough to be in a financial position to buy a house with cash there are many advantages, not least that you shed the burden of monthly remortgage payments. However, there are also some disadvantages to this house-buying route, too.
The meaning of a cash buyer when buying a house is often misunderstood. If you can only afford to buy a house without a mortgage once the sale of your house has gone through, then you are not a cash buyer.
You have to have the monies readily available at the time of putting in an offer on a house to be officially recognised as a cash buyer.
Image credit: Future
Here we answer some of the most-asked questions when buying a house with cash Vs mortgage payments, and look at the pros and cons.
The main benefit of a cash sale is that they tend to complete faster than if you are buying a home with a mortgage as there is no complicated house chain, nor the complicated and time-consuming route of ticking all your lender’s boxes. ‘Cash sales aren’t reliant on mortgage valuations or the few days’ wait for mortgage funds to be released, meaning it is feasible to complete your purchase within a few weeks,’ says Emma Fildes, Founder of Brick Weaver.
However, David Jabbari CEO of UK conveyancers Muve warns cash buyers shouldn’t automatically assume a quick sale: ‘Being able to move more quickly is not necessarily an advantage if the property is part of a chain, as you’re dependent on the timescale of your seller’s schedules,’ he says.
Another benefit is that in owning your own property outright, you remove the risk that your home will be repossessed by a mortgage lender should you struggle to meet your monthly repayments, which makes you more secure financially.
Traditionally, cash buyers tend to offer less than the asking price as the money is assured which means the sale is less likely to fall through, as well as the potential for a quick sale.
However, David warns that if the market is aggressive, you’re less likely to get a deal: ‘In the current market, where houses are often selling for higher than their asking price due to high levels of demand, the cash buyer is not in such a strong position as they are in during a quieter market,’ he says.
Regardless of whether you pay with cash or a mortgage, you still need to employ a solicitor or conveyancer to complete all the legal processes for your house purchase. Factor in solicitor fees for buying a house when calculating overall expenditure.
You’ll need to do all the checks on the property, searches, pay stamp duty tax, as well put together contracts and liaise between all the other buyer’s and seller’s solicitors in the chain.
‘In theory, you can do your own conveyancing; the problem is that the solicitor acting for the other party (the buyer or seller) would not deal with you due to regulatory concerns, so this makes completing the relevant legal work impossible without a solicitor,’ says David.
‘A solicitor will do things such as anti-money laundering and compliance checks, to ensure the process is secure,’ says Dale Anderson MD of Fabrik Invest.
Image credit: Future/ Simon Whitmore
Buying a house in cash doesn’t restrict you from obtaining a mortgage on the property at a later stage, also known as remortgaging. However, every lender will have its own policy and rules on how quickly after the sale that they will approve a remortgage, as well as how much loan-to-value (LVT) they will allow in a remortgage – the percentage of the property that they will give you as a loan.
‘The purpose of the loan will need to fall into the lender’s criteria for lending, e.g. home improvements, paying university fees, for example. It is best to check with individual lenders on their policy,’ advises David.
As long as the seller doesn’t need the buyer’s funds to purchase their next property, the cash purchase should proceed quickly, potentially within a few weeks. ‘Cash sales do typically go through quicker – within around 30 days in most cases, provided there is no onward chain on the property,’ says Dale.
It’s very much the same as any other house sale. The only difference is that your solicitor doesn’t have to handle any correspondence with a lender, which means they are acting solely on your behalf.
‘Where there is a mortgage, the lawyer must also act for the lender and ensure that all the lender’s checks are undertaken, including any special conditions that they may have insisted upon when making the mortgage offer,’ says David.
Dale advises: ‘You will typically put down a holding deposit and, once all the necessary checks have been made and contracts have been signed, you will transfer the full outstanding amount for the property purchase.’
Image credit: Future Plc
The myth that you will be hit with a huge tax bill if you buy a home with cash is incorrect. The only tax due on a property purchase is stamp duty tax regardless of whether you bought with cash or a mortgage.
The only time more tax might be due is on any income from a buy-to-let rental or holiday letting. In these cases, you may be able to claim tax relief on interest on buy-to-let mortgage payments (if you bought with a mortgage). However, David advises that it’s a complex area. ‘It is best to get tax advice to understand it fully.’
It is a legal requirement for your solicitor or conveyancer to see a proof of source of your funds, to ensure the house purchase is not a result of a criminal activity. ‘They’re called anti -money laundering checks,’ says Dale.
‘The process can involve anything from asking for bank statements for a period showing where your purchase funds have derived from, to more modern solutions where law firms use open banking systems so that you can share these details automatically,’ says David.
The post Buying a house with cash – the process explained appeared first on Ideal Home.
Many of us dream of having stunning parquet flooring in our homes. Two brothers have just made it a reality for their mum, with pallets and some serious carpentry skills.
The pair sourced the pallets online and spent a week on the project. Pallets are brilliant materials for all kinds of DIY and decorating projects, but compared to garden seating, this wooden pallet parquet flooring project takes things up a level.
Image credit: East Anglia Carpentry
Brothers Harry and Charlie were renovating their mum’s living space. But, unfortunately the flooring they had bought suffered some water damage. It would have cost around £2,000 to replace.
‘We wanted to create a classic herringbone parquet, so we had to think outside the box,’ Harry tells Latest Deals. They used around 50 pallets that they nabbed for free from Facebook Marketplace.
As you’d imagine, the process of turning wooden pallets into something worth putting on the floor was very labour-intensive. ‘We first had to process an enormous amount of pallets, using a planer thicknesser to get them to the correct thickness,’ says Harry.
Image credit: East Anglia Carpentry
‘Then, we used a pass through the table saw to get the width, and finally each block was cut to the exact length using a chop saw.’ Once Charlie and Harry had their blocks cut to size, they laid them using adhesive and a nail gun.
Harry says the most expensive part was the finish. They used Tung oil, available to bulk buy on eBay, and spent around £100 in total on the flooring.
‘My biggest tip for anyone attempting this is to make sure that all of your blocks are cut as accurately as possible,’ Harry shares. ‘Use sharp tools and get some knee pads – I didn’t use any and regretted it!’
This luxury flooring option, first seen in France in the 17th century, is admired for its quality and craftsmanship. Parquet is a subtle and classic way to incorporate geometric pattern into your living room ideas – particularly if bold prints aren’t usually your thing.
What an amazing result! The wooden pallet parquet flooring looks like it could belong in a chic Parisian apartment.
If you don’t fancy taking on such a huge project, there are plenty of other lovely living room flooring ideas whatever your budget. Have you been inspired to do an upcycling project?
The post Two brothers save £2,000 on parquet flooring for their mum’s living room by using wooden pallets appeared first on Ideal Home.
