Curl Up & Lie

Cherry Menlove is passionately dedicated to the lives of homemakers and in making life more simple and beautiful. Tune in weekly for her inspirational tips and advice that celebrate every aspect of the domestic arts, homemaking, cooking, crafting, gardening and decorating.

You’ll also find Cherry - the UK’s answer to Martha Stewart – online writing her blogs: Tales from Pixiewood, Cherrys English Kitchen and
L’Influence.

I’ve given up. A pitiful July, August and to top it off it now seems highly unlikely that we will be having an Indian summer. I am therefore moving on to autumn forthwith (hmph).

I love autumn, it has got to be said. The feeling of cosyness that sweeps across my town and right in to my little house; the light changes, the sounds change, as do the smells... cinnamon and nutmeg and the smell of freshly baked bread...

The social life declines (early-mid week at least) as the best evenings are spent bathing in bubbles then curled up in cosy cashmere under the snuggliest of blankets.

OK perhaps a little premature but don’t tell me you’re not secretly ready for it too?

And whether winter weather is here to stay or not, there’s nothing wrong with a little preparation.

Autumn is the time for your entire blanket stash to come out of hiding, have a good clean if need be (although you might have been forward planning enough to have done this before you packed them away) and take up residence once again.

• Cashmere is of course the high end favourite. Head to Josephine Home. Their cashmere blankets are unprecedented in their luxury. Luma’s are organic, fair trade and simply sublime.
• When cashmere is over budget a lovely lambswool or soft alpaca does nicely. The Atlantic Blanket Company has a wonderful reasonably priced selection.
• For blankets made in Scotland from the finest natural materials, with colours inspired by the Scottish landscape, head to Anta.
• If you like a little more character visit Grace’s Blankets or Felicity Anne, though the latter are made of cotton, they’re so charming, they're irresistible.

Blankets belong on the back or the arm of the sofa and of course on the end of all beds (never have guests go without at least one if not two extra blankets). If you have as many blankets as I do then there comes a point when, in the summer season, the top of every wardrobe simply won’t fit another...

Which is why I have my eye on my mother’s beautiful vintage velvet ottoman. A piece of furniture so romantic that it’s begging me to steal it, scurry it away back to my house and fill it with my blanket collection.

You’ll find similar at The London Footstool Company. Function and form; the perfect item to add timeless elegance to any interior as well as valuable storage space for all those beautiful blankets.

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