Author: toniinterior

Have you ever sat down and thought, I’ll leave those jobs until later? I just can’t be bothered doing them right now? I think we’ve all done this and some are probably still doing this, but I have a really simple method to get you to jump up and tackle those jobs that are playing on your mind. Be it, the laundry in the machine, the dishes in the sink, the mark on the skirting board that’s been bugging you for 5 days.

If all of the above sounds familiar to you, then try this…… I assure you it works for me every single time! Think of the time it will take you to tackle the job? Is it 5/10 minutes? Well test yourself to get it done quicker, I always aim for 2 minutes and that’s usually all it takes me to get those things done. Like cleaning the table after dinner, emptying the washer or dryer, or even putting the laundry away!

If I’m sat down and comfortable (trust me I get comfy a lot and then don’t want to move lol) I do the 5,4,3,2,1 and when I reach 1 I have to be standing! Whether this is my OCD I don’t really know but I told my friend to try this and it works for her and she doesn’t have and hasn’t been diagnosed with OCD. It’s like something in my brain tells me it’s “lift off” and I have to get up. Thats the push I need to get those jobs done and if I have 3 things to do then usually it’s 5 minutes to get them done.

Please let me know if you try this I would love your feedback and to know how you’re getting on with it.

Take care and stay safe everyone

Love Toni xx

This is for all the people out there who, like me, hate ironing …..

This is not sponsored.

I have used my JML Phoenix Gold Steam Iron for around 2 years and loved it, it’s so easy to use and you only need to iron one side of the garment it’s that easy. I purchased it for around £40 and it has been the best iron I have used until ……. I received the upgraded model in PR from JML and I have to say, its that good I had to write this blog post!

The new Phoenix Gold Pro Digital steam iron is very similar to the basic one, but its better, the steam control is better and its all digital now which is great. It cuts my ironing time down by half easy, due to only ironing one side of a garment its pro steam generator works wonders in cutting the time down. Honestly thats all you need to do with this iron.

The ceramic soleplate heats up super fast I would say around 10 seconds and you are ready to go. You can also use this iron vertically to steam curtains and one thing I love to do is steam the valance sheets on the bed….. these things drive me crazy I would spend at least 20 minutes trying to iron the valance and it would be creased by the time I had put it on the bed…. now it takes me less than 5 minutes to steam it when its in situ on the bed using vertical steam

.

I also use this to steam clothes on the hanger and then just pop them in the wardrobe.

It is so easy to fill up with its large 400ml water tank, and has an anti drip system. It comes with its own jug and you just flip the top and fill it, Select the heat setting you want with the digital control and away you go.

It has a self precision tip which is great for ironing pin tuck bedding and also shirts/ blouses with pleats.

It has a continuous steam option and a vertical steam option. This makes ironing so much more enjoyable for me, the only thing I would change is the length of the cord, but I find I will never be happy with the length of cords on irons lol.

I have to say this has been an absolute god send to me as I hate ironing and I had every faith in this product and brand. JML is a brand I know and love I have purchased lots of items from this brand and was so happy when they sent me this item. They also sent me a discount code to share with you all if you would like to purchase the Phoenix Gold Pro Digital throughout the month of march you can use the code TONIDFD and this will get you free delivery. https://www.jmldirect.com/phoenix-gold-pro-digital-ultimate-iron-with-pro-steam-generator-and-digital-control

Thank-You JML I’m so grateful.

This post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own.

Christmas has finally arrived at Toni Interior. I would say I’m a little later than usual with my Christmas decor this year, but only by a few day.

As you all know, I’m Mrs Christmas and Winter is definitely my favourite season, simply because I can make my home look cosy and magical for the festive period!

To say I’m excited to be part of this campaign, is an understatement. I’m ecstatic and it’s been the highlight of Christmas for me!

I’m not going to ramble…. I’m going to get stuck straight in and share this amazing display with you all.

Let’s start with the tree. The 7ft LED Clear Fraser Fir Narrow Narrow Tree.

It’s pre-lit with LED clear lights that make the room look so cosy.

It was the easiest Christmas tree I have ever put together. It comes well packaged as you can see and basically the 3 pieces connect together and that’s it, switch on and start fluffing the branches.

All Balsam Hill trees come with gloves to protect your hands from the branches.

The fluffing of a brand new tree can take some time to get it all perfect (around 25 minutes) it fluffed up beautifully and I followed the instructions that came with this tree. Upper branches fluff upwards and the mid and lower sections fluff downwards.

So now that the tree is ready to be dressed, let’s get stuck in to showing you all the beautiful pieces that adorn this amazing Christmas tree.

I chose Crystal Glass Bauble Set, 35 pieces.

French Country Bauble Set Crackle.

60″ Ivory Lodge Faux Fur Tree Skirt

I chose a magical crystal Christmas theme for my tree this year. These crystal decorations are so beautiful I have never seen or owned decorations like this and I know they will last for years to come.

The stunning Ivory faux fur tree skirt just finished my tree of perfectly.

We have a couple of family traditions in our home and one that we do every year and we laugh about it, my Son Lee hangs the very last bauble on the tree, I take a picture of him doing this, and he steals the glory! And anyone who walks in and pays compliments to the Christmas decor he laughs and says “it took him hours to do it” we’ve done this for around 9 years now (Lee is almost 22 years old) and it always makes me laugh but most importantly I have all the pictures to keep in our Christmas albums and I get to see how much he’s grown over the years!

Lee (Christmas 2014)

Lee (Christmas 2019)

Our other family tradition is to watch a Christmas movie on Christmas Eve (Polar Express) in our Christmas PJs and drink cocoa and just enjoy the build up to Santa coming!

Lee and I in our matching Christmas Pjs ready for a movie on Christmas Eve.

It’s about who’s around the tree at Christmas and not what is under it.

I really hope you all have the most magical Christmas, filled with love laughter and good health.

Thank you so much to Balsam Hill UK for inviting me to be a part of this wonderful campaign. It’s one I will always be super proud of and grateful for.

Love

Toni

#BHUKFestiveFamilyChristmas #BHUKFestiveFamilyChristmas2019 #BalsamHillUK

#BHUK

7′ LED Clear Fraser Fir Narrow

https://www.balsamhill.co.uk/p/bh-fraser-fir-narrow-artificial- christmas-tree

https://www.balsamhill.co.uk/p/crystal-glass-bauble-set

https://www.balsamhill.co.uk/p/french-country-bauble-set

https://www.balsamhill.co.uk/p/lodge-faux-fur-christmas-tree- skirt

https://www.balsamhill.co.uk/

https://www.balsamhill.co.uk/c/artificial- christmas-trees

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BalsamhillUK Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/BalsamHillUK Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/balsamhilluk

*AD / All items in this post have been gifted by Balsam Hill UK – all thoughts, tips and opinions are my own.

So you’re looking around your home thinking…… where do I start?

You have guests coming over, or you’ve had a really busy week with work and you’re now about to attempt to tidy up..FAST.

Don’t worry with my tips I’m pretty sure you’ll have this done in under one hour! (Set your timer if you really want to get it done quicker)

Tip 1, Open the windows! This is the most important tip as you want fresh air flowing through the home.

Tip 2, Always start upstairs and work your way down, this is important if you start downstairs the chances are you’ll leave upstairs until “later” or “tomorrow” because you’ll be feeling tired and happy that the downstairs looks so good in just a few minutes.

Tip 3, Put things away, if they don’t have a home find them one and try to keep them in that place, so if the bed or drawers are littered with magazines, remote controls empty cups of tea, piles of laundry then get it all in one place and quickly sort the offending piles out! pop laundry either in a spare basket and pop it in your wardrobe until you’re ready to tackle the ironing! Or just put it all away, (I do this as I iron daily so clothes are hung up and folded away and then just ironed as we need them) Put controls in your bedside table drawers and just find a home for the bits that you’ve left lying around.

If there are piles of laundry on the floor scoop it up and pop it in the laundry basket ready to go down to the utility.

Tip 4, Make the beds!! fluff those cushions its amazing how making the bed and plumping up the pillows can make a room look tidy and inviting again.

Tip 5, Have a quick vacuum around if you’re lucky like me and have two vacuums you can store one for using upstairs. You don’t have to do this you can skip it of you want to but I always feel like it looks fresher when you’ve vacuumed too.

BONUS TIP, Pop a polishing mitt on each hand but make one wet, and even add a bit of your favourite scented Zoflora. Use the dry one for dusting and the wet one for washing! and this is super quick and makes everywhere smell super fresh and clean!

Give each room a little spray of your favourite air freshener or interior spray and thats the upstairs done!

Coming downstairs keep your mitts on your hands and do the banister and any window sills you may have on your way down!

Now you’re downstairs and don’t forget you’ve left your basket of laundry up there and at this point I would go back upstairs grab the laundry and get that in the machine and on the go!

(Keep your cleaning mitts maybe rinse out the wet one and add some more Zoflora ready for downstairs). (this can be used in the lounge/dining area and also the kitchen!

Now the same applies for the downstairs of your home, clear away any clutter put it all in its home. Tidy any magazine piles, load the dishwasher and quickly pop your mitts back on and do the same downstairs.

Vacuum through and if you’re feeling really keen grab your spray mop and mop through each room.

Light some candles or wax melts give a little spray of air freshener or interior spray and don’t forget to put your lamps on too, make the room look super cosy and inviting.

Do you have any additional tips or ideas that you would like to share? please leave them in the comments below I would love to read them. This is obviously not a deep clean its just a daily clean which I do every single day and it helps to keep the place spick and span,

If you would like to see a deeper clean check out my YouTube channel here  YouTube  you will find lots of tips and ideas pop how to keep your home fresh and clean.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you all have a Wonderfull day

Love

Toni xx

My journey with Slimming World started back in October and I’m still going strong, I have never felt as healthy and full of energy as I feel since I changed my eating habits!

It happened by accident if I’m totally honest, I had a photo shoot done with a magazine on my new kitchen and was asked if I would be present in a few of the pictures so people could relate and see that it was a real kitchen owned by me.

I kindly obliged even though I’m not one bit photogenic I hate having my picture taken and I’m so critical of my image that I avoid this at all costs lol! (remember I’m the person who picks holes in a Greggs sandwich so I really don’t stand a chance!

The magazine published the article back in September and there was chunky little Toni starring back at me, all thick thighs and ten chins on display for the whole world to see (Bruno Mars was inspired by those pictures on his 24K album ) I was mortified to say the least, I’m quite tall at 5’8 and have always been petit with a tiny size 3-4 shoe size and 25inch waist! so seeing my “bigger’ self made me realise that the new kitchen had really taken its toll on me………. eating take aways and fast food like I’ve never eaten them before….. I knew I had to do something so I joined SW and I haven’t looked back, I have to say I didn’t have a lot to loose and everyone is different with weight and how they see themselves but I wasn’t happy and I will never share those pictures with you lol!!

I’m currently almost at target and weight loss has really slowed down for me, I’m healthier happier and slowly feeing less critical about myself.

If you feel unhappy with your diet I couldn’t recommend it enough I have a lovely little group that I attend and we all encourage each other and we get to swap cooking tips and recipes it really is lovely.

So some people will be thinking SW chicken fried rice is going to be boring and tasteless, you’re Wrong!

We can eat this by the bucket load if we like, its syn free and full of protien and it tastes amazing rich and full of flavour and its very filling too.

I have tweaked the recipe slightly for more taste …………….. this recipe is plenty for two people, with chips and curry!

INGREDIENTS

2 Chicken thighs skinless and boneless

3 Spring onion stems

Onion (optional

Garlic paste (optional)

You can add as many veggies as you like, carrots mange tout sugar snaps peppers, bean sprouts. (all these veggies are speed foods and speed up your weightloss.

Long Grain rice, I get the Iceland SW rice which microwaves in 3 minutes

1 Egg

Soy Sauce

you can also have chips and curry with this and is still syn free providing you make SW chips and use SW chip shop curry!

Chop your chicken thighs into chunks, and add to frying pan, using fry light spray the chicken and fry for 10 minutes add a small teaspoon of garlic paste, and your spring onions (if you’re using onion then add this now and garnish with spring onions when its plated up)

Fry altogether for 10 mins at this point pop your rice in the microwave for 3 minutes, when the rice is done add this to the frying pan and keep stirring, once it stirred well add the egg just crack it over and keep stirring to mix the egg in.

when the egg has cooked add soy sauce, I use light soy sauce and just add a few splashes.

If you’re also having chips and curry with this then your SW chips will already be baking in the oven, these are really easy to make, some people par boil the potatoes you don’t need to do this I just peel and chop 2 potatoes into chips line a baking tray with foil and spray fry light onto the foil then add the chips and spray them and put in the oven for 17 minutes, pop your SW chip shop curry in the microwave for a coupe of minutes to het it up (follow instructions) and plate it all up

Its a really tasty easy filling meal and its very low fat and completely syn free on slimming world!

Enjoy

Love

Toni x

 

 

 

 

I posted a story a couple of days ago, of me making an Indian style chicken curry.

Lots of you asked if I could post the recipe, so here it is.

INGREDIENTS

1 Large onion

Ginger fresh or dried

Garlic fresh or paste

Chicken thighs or breast or if you’re vegetarian then lots of veg

1 Chicken stock cube

1 Oxo

Garam Masala

Turmeric

Coriander

Chilli Powder

Tinned tomatoes or tomato puree (optional)

Coconut milk or creme fraiche

HOW TO MAKE

Chop the onion and add a small amount of cooking oil or fry light to a large frying pan I use garlic paste and I add 1 level tea spoon of garlic and 1 level tea spoon of dried ginger mix together with the onion until golden brown (around 4 minutes).

Add 3 breasts of chicken finely chopped or 6 thighs finely chopped into the pan, add a small amount of chilli power (this amount depends on how spicy you want your curry I add 1/2 tea spoon.

Add 1 teaspoon of Turmeric 1 large heaped tablespoon of Garam Masala (don’t get these mixed up), and 1 table spoon of sugar (caster or demerara)

Melt your chicken stock cube in 100ml of boiling water and add it to the pan.

Add your tinned tomatoes (only add these if you’re NOT using coconut milk or creme fraiche) I use tomato puree and i usually add half tea spoon.

now let it all cook for around 25 minutes on a low heat but not too low, you want it still cooking.

after 20 minutes add your coconut milk i usually add half a tin as you don’t want the curry to watery, and cook that for a further 10 minutes.

If you’re using the creme fraiche (healthier) i usually add around two tablespoons.

Just add more depending on taste (its always more bitter with creme fraiche.)

Serve with basmati rice and pop some Naan bread in the toaster and you’re good to go! don’t forget to add your coriander to the top!

I add potatoes but this is optional and I just cook them in a separate pan and add them when I add the coconut milk but this is optional some people don’t like potatoes in their curry.

I also play around a lot with this recipe adding peppers and large onions and more chilli and yoghurt depending on what style of curry I want.

This was my mums recipe and I used to be intrigued by all the brightly coloured heaps of spices and powders on the plate when she cooked our indian food, sadly my mum is no longer with us, and I will never know the complete recipe I think it may have been fennel and cumin and other indian spices, but i will never know!

And I will never be able to make a chapati like my mums, If ever you had a cold the chapati pan would come out and mum would cook up a storm in the kitchen, I would swear my family used to visit and pretend to have the sniffles so mum would cook (LOL)

For a Welsh lady with Italian Spanish decent she was a fantastic cook!

Enjoy and please tag me in your curries!

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and happy cooking!

Love

Toni 🖤

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We all have things in life that we feel our lives would never be the same without, right? or is it just me.

Well I have two things, its not anything to do with hair or beauty, but if you know me, you already knew that, I keep my home pretty and unfortunately I don’t have enough time to keep myself pretty too, so the home will always win!

My holy grail is Bar Keepers Friend! if you have OCD you know what this stuff is, and I don’t need to say anymore, and if you don’t then let me elaborate ……its just a little miracle in a bottle.

Bar keepers friend is a cleaning product that removes just about anything including aluminium marks from ceramic sinks, scum from around the shower head and bath, your oven and grill, pot and pans ceramic tiles, grout…..and it makes cleaning faster easier and less stressful.

The list is endless for this product it literally does what it says on the bottle, it cleans and shines and I use it in the kitchen bathroom and even on rust spots, always test the area first but this is my absolute number one!

My other holy grail (if you can have two) is Lenor tumble dryer sheets.

I know you’re looking at this and thinking, oh Toni likes the laundry fresh and static free, when it comes out of the tumble dryer, well you’re wrong!

If you didn’t already know I’m going to list some uses for a used or new Lenor tumble dryer sheet (I prefer them used they work better) you’ll be surprised……..

1, They make amazing dusters! seriously because they’re static all the dust sticks to them I clean the tumble dryer door and filter with them.

2, Clean the skirting boards with them if you’re like me and have pets their little hairs get everywhere (shih’s aren’t suppose to moult but mine do) I use them on the skirting boards to remove fluff and dust, don’t believe me try it.

3, Deodoriser, I place a fresh one in my kitchen towel drawer to keep them fresh.

4, Remove pet fur rub one over your black trousers it will remove the fur!

5, Rub an unused one down the thread on your needle and cotton and it will stop it from tangling up.

6, Wardrobe freshener (I made that up) put them under collars on shirts and jackets and in pockets and your wardrobe will always smell amazing

7, Hetty the hoover loves these too I pop them in her filter to freshen her up (she does stink bless her but she’s good)

8, Put one in your suitcase to stop it get musty

9, Selling something on eBay, use one in the parcel and then the buyer will open a gorgeous smelling parcel.

10, Remove glitter nail polish with one soak it in polish remover and the glitter comes off much easier.

11, Clean and polish your chrome with them i use them on my taps in the kitchen and utility, works wonders every time.

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​12, Clean your glasses.

13, Use them to remove the dust from your venetian blinds.

The list is endless as you can see, given them a try they really do work wonders!

Thanks for dropping by!

Love

Toni XoX

I thought I would do a blog on some before & afters in my home, I have seen lots of posts recently on IG showing them so here’s mine.

Anywhere that I post a picture of before i will put the after pic directly below.

I have been grey for around 4 years, it is longer, but that was before the knock through of the lounge and dinning room, so its probably more like 6/7 years!

But the dinning room used to be grey and black, I loved it at the time i think it was like this for around 3 years and I had a very large black leather corner sofa and a large grey rug!

Same spot 5 years apart!

This was the place we all sat in, because the lounge (front room) before the knock through was basically just a room that looked pretty but it was cream and white with a white wool carpet so no one was allowed in there 

4 years apart 

so I decided one day that I wanted it down I had huge ideas and I’m really lucky as lee trusts my ideas completely and just leaves me to it! so we instructed the builder to knock the wall down put the steels in and have one huge room! we lived in the conservatory (now the kitchen) for a week whilst that went on.

So all the old furniture (black gloss from Germany) got sold on Gumtree and I mean all of it! the cabinets the consoles the corner sofa EVERYTHING! Even the front rooms furniture got sold so the rooms where empty! and we had a shell the only thing I kept was my dining table and chairs as this was still needed for eating but we had the conservatory to sit in, in comfort so it wasn’t bad at all.

At the time my brother had also revamped / up-cycled a dining suite and cabinet for me but I didn’t like them so they got sold too!

See them below in the conservatory pic 

The picture above was taken 4 years ago when the longe was knocked through to the dining room. Below is the same spot today! 

He didn’t mind, that i sold them on I’m just not a lover of vintage or up-cycled, I’m too heavy handed and it isn’t really a look ive ever gone for.

 

 

 

 

Same spot 5 years apart.

The knock through was the best thing we did! I love how bright my home became opening this up!

Before & after 4 years apart. 

If I could change anything about my home I would change the width of the rooms, I just wish they were a little wider!
 

The conservatory was a very expensive mistake for us! it was never used Lee had a 7ft pool table in there that only got used at christmas! (it was a nice pool table I must add) but it was just a mistake and we knew as soon as it was up that it would never be used!

Before and after 18months apart 

I hated the condensation all over the glass, and it was so hard to reach the roof in ours as it was so high, it was central heated but was still like an ice box in the winter, and a sauna in the summer! I hated cleaning it, I just never enjoyed the conservatory.

The above picture is an old shot when the conservatory was new (see how small Peggy is ) so around 4 years ago! Below is the same spot 4 years on and the patio doors have gone so it’s opened the space up!

So we decided to get it taken down and build an extension! and what a rigmarole that was! I wanted the size to be the same as our conservatory which was the full width of our home and the projection was 6m so many people laughed and said you can only go out 3m but let me tell you, you can go out 3m without planning permission, you can go out up to 6m providing you get permission and the neighbours aren’t against it!

So down with the conservatory and 15 months later we have a new kitchen extension.

I have to say all the heartache and dust and mess everywhere was worth it all round! I love the through lounge and I love the new kitchen! I also love that I now have a utility! My old kitchen was the perfect space for this.

18 months apart 

If you’re thinking of extending or knocking walls down don’t even think about it! do it! it’s not freezing like people say cos everywhere is open, it doesn’t stink cos the kitchens at the back without doors, I have an excellent extractor!(lol) 

It’s been the best thing we have done! 

Have a great day 

Love 

Toni x