Tag: Christmas

  • Victoria Gate: a must see

    victoria-gate-by-acmeWe popped along to take a look at the newest shopping centre, Victoria Gate in Leeds to see what the fuss was about!

    A £165 million investment in Leeds is great for Yorkshire and gives the city an attraction that will draw visitors far and wide. They say the shopping centre was designed around John Lewis, a store the council have been wanting to bring to Leeds for over 40 years. Occupying five floors, its the biggest store on site.

    The architects behind the design are a firm called Acme and are based in London. Commenting on the design they have said, ‘we have tried to push the boundaries of retail architecture to create an exterior and interior experience that responds to the rich heritage of built form around us’. They’ve certainly done that. It’s quite a sight for sore eyes. We absolutely love the contrast between the modern concrete lattice roof and the traditional polished stonework.

    Expect other big names such as Anthropologie, Russell & Bromley, Calvin Klein and more. We’d recommend you see it for yourself. It’s certainly an experience and the perfect place for your Christmas shop.

  • Tips on buying your Christmas Tree

    Spreading CheerIt’s the 1st December, it’s almost Christmas!

    We thought, since a lot of our customers will be thinking about buying a tree right about now, a blog post featuring tips on what to look for might come in handy!

    Yorkshire Life gives a great list of places to buy your tree here but what should you look for? What tree is the best for you?

    We’ve trawled the internet and come up with a few tips:

    Wanting to put your tree up now? Then look for a Nordman Fir – they will cost you a little more, but the needles won’t drop.

    Putting your tree up a week before Christmas? Then you’ll be ok with a Norway spruce. They should last about 12 days.

    When picking a tree, pick it up and drop it on its stump to see how many needles drop. If more than a few drop, it’s not been freshly cut.

    Don’t have the time to go out and get a tree yourself? You can order one from the Forestry Commission here. Unfortunately though, they only offer spruce trees for online sales.

    Find a good tree stand that can hold some water and make sure you top it up daily.

    Stand the tree in the coolest part of the room, away from radiators and fires.

    Prefer to go fake? The Telegraph features some of the best here.

    Finally, decorating your Christmas tree can be daunting, but our favourite from House Beautiful’s Christmas Tree Picks is the simplest. It’s called Spreading Cheer and is our featured image above. You’ll just need to make sure you find the right tree!

    Good luck!

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