House & Home

Tablescaping is the latest lockdown phenomenon, and at no time will it be more pertinent than over the coming festive month! It’s the idea that you dress your table as if it’s an artwork to be admired, by visiting guests or insta-hungry image hunters. Whether you have chosen to use a grand flower arrangement or second-hand mis-matched crockery, the way you’ve styled your table is more important than ever. The hashtag ‘Tablescape’ has 1.2 million posts on Instagram. This trend has been driven by a year of social distancing and unlimited screen time. Whilst we’ve been forced to work from home, our focus on our interiors has never been greater, as people have sought to prettify their immediate surroundings to make them cosier and more restful, creating a sanctuary from the madness we find ourselves experiencing in the outside world.  Tablescaping is so much more than napkins, plates of foods..

As its busiest weekend for Christmas tree sales approaches, festive fir suppliers Pines and Needles is offering big online discounts on its popular pines this Black Friday. The company, which has been kitting out Christmas for more than 20 years and are Harry and Meghan’s go-to tree supplier, is offering a 15% discount on its website on November 29. This is a tree-mendous opportunity for people to decorate their homes with Christmas class, taking real trees from the company's two plantations in Scotland which are left to mature for 10 years. Pines and Needles was founded by brothers Sam and Josh Lyle as teenagers and the company now sells a whopping 60,000 Christmas trees a year. “We want as many people to get the Pines and Needles experience this Christmas,” said Sam. “The last weekend in November has become our busiest selling weekend with more and more people wanting to..

Visitors have taken the first look inside one of the homes at a new development in Hanslope which is bringing an investment of more than £2.2 million to the local area. Davidsons Homes held the grand opening of its new show home at The Wheatfields, a development of 141 homes, on Saturday 19th October. The Wheatfields, which is located off Long Street Road, includes a range of three, four and five-bedroom homes. Around 40 people attended Saturday’s grand opening, which featured a drinks reception and entertainment from saxophonist Robert Charles. It was the first opportunity for visitors to take a tour of the brand new five-bedroom detached show home at the development. The three-storey Newstead house type features a spacious, double aspect living area, an open plan kitchen and dining room, a study and a detached garage. As part of the planning agreement for The Wheatfields, Davidsons Homes is providing..

CityFibre puts gigabit-speed connectivity within reach of thousands of MK homes  Over 20,000 homes across Milton Keynes are now able to access full fibre broadband – one year on from the start of the city-wide expansion of the digital network. As part of CityFibre’s ‘fibre to the premises’ project, the network has doubled to over 350km since March 2018. Through a strategic partnership with Vodafone, CityFibre has built in Bancroft, Blue Bridge, Bradville, Great Linford, Willen, Bletchley and Fenny Stratford, and will be accelerating across the city to build to almost every home and business. CityFibre has made the build possible through a private investment of more than £40m. In addition to building the full fibre network – which is expected to complete by the end of 2020 – CityFibre has opened a new state-of-the-art office in Milton Keynes and intends to bring its Engineering Centre of Excellence to the..

We love our community here at MK Pulse, and always enjoy hearing about the relationships built between local businesses. A leading artificial grass installer in Milton Keynes, Prestige Lawns, has done just that, increasing their presence in the local community and becoming a highly regarded independent company within Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas. The team members at Prestige Lawns are highly experienced and have built themselves an outstanding reputation, giving local businesses no reason to doubt their paramount service. The portfolio of clients for Prestige Lawns has continued to expand, including large scale companies such as Ikea, and local community schools, including the Brookside primary school in Bicester. Prestige Lawns are big enough to cope, yet small enough to care, offering the ideal solution to all artificial grass requirements, whether it be practical outdoor flooring, eye-catching displays, or quirky interior designs. The transformation of Brookside school in Bicester was a..

MK Council has joined forces with other Bucks councils to encourage people to help pollinating insects in this area and raise awareness. Pollinators like bees and are in severe decline nationally yet they are vital to pollinate many different plants and crops across the world and in MK. 80% of all flowering plants are pollinated by insects. The Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Natural Environment Partnership (The "NEP") has launched its 2017 "Bucks Buzzing" project to do just that.  The NEP is encouraging everyone to do something for pollinators in Buckinghamshire to help get "Bucks Buzzing" again. Everyone can do something to help increase the number of bees and other pollinating insects including: Building a bug hotel Mowing less frequently Allow hedges to flower Leave a wild area in your garden Grow wildflowers that attracts insects Consider using less or no pesticides MK Council has changed the frequency and timing of..

The rising cost of energy bills is putting a strain on household budgets, and wasting energy is bad news for the environment. Here are 10 tips that require no capital outlay: Switch your energy supplier Compare gas and electricity prices at www.uswitch.com and make sure you’re on the cheapest tariff for you. It only takes a few minutes and they’ll do all the paperwork. Ofgem estimate that the average household saving will be £300. Turn your thermostat down Keep your thermostat at 21oC max. If you’re still cold you should put on more clothes! For every 1 degree above 21oC it will cost you 10% more on your heating bill. Make sure your immersion heater is OFF Using on peak electricity to heat your hot water is 3 times more expensive than using your gas boiler. Make sure your kids haven’t accidentally left it on! Stick some tape over the..

Milton Keynes Council disclosed in December that it plans the building of 6,000 homes by developer Gallagher Estates in the rural area north of the city between the M1 and the West Coast rail line. This development will be part of its new Local Plan which allocates land for house building from 2018 to 2036. The 6,000 homes are expected by 2025/26. The new population of 15,000 to 20,000 would engulf Haversham and have a devastating impact on Castlethorpe, Hanslope, and Little Linford with most of  the countryside disappearing under concrete. New roads – including major dual carriageways – would be needed to feed into the existing MK Grid causing enormous increases in traffic severely affecting Wolverton, New Bradwell, Stantonbury, and Newport Pagnell. One of the dual carriageways would pass through the new Linear Park for Oakridge Park destroying their recreation facilities, Linford Lakes, and wetlands. The new main roads..