...This seems to be the saying from a lot of people in these worrying times, brexit, some of our big stores are closing, businesses small and large and not to mention our smaller independent stores and boutique shops getting swallowed up by the more dominant stores and online giants.

People are scared for their jobs, families, they don’t know when their next payday will be or if they will even have a job next month, or be getting another job anytime soon. Independent shops are having to close and leave behind their dreams and a passion they worked so hard to get up and running and are probably in debt from it.

People just haven’t got the money for luxuries at the moment and I really hope this will change as it’s lifes luxuries that give us pleasure. A good afternoon of retail therapy, a good night out with friends, a day out with the family, holidays and also decorating our homes, they all make us HAPPY.

It is a horrible cycle that unfortunately is getting worse. People haven’t got time to shop anymore and are changing the way they shop too as now shops offer to do your food shopping for you and deliver it to your door so people do it from the comfort of their sofa and feel it’s cheaper. Gone are the days of walking into a butchers, greengrocer, florist chatting to people in the shops. Which is sad.

So how do we stop this cycle that’s happening?!...if you shop local your keeping a family afloat. If you walk past a little shop in a village go inside... your more likely to find something you like and be surprised that it actually isn’t that expensive, and it will be something exceptional that no one else has got, if you walk past little market stalls in your local town take a look, even the local bakers, butchers even the ice vans playing their tunes..these are all independent retailers that rely on our custom and are friendly hardworking people who put everything into their independent businesses. There are also some great independent online shops (which is the way the world is moving now) these also have some great unique items and are also trying to stand out from the giants online and they are also closing down these little shops too. Don’t get me wrong social media and the internet play a massive part in business from advertising to selling but we still need to think where we order from and shop around.

Its the same with interior design people assume that as designer’s we are expensive and only rich people have interior designers.

This is simply not true...and I am extremely passionate about getting this across...interior design doesn’t have to be expensive..interior designers can often save you money. We sometimes spot items you were going to throw out and give you examples of how you can reuse them and up-cycle them to fit in with your schemes or into other rooms. We also help to potentially increase the value of your property when putting your house on the market. We advise how to style your home to make it visually bigger and advise how you can cheaply update certain areas to potentially add a little more value.

So I guess I’m saying shop around, shop local and don’t be afraid to walk into the Little village shops, they really aren’t that expensive and can be cheaper than larger shops, they give you a personal touch to your shop and this might change your way of shopping from the sofa.

Thank you you so much for reading... I hope you enjoyed and I hope I have inspired you to shop local even if it is just at the one shop and consider local businesses to help you with your needs because small differences make big changes, and hopefully together we can save some of the lovely shops and business out there that rely on our custom to survive.

Please hit the ❤️ below if you enjoyed this read.

Thanking you and goodbye for now...

Stacy x

I really can’t afford that...