Bonjour, mes amis and what a wonderfully sunny week it has been. As I write this, York is reaching the heady heights of 16 degrees, almost unheard of for March (yes, thank you, global warming) and I am bathed in a warm glow at my desk. I would love to say that I am also bathed in a glow of glory after winning at the pub quiz last night, but no. We didn’t even come mid table this time. I contributed virtually nothing to the team effort, even failing to recognise the dulcet tones of James Blunt during the music round which is an outrage seeing as I even watched the documentary. Sigh. But we won’t give up. We will return and do better next time.

I’ve also been heavily forward planning for our next home, as yet unsecured, but hopefully in the pipeline. I have SO MANY ideas that my head feels like it may explode, a situation that is just too much for Joe, my husband. We went to view a house last week that demonstrated only too clearly the differences between the two of us when it comes to home style. I always knew it, really, but I didn’t quite appreciate how poles apart our idea of the ‘perfect home’ actually is. From the front, it was a beautiful Edwardian townhouse, with renovated sash windows and a pretty front garden that was right next to a bus stop, perfect for Leo’s trip to school.

But it was indeed a front. We entered the porch to find that the entire house had been renovated by a developer many years previously, with even the staircase fully replaced with a new model and every single door ripped out. It looked smart and indeed, for many people who are not house decor obsessive it could well be ‘the one’, but for me, it was lacking in the character that I need to make a house a home. For Joe, however, it was the dream. Grey carpets. Grey walls. Grey flooring. Gloss grey kitchen.

Lots of stainless steel. Spotlights (many). He would have packed a bag and moved right in had I not explained the basics of my house hunting mission to him. Poor Joe. He already complains of back issues from the Togo and doesn’t understand why we can’t have carpet in downstairs rooms. One day, he’ll get it. I can hear the cries of ‘poor Joe’ echoing around the globe as I write. Ha.

But enough of poor Joe and back to the High Street and Spring has truly sprung on the shelves with an abundance of beauty to be perused for the home. Warm neutrals, particularly textured, are still super hot but there are earthy Spring tones coming into play now as we move towards April. There’s a lot of green about and a move towards simplicity – less frills and more clean lines.

There is plenty to inspire so without further ado, here’s my monthly round up of the best of the best.

12. TJARLEK Set Of Four Glasses – £18

Praise be for IKEA and their affordable homeware that is always on the ball yet can be relied upon to bear their signature value price. In my opinion, you can never own too many pretty wine glasses and this set of four have coloured stems in varying glorious colours. Perfect for your chilled Whispering Angel. Also very handy if you have a few people over for dinner and don’t want to pick up someone else’s drink. PLUS, I popped into IKEA yesterday and spotted them – be assured they are excellent quality with a good weight to them.