Read Annah’s post on her blog GIRL & BIRD here…….

Can I recycle it?

An important question. Not every piece of packaging that food and other goods come in can be recycled or the facilities may not exist locally for the items to be recycled. While in theory a lot of packaging can be recycled, it’s a really good idea to check with your local council as to what can be recycled in your area from curbside collections or whether certain types of recycling would need to be taken to a recycling centre or bank by you.

And if you’re wondering about all those symbols on packaging, Recycle Now have a guide as to just what it all means, plus plenty of other great recycling advice and info.

Try some composting

You may do your up most to keep your food waste at low levels, but those fruit and veg peelings need to go somewhere. Composting offers a green way to deal with food waste (though not meat or dairy food stuffs) and a food source for your garden. Just remember that the bin you use will need to be placed on soil so that the contents of the bin can be accessed by the bacteria and small organisms that will break food and garden waste down.

Clothing

When it comes to items such as old clothes, you should endeavour to have them recycled or reused. And if they’ve still got some life left in them: why not turn them into new clothes or even soft toys. Sock puppets are one thing, but a teddy bear made out of old denim jeans – awesome.

The three “Rs”

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. So, reduce what packaging you bring home and reduce your food waste. Reuse what you can or give to others who can reuse it. Recycle everything else as much as possible.

Unsure why you should at least recycle?

Why not check out our previous blog post on recycling and why it matters. And don’t forget to keep and eye out for products at Uneeka that are made from recycled materials or reclaimed wood.

The corner in the showroom that has become dedicated to antique and reclaimed furniture this season

It’s been bubbling along for a few months now this whole antique and reclaimed furniture invasion. Starting off small, Jodi and Jen have finally kitted out a small corner of the showroom with some choice pieces.

Most of the items were originally from India. And it’s all for sale. Every single last piece of it. Which is obviously handy for those of you who adore items with a vintage look about them.

Tip 1

While Jodi and Jen did not have to worry about the size of the furniture pieces that they were picking, make sure you keep in mind the size of the space you plan to put your bargain. Measure up what you’re interested in so that you buy something that will fit in your home.

Perhaps the most noticeable pieces in the showroom display are the selection of different sized chests. A mixture of boxes and larger blanket boxes – all are antiques.

Prices start from £99

Tip 2

Always with old furniture be on the alert for signs of woodworm activity. This ranges from tiny holes that look like the ones you find around a dart board, to a fine almost sawdust like powder – this in particular tends to be a sign of current activity. We’ve endeavoured to make sure that our pieces are clear, but we always remain vigilant. In fact making sure that none of your current furniture is infested is always a good idea before investing in any new pieces.

There are two pieces that while of different types of wood, could work quite well together, if you want a sort of eclectic mix going on in your bedroom. These are the dresser and simple chair. The dressing table has all of its original fixtures.

A simple wooden chair (£135)

An antique dressing table (£425)

Tip 3

Ask us in the showroom how you should care for the furniture, even if you’re not sure that you’re planning on buying. Different pieces need different types of care to make sure that the wood remains nourished and clean.

The most interesting item that has been propped up in the showroom is an old Indian children’s cart/trolley. At some point a previous owner or owners must have loved it very much, because the wheels look well used. It certainly looks capable of being useful to another young child.

A unique piece to place cuddly toys and dolls in (£299)

Tip 4

Feel like a piece needs restoration work done? Then do not carry out the work yourself unless you already carry out restoration work professionally. DIY and antiques do not mix.

Another item of bedroom furniture is also clustered in beside the dresser. A reclaimed wood bedside cabinet. Again it is from India, but it looks as if it would be right at home in a small cottage bedroom.

A small bedside cabinet made from reclaimed wood (£249)

Tip 5

Unsure how a piece is going to look at home in your home? Bring in a photo of the room or rooms your trying to furnish, or ask us to e-mail you photos of the pieces you’re interested in.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed exploring our “new” antique furniture. We’ll have plenty more offerings in the showroom these coming weeks and you are more then welcome to pop along and have good look or call us on 01872 888538 if there’s anything here that you’re interested in.

Got any of your own style tips for use with antique pieces? Why not leave your thoughts in the comments below.

The display is part of a new range of products for this season centred around the theme of “How does your garden grow?” and features numerous bits of gardening paraphernalia that are great for new gardeners – young or old. The range includes kitchen window sill sized growing opportunities, bulb boxes, veggie buckets and super space saving “Grow Your Own Pocket Garden” kits. Certainly, the kits are great for using with kids at home when you want something different to do this half-term.

And what did I mean by the bamboo kind of coming from a jungle? Well, have a peek at these:

Jen's cat Lucky helping out with the bamboo removal

Jen's cat Munchkin has a far calmer attitude to bamboo removal

So, the bamboo on display in the uneeka.life store isn’t stuff we’ve brought in especially for the display. It’s stuff that would have been chucked out from a bit of gardening in the first place. Reduce, reuse, recycle – don’t ya know.

Today’s blog post has been submitted by Bethany Dunn-Wilson, who’s up to some very important fund raising during her gap year:

Uneeka is my favourite shop of all time. Not only because their products are fair trade and beautiful, but because the lovely people there have agreed to support me in a fund raiser.

My name’s Beth. I’m on my gap year, which is nearing it’s end and my final trip is to Kenya. I am going to work with a charity called the African Children’s Choir. This is a charity which works with children in poverty through various projects, the main one being a world touring children’s choir. I will be supporting their work by completing a relief and development course with them in June 2011, which will involve working in poverty stricken communities.

As you can imagine this is an opportunity of a lifetime but a very expensive one! Uneeka have donated a gift to me which will be up for grabs in a raffle – I am holding a ‘Quiz for Kenya’ event on 27th May, 7.30pm at The Carnon Inn, Carnon Downs, Truro. All are welcome, teams should be about 6/7 people and it’s £5 entry per person. Not only is it going to be a great night but your much appreciated monies will be supporting a very worthwhile cause.

I wish to offer a huge thank you to all the staff at Uneeka for their donation. They are really very lovely people selling some very lovely things. (I should know – my bedroom is practically their shop!)

Buying fair trade makes a massive difference, one little step at a time, so please continue to support the work of this fantastic, life-changing shop.

Beth x

There’s a Facebook event page for the Quiz for Kenya should you want to show interest in signing up for the quiz. And good luck to all who enter.

Art event coming to Truro soon

We like arty things at Uneeka. You’ve probably guessed this whenever you’ve stumbled into one of our stores and seen paintings lurking in all sorts of places. Well, not lurking as such, just looking really pretty and awesome with a sort of, “Please take me home,” kind of appealing look to them.

This year Uneeka is supporting the sixth annual exhibition of force 6 run by Truro College. We’ve bought them all of the mounting board that they’ll need to put the fantastic creations of their art and design students up on display. The exhibition is running from Tuesday 24th May until Saturday 28th May open Tuesday – Friday 9am – 6pm Saturday 9am – 3pm in a Marquee on the Piazza, Lemon Quay, Truro.

Previous years have seen some truly stunning pieces on display from the students at Truro College and this year should be equally as appealing. And we’re not just talking paintings and illustrations here, there will be textiles displays, jewellery, graphic design projects, interior design projects and even ceramics. It’ll definitely be worth popping into.

Now, while some of these are not available on the website at this time (we’re working on getting them up on here), we would be quite happy to take an order for an item over the phone on 01872 888538 when it is not available on here. And of course you’re always welcome to pop into the showroom itself, which is situated along City Road, Truro.

A Teak telephone table that's also good for lamps - £79

Now, I’ve seen a lot of people coming in lately looking for a “little” but “tall” table in order to place lamps on. We describe this as a “telephone table”, but what is obvious about this Teak piece is that it is just as suitable for putting lamps on. So, if you’ve got a space beside a favourite chair that could do with somewhere to place a lamp, then this piece could very well be what you need. (Hint: this was one of the functional pieces I was talking about.)

One of our mango wood beds with a throw and cushions

Cushions up close, prices start from £29.99

If you’re after some extra colour for your bedroom, but don’t want to touch your walls, then what you do with your bed is going to be rather important. Normally the focal point of any bedroom, your bed offers a great opportunity to adjust the mood of your room in a versatile way through what you put on it. Apart from duvets, sheets, quilts, headboards and pillow cases – cushions can help to adjust the look and feel of a bedroom. Cushions can also add some much needed texture if things are looking a little bland.

Teak bowls, starting from £17.99

Sure, these would look pretty neat holding some fruit on your coffee table, but how about using them to serve some green salad in this summer? Lots of people have salad to accompany their BBQ and other alfresco dining attempts, but when the wind picks up, you don’t want to be relying on having plastic bowls to hold onto your leafy greens. These Teak bowls won’t be blowing away any time soon.

Light shades, from £49.50

Made from recycled cotton stretched over a bamboo frame, these Parisian light shades are one of my most favourite additions to our product lines this spring and summer. Mainly due to their mono-print designs. From a distance they do look as if they’re made from paper, but they really are not and certainly offer greater structural strength than normal paper light shades of a similar bulbous design.

I especially like this light blue and white light shade.

Some of them can fold out to quite a size, but we do carry some smaller ones, especially useful for small or low ceilinged rooms.