We recently redecorated our livingroom as, before, it was a boring cream colour and so plain. It is now a bright red with cream and silver accents which makes it so much brighter. The only problem I came across was buying accessories as everything seemed so expensive.
The light shades I wanted were designer and a few hundred pounds each, the fact that our room is long and had 2 lights means that this would end up costing a fortune.
That's when I got a new campaign to join in with called 'Savvy Shopping' whereby I would be helping to determine how cheap supermarket own brand items compare against the high street and well-known (and more expensive) brands.
I was asked to search for own brand accessories for my livingroom which I thought would be hard work. Own brand are usually plain and boring and I didn't want to have this fab red room with boring accessories. But then I got looking online...
First of all, I went online to Asda. I knew that we needed some new cushions. Ours were a cream colour and again, I wanted nice new coloured ones. I actually couldn't believe that I could get 3 cushions for £10 and in pretty styles too.
I picked 3 gorgeous Red Stripe Chenille Cushions from the George range. With vibrant red, cream and white stripes, they suited our livingroom perfect and when they arrived, they were great quality too. Even better that these cushions are machine washable for easy cleaning too.
Deciding that I wanted a nice centrepiece for your table, I went on the hunt for a nice vase. The one I found was more than I imagined as it came with flowers already in it. Okay, they are artificial flowers, but, it means that I don't have to go changing them every week and they will always look pretty. The deep red peonies create an exotic arrangement and come in a textured red glass vase which is bright and looks beautiful on a night with a candle burning at the side of it.
After I'd finished there, I decided that the best place to find accessories would be on Wilko's website and I was not wrong. A lovely red glass bowl for only £4 and Dreamweave Pot Pourri to put inside the bowl look gorgeous on our side table. It has a stylish element which also letting off a beautiful scent that immerses the room. And then only £2 for a red berry scented candle which, again, matched our colour scheme so I chose 2 of these, one for each side of the fireplace. 
Then I went on to looking at light shades. I didn't expect to be able to get any as I'm not in to plain and thought that highly decorative ones would cost a fortune and that they wouldn't be in the own brand range any way. But, boy was I wrong.
£25, yes just £25 each for these Wilko Brass Beaded pendant in colour mocha. This Casablanca lantern pendant injects exotic elegance into the room and, when it gets dark and the lights come on, the droplets burst the light everywhere to make it look sparkling.
Making Money Go Further is a blog written by the money experts at Debt Free Direct that provides money saving and thrifty tips and they are running the 'Savvy Shopping' campaign. Now I know that supermarket brands are just as good as high end, I'll be buying them more often. Less money out of my pocket and more to spend on the children.
Just to finish, I thought that I would show you the light shades in different lights. Morning, afternoon, evening and night to show just how much the colours change as the light does. Truly beautiful!