This is a grand little shop which boasts a range of different products relating to interior…read moredesigns. From the outside you might be fooled into thinking it is largely soft furnishings that they have on offer, as they have a light show of different lamp shades and lamps, candle holders, mini furniture pieces and other such items on show - both contemporary and retro. This isn't the only item for sale though as they specialise in blinds, shutters, awnings and furniture too, all of which appears to be stylish, modern, sleek and of a moderate - high price range. If you're serious about styling out your new house/rented home then it's worth nipping in here to get some ideas and maybe even a few purchases! But it won't be a short stay, this one's a serious browser!

This garden centre was taken over in 2023 and now has a different name - and higher prices.read more

It was a cold miserable Sunday, we'd spent a long time forcing ourselves from under the warm duvet…read moreand once finally roused I wanted to go out and do something. Nothing crazy exciting, but something out and about nonetheless. So, I informed my boyfriend that we were going to a garden centre. It was either that or shopping, so you can guess which he chose. (I'm not really that much of a dragon, but if I hadn't we'd have mooched all our Sunday away in the house.) So. After losing our way past Ilkley, and with a little help from my iPhone, we made our way to the Smith Stephen H Garden Centre. Joy! First off, it's huge. A veritable maze of rooms, not exclusively related to the garden, but full of browsing items all the same. The first room we wandered through was the indoor plants section. There was a reasonable amount of variety, with exciting cacti and carnivorous plants to behold, and a number of lovely primroses, cyclamen and more. I'm not an expert at flora names, so for the purposes of the review, I'll do my best to describe the things I liked! The next room held a number of exciting canvass prints and artwork, a range of different fire contraptions for the garden, water features and a number of other garden furniture items. There was a food section, hosting jams, chutneys, snacks, cordials and all other things that give a farmers market vibe. Onward we went and discovered the outdoor plant section. A cornucopia of shrubs, bushes, hedges and other exotic plants were there for the viewing. Sadly, as it is February, the majority weren't in bloom so perhaps it was a poor choice of Sundays to browse. However, the more avid gardener would more than likely have the imagination to picture an end result with the variety on display! The prices were really rather reasonable with many of the pots retailing at far cheaper than I've seen at, say, B&Q. However, for some reason the bay and olive trees were a lot more expensive than the ones I'd bought previously at B&Q. Go figure. I ended up purchasing a sort of grassy tree indoor house plant and an orchid-esque exotic looking plant too. Neither have labels, so my guess is as good as yours in terms of the names for these plants! Here's hoping I manage to keep them alive without instruction... I also bought a minuscule leaf plant whose green leaves have pink lines, which look like weird veins. We both liked that. All in all, this lovely centre is well worth a browse. If you're impatient, like us, you won't spend more than an hour or so inside but it will be an hour well spent for some Sunday browsing. I can tell I'll be back! (I want a Venus Fly Trap for starters... )

Have you ever found yourself with a large amount of stuff and nowhere to put it? This is a common…read moreproblem which can be a nightmare if not sorted out properly. Moving house or business, there is a possibility that this issue may arise. Evans Easy Space is a company who rent space, but unfortunately not in the sci-fi way that it sounds. They have a lot of it and rent it out at reasonable prices. You can expect the benefits of a CCTV operated building (much better than your mate of a mates garage that may get broken into), a staffed reception, overnight security, and a good parking and unloading system to make the whole thing as non-stressful as possible. Keep in mind that they do ask for 2 weeks notice though so you should contact them in advance, don't leave it till the last minute. Prices range from £10 per week. As well as offering storage space they also offer space for meeting rooms and offices.

Being free from Wilkinson's Otley has little tool shops dotted around and about, this lovely shop…read moreis one of them. The shop-keeper stands on high a podium like plinth to stand on, complete with green body warmer and look of stern knowledge crossing his face. What to say, I was on a look out for a staple gun and in this mini-tardis there were many varieties one complete with staple remover. Extension cables of many varieties, screws, nails, fixtures and fittings, not terribly cheap but quality items at your convenience.

Being as I make jewellery it's really useful to have a wee drill bit to use, as I collect a good…read morenumber of shells to include in various pieces. As I like to hand pick a lot of these shells straight from the beach they invariably all need a hole drilling at some point! One of my tasks of the day was to find this tiny drill bit and so I decided to try The Tool Box in Otley. As soon as I ventured in I realised I was a little out of my league. Burley men looking at various power tools glanced up and raised an eyebrow at me, I suppose I can't blame them as I did look overwhelmed. Tools and DIY bits were everywhere. The shop was filled to burst with gear; when they named it The Tool Box they were not kidding. I couldn't believe it! They had gardening equipment, drills, rakes, saws, screws - I couldn't list everything, but I know that if you had some specific requirement The Tool Box would have it. In the end I slowly made my way round the entire shop, carefully checking the shelves for drill bits, and eventually (once I'd made it back to the entrance area) found the bits I needed. At first I could only see tiny drill bits in with a set of several extra ones, until I realised they had a sort of pick 'n' mix box of spare one off drill bits. It said they were all 60p each and so I found the tiniest one. Yay! Just what I needed. I went to get out my 60p and the guy went to charge me then realised I had the smallest bit in the world, and so just said "ahh, you can just have that. No worries." Awesome! Really great stuff. My main advice? Don't spend the entire time looking, it'd be quicker just to ask.