#MYGLTC MEETS ELLE DANKS

Next up in our behind the scenes series of the photos that we're tagged in on Instagram, is the lovely Elle who lives in the West Midlands with her husband and two little girls ... with another due very soon. You can find Elle on Instagram as @thedotcommummy sharing gorgeous snaps of her home but let's find out little bit more about her and why she chooses GLTC.

Hi Elle, can you please tell us a little bit about yourself, your family and where you live?

We are a family of four with our third little girl due in 10 weeks and we live in Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands. I’m a stay at home Mom, very much swamped by all of the daily household jobs that come with keeping two children and a house going. Ben is very much outnumbered with a house full of girls so there’s lots of pink here. Thankfully he doesn’t mind too much.

How would you describe your home style in three words?

Eclectic, bohemian and family orientated.

I do tend to just choose pieces for the house that I love and don’t worry too much about trends or following particular colour schemes. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but I shuffle the rooms around until I’m happy with the way they look.

Do you have a favourite room in your house, and why?

It would definitely be the girls’ bedrooms. I’ve loved being able to have free reign on planning and decorating the rooms. I love the idea of creating a whimsical wonderland for our girls, whilst still having a functional space where they can keep all of their special books and toys.

We believe that storage is the key to a tidy family home and you have a few of our pieces in your home. Which would you be most likely to recommend to other parents and why?

Book storage! Both of my girls love story time, we seem to collect books. I’ve passed on a love of books to the girls that definitely comes from studying English Literature at university. Reading is a therapy for me, it’s such a great way to relax and unwind. It’s such a treat to have so many books around the house, I don’t think we will ever stop buying them so we need a bookshelf in every room.

Do you have any handy storage hacks that you could share for parents wanting to declutter or organise their homes?

I love storage crates. GLTC do some really cute animal themed crates that are ideal for books but would also be perfect for little treasures like figures, blocks and teddies. I’ve found that the girls love to see their toys so that they can grab what they’re looking for. The storage crates and boxes also become shopping trolleys, baby beds and dolls houses in imaginary play.

Themed bedrooms for children. Yes or no?

Sophia’s not old enough to ask for a theme yet and actually Rose has never asked for a themed bedroom. She has plenty of little characters and figures that live in her bedroom at the moment and she does love unicorns so she chose a unicorn nightlight that she has on her bedside table. A lot of the pieces in the bedroom that the girls share are quite simple and understated because the Dalmatian print wall does most of the talking. I have no doubt that as Rose gets older she is probably going to want more of a say in what is in her bedroom and I’m not one to argue too much with a mini teenager!

Which of GLTC's current bedding designs would you have liked most as a child?

I would have probably gone for the Rainbow or the Confetti Spot because I do love a bit of colour.

From your Instagram account, we can see that you like a strong statement wall in your home. What would your advice be to parents wanting to add wow factor to their child's bedroom?

I always have a scroll on Pinterest before I start any new decorating. I fell in love with the Dalmatian print wall on Pinterest before we moved house and enlisted my Mom to stencil it on the wall for us. It was actually quite tricky and we watched a few YouTube videos of people stencilling their walls first. It took hours and my Mom was covered from head to toe in black paint by the end of it but I love how it’s turned out.

We spy our pastel pink Greenaway Bookcase in a lot of your images. Which children's books are Rose and Sophia currently loving?

The prettiest bookcase I’ve ever bought! We actually bought two because we have so many books and I love being able to display the favourites and the special books with beautiful covers.

Both girls absolutely love Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo. We also love the Little People Big Dreams books; the illustrations are lovely and it’s a nice way to introduce the girls to history and famous figures in a way that is age appropriate.

We have a little collection of Enid Blyton books that I’m waiting for Rose to grow into. They were a favourite of mine and my sisters growing up, we used to have a chapter a night read to us and I’m hoping the girls will also love the adventures of the Enchanted Wood with Moonface the Saucepan Man as they get older.

Finally, what makes a happy home for you?

Family of course. We started off in our first little home 5 years ago, I was heavily pregnant with Rose with not much budget to decorate but we made it our own. We are lucky to have moved into our forever home now and it’s lovely to be able to plan and decorate each room. As long as the girls are running wild around us and we can all sit together in the living room everyday then I’m happy.