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Hauls · ☀️ Summer

An end-of-summer haul, under £30

What's worth grabbing in the seasonal aisles right now, and what to leave.

Finds · under £30 · 3 min read

Candles, a linen napkin set and small ceramics laid out on a pale surface

Late August is the strangest fortnight in the shops: half of it is marked-down summer, the other half is autumn arriving six weeks early. Both halves are worth a look for different reasons.

Worth grabbing

  • Outdoor string lights, marked down now, put straight away for next May.
  • Plain linen napkins — the seasonal-colour ones always reduce first and plain ones don't date.
  • Unscented pillar candles in cream. They cost nothing now and carry you to Christmas.
  • Small ceramics, especially anything jug-shaped. See the flowers piece.
  • A second picnic blanket for the boot of the car.

Leave it

  • Anything with a printed slogan tied to this specific summer.
  • Cheap scented candles in autumn fragrances — they smell of the fragrance, not the season.
  • Wicker that's been outside on a display all August.

Price sense

Reductions on seasonal homeware tend to come in two waves, roughly a fortnight apart. If it isn't essential, the second wave is the better one.

Make it yours

Kept for later 🤎

Kept ideas live in My Keeps, keep their category and season, and can be planned, lived and remembered later.

My SZN commentary. We aren't paid by any retailer and nothing here is sponsored — categories are suggestions, not endorsements.

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