This week I have been a busy girl. I have a beautiful large garden, which my clever hubby has built a large decked area on. However with two small children, It often lacks colour and organisation. There are toys everywhere and no flowers or plants. I decided to do something about this last week, and decided to transform myself into Charlie Dimmock. (With a bra though, I couldn't impose that on my neighbours.)

So, with the children safely placed in teachers care, I made my way to my local focus diy store. This diy store has been in my home town for a number of years. I have great faith in this store and have never had any problems.

As I pulled into the large carpark, I could immediatley see that there were items for sale, displayed outside the store. These included a variety of healthy, pretty looking plants. Also there were some very reasonably priced patio sets. Some were as cheap as £50 which I thought was exceptional value. I was very impressed with the display of goods outside the store. I thought it not only made the entrance look attractive but also gave customers an insight into what to expect in store.

The trolleys are free, but be warned they are very clumsy and hard to control. They seem to be very heavy and I personally find them difficult to navigate. The isles in the store are very wide and this is helpful as it allows plenty of room for people to browse freely at the items on sale.

Whatever your after, in terms of diy. It is probable that they will have what your looking for in this store. paint, brushes, wood, nails, kitchens, wallpaper, storage boxes. The list is quite extensive.

I have always found that there is a great deal of choice in focus. I think the choice of wallpaper is quite limited though. If you are looking for a more traditional wallpaper then you'll be fine, but I find the more trendy big print wallpapers are of a much better quality in b and q.

In terms of paint and building utensils though, this store is very efficient in providing good quality items at a very reasonable price. In my experience I have found that Focus is slightly cheaper than other leading diy stores. Although there is not a huge difference in prices, sometimes there are great savings to be had.

There are always lots of staff roaming around the store. I have always found them to be great sources of knowledge regarding all things diy. They are in majority, always happy to offer assistance. However I have to pass remark that I do think the standards within the staff has slipped in focus of late. I was really appalled the other day to find a dog running freely around the store. There was a member of staff who saw the dog, but did nothing about it. I found this made my opinion of the store decline greatly.

They have a great outside garden area within Focus. I love to potter around this department, looking at all the plants, pots and garden accessories. I was able to purchase a really pretty hanging basket. Which I thought looked delightful. I also picked up quite a lot of pansies and petunia plants. They looked very healthy and colourful and were very reasonable in price. (I think around £3 for a tray of petunia.)

They really look lovely in the garden, they have spread already and look really healthy. This is quite impressive when you consider what a chronic gardener I am.

I am always suprised at the amount of staff that are allocated to the tills in Focus. I have never, even at paek times seen my local focus particularly busy. However there are always atleast three till stations open. I have never, as yet had to wait long to be served in Focus. I always find the cashiers very helpful when pricing heavy goods they will use their scanner to price the item. This saves you lifting the heavy item in and out of the trolley.

I don't think this store is as high quality as B and Q. If im honest I think it is more of a budget version. However for everyday diy items. I can't fault this store. I wouldn't buy items such as wallpaper or lighting from this store, as I find their ranges are slightly too traditional for my tastes as I like bold and contemporary design.