Brand Review - Cable & Cotton

In an effort to add some colour to my home office, I turned to lighting company Cable & Cotton who happen to advertise their products through Notonthehighstreet.com. I have bought from Notonthehighstreet.com before and find the service easy to use, the communication being spot on and the products to arrive quickly.

About Cable & Cotton

They are a Brighton based company, sourcing their product from Thailand. Their factory is set up with the help of Thai government who helped women find work; it is based in a remote area of central Thailand and has a school for the worker's children that Cable & Cotton is helping equip. So thumps up on ethical product sourcing and helping local communities thrive.

The process of making each ball is quite arduous – a balloon is blown up to the correct shape and then cotton is weaved through a container with natural gum in it onto the ball. When the ball is covered it is hung up to dry by clothes-type pegs. Finally the balloon is popped and pulled out through the hole. So this really is a handicraft product!

What Cable & Cotton say about their fairy lights:

"they are a string of mood enhancing lights".

I wanted my lights to combine the colours of my new home office: black and off white that was already available (Farrow & Ball Railings walls and I was expecting a SurfaceView mural to be installed at the time, also in black and off white) as well as a pop of red with a Sotto Luce suspension light which is YET to go up (apparently the cabling in the existing pendant light is proving a bit complex for dear husband so I have to be patient until we find a day when he REALLY feels up to the challenge. Hopefully that day is going to be SOON). To give you an idea, this is what the room looked like when I ordered the lights:

Cost comparison - buy direct or through notonthehighstreet.com ?

The lights cost £36 for a £35 ball cable plus £2.75 for mainland UK delivery. You should note that this is £2.85 more expensive than buying direct from the Cable & Cotton website who offer the same product at £32.95 plus £2.95 for 1st class post.

When the lights arrived...

When the lights finally arrived... well, oh boy! We had some good fun. It is very easy to fit the lights into the cotton balls. Do follow the instructions though for the first couple. The box they arrived in is very sturdy, so fear not that they will be damaged in transit. They did not look fragile to me.

1) Test the lights are all working.

2) Feel for the cuts in the cotton balls with your thump and push the cut lightly inwards to make it distinctive.

3) Then push the fairy light in and then pull it back. The pulling back will ensure the light is secured and the hole will not longer be visible.

The lights are extremelly decorative whether lit or unlit. I used them around tree branches but you can put them around bookcases, stairs, curtain poles, bed frames, anywhere really.

The variety of colours means you can combine with any room decor as well.

Just string lights?

Cable & Cotton also do giant balls - like lampshades - that can be used as ceiling pendants or as table lamps. See more of those here. And you can even buy a coloured flex cable, for even more and better combinations! I would love to try that out!

What if I want to update my lights?

They thought about this so if you need to replace a light or add new colours you can buy individual balls and lights on the Cable & Cotton website. That's definitely a bonus! Just head to their replacements page.

So come on, show us the photos already!

Alright, alright, I will let you enjoy the photos now. I have more photos of this magic fairy lights in one of my pinterest boards here.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed assembling the lights. They give you the flexibility to play around with the pattern and colour combinations, they seem durable and long lasting. The soft white light is calming. I am pleased with my purchase and would go back to purchase more, possibly one of their pendant lights as well. I would recommend this product without hesitation for the fun factor and splash of colour.

The small print

I bought the lights, these were not gifted to me. The views here are my own, as is most of the photography unless otherwise indicated.

If you like what you read, please remember to leave a comment. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Jenny Kakoudakis likes to blog about travel. She launched award-winning Seasons in Colour in 2014 and the luxury interior design blog All The Pretty Homes in 2024.

When she is not chasing criminals out of the financial system (her day job), she gets planning her next adveture abroad.