When we first viewed our rental nearly 2 years ago, we were super keen to move in because it was a lovely old Victorian terrace with original features and 3 bedrooms. However, it was quite tired and dated inside which meant it was under market value. We snapped it up and our landlady agreed to replace the bathroom and kitchen over the next couple of years. The first job was the bathroom….

It is a single skin extension built to connect the original house and the old out-house. Because it wasn’t well insulated, it was very damp and mouldy and the walls needed wiping down once a week for most of the year to prevent black mould from growing. Here it is…

This post is for you if you are embarking on a renovation and will be living at the house for some or all of the project. It’s inspired both by clients and friends who are doing major renovation work whilst living in the building site. I'll also be keeping all of this advice in my own back pocket for when we eventually do our renovation too.

This blog post is all about how to create a sense of home when things feel very uprooted. I run an interiors agony aunt column on Instagram where I take questions from followers and answer them in a video. I received a question from somebody who is separating from their husband, but they’re both living in the house so they’re spending half the week staying with friends and family. This person was concerned about staying grounded and how to have a sense of safety and security in that situation.

Really, winter doesn't truly arrive until the solstice on 21st December, and for my other seasonal switch arounds and celebrations I wait for each equinox or solstice to begin to ground myself in the new season ahead. But, I always celebrate winter a little differently, and earlier than the other seasons, because we also love to celebrate advent and Christmas as well as the solstice. I confess that I got sick of dried leaves and pumpkins covering the house too, so recently cleared Autumn away and have been making way for winter. I know, I know, it's still too early for some, but I'm feeling ready to welcome the frost and sparkle of winter.

I have gone through my archives and pulled together some of my favourite Christmas tables to provide inspiration for your own table. None of the ideas are mega expensive or require buying much and can be pulled together fairly easily. I have added styling notes to each pic highlighting some of the ideas to steal.

I have taken successive steps over the last few years to simplify Christmas and this year is obviously no different. No presents at all for the adults means I have more time and energy for the fun stuff like making and faffing and yes, laying pretty tables (something that happens to bring me great joy, which is so important this year more than ever). You don't need to cook really fancy food this Christmas to make it magical (Hello Christmas breakfast!), nor do you need formal silver wear, gazillions of courses and the 'right' wine glasses either. 

If you struggle to see results with your decluttering, then I have a trick to share with you. It shouldn’t be used alone, but doing this will have the biggest impact on how your home feels when you’re decluttering. watch the video or read the content below.

Today, i’m continuing my mini-series about clutter! I shared my simple decluttering method in this post, and this week i’m talking about some of the surprising ways clutter drags us down. If you haven’t read the last post, hop over there now.

Before I get into the ways clutter brings us down, I want to start by saying that some clutter and mess are normal.

We’re NOT aiming for perfection. A perfect decluttered home can be an unattainable standard we hold ourselves too. It can play into the capitalist and patriarchy driven message that women should be the ones doing domestic labour, and should be doing it perfectly. In my world, however, decluttering and home styling are actions to help us to create a sanctuary space that reflects our personalities and loves and holds us safe. In my world we don’t talk about “if” clutter and mess build-up, but how to handle it “when” it does. When you have fewer things, and it all has a place, it’s so much quicker and easier to tidy up.

If you’ve been around here long enough you’ll know how much I love the concept of ‘home’ and my conviction that what we put in them, and how we organise and style them, has a huge impact on our happiness. Part of that for me is encouraging ethical consumption where possible. Fast interiors are following swiftly on the heels of fast fashion with its impact on the environment and the fact it disproportionately affects BIPOC. Building a home (or wardrobe- two of the main ways we express our identities) on those foundations feels… not ideal. I’m not directing this at people who genuinely don’t have the funds available, and the odd piece here and there might be a good in-between option for folk who are transitioning to more ethical choices. Anyway- back to the point of this post! My favourite place to find interiors treasures could be summarised as second hand; whether via shops and markets or second hand selling sites. But more specifically, I have found lots of lovely things recently on Facebook marketplace. In the images below, the collection of vintage fans were from Facebook Marketplace last year (for £6 and a 20-minute drive, not bad eh?), and last week I spotted this framed Picasso print for £10! I couldn’t believe it and the lovely seller even dropped it to my home.

Meet the result of Lockdown and cabin fever: our new pallet seating area!

It really feels like a whole new room has been added to the house. We knew we wanted to create a seating area here but we had a few limitations. We rent so couldn’t make any permanent changes, we had a small budget, and there is a flower bed along the bottom of the wall on the left. Where possible we wanted re-use or recycle things. We also wanted it to feel really comfortable and luxurious- like a proper outdoor sofa. So here’s what we did!

I really believe in the power of our homes. Our environment has a huge effect on our happiness and the happiness of our families (even if they don’t consciously realise it!) and the science backs it up. Home is where we are spending more time than ever before, thanks to COVID. So when that space is cluttered, messy, and joyless, it’s not surprising that it affects our mood and brings us down. Clutter has a really dampening effect on our energy levels and the way our homes feel.

often mainstream advice about decluttering and home styling is a little bit overwhelming for those of us who are juggling work, childcare, health conditions, and overwhelm. My approach to decluttering and home styling can be summed up as:

I haven't sent one of these for a while. After lockdown, I wasn't sure how many lovely things there were to celebrate each month, or how welcome this content would be at this time, especially as so much of it I connected to nature. But after doing some soul searching, maybe this is exactly the sort of thing we need at the moment. Maybe some pure nature shaped escapism can provide a much needed respite from virus doom. So here I am, with a slightly different version of my monthly newsletter; things to make, do and celebrate in this month of May. Because it is a very sweet month.