August definitely wasn’t a holiday month for us. Traditionally, August would be all about long, hot days, usually spent in Europe but this year we were stuck at home with very few chances to enjoy ourselves and it rained non-stop. Sooooo, I have decided September is going to be our summer (if that makes sense).
I have styled up our dining table with what I hope September will be mostly about: long, lazy, relaxing lunches of wine, bread and cheese and the lavender to try to create the illusion that it is still summer. I have to mention my wonderful friends Agnes, Naj and Amy this month as they helped me come up with this idea whilst on my favourite weekend away of the summer in Norfolk.
This month, we are asking our readers and our Styling the Seasons followers to use their favourite vintage finds for their styling as we approach our Vintage Jumble & Prop Sale on October 4th in Lindfield, West Sussex. I have used these beautiful French plates and jug that I found at Ardingly Antiques Fair a couple of months ago. France has always been a big part of our summers, especially when I was growing up, so it seemed fitting to create a late summer lunch with a French theme.
Now that we have done a full twelve months of Styling the Seasons, it is so interesting to be able to compare the months of 2015 with the months of 2014. When I look back at my September 2014 post the vibe is so different and I think I still very much had the teacher mentality of September being all about a fresh start, whereas this year I feel much more flexible. Actually, my styling this September is much more similar to Charlotte’s styling this time last year.
What does September mean to you? Charlotte and I would love to see your styled surfaces and it would be great if you could use your favourite vintage finds and even better if you join us for our Vintage Jumble & Prop Sale on October 4th at 1.30 – 4.30pm in King Edward Hall, Lindfield, West Sussex. You will be able to pick up lots of goodies to help you style up all those neglected surfaces in your home for the coming year of Styling the Seasons!
Hello! I’ve been away from the blog for the past couple of weeks and I’ve missed you. I hope you have all had a lovely August despite all this awful weather. Before we say goodbye to August there is one thing left to do and that is to celebrate a whole year of Styling the Seasons. There have been almost 500 blog posts written since September 2014 that you can see on our Pinterest board and there are nearly 6000 images on Instagram. Just wow!
As well as sharing my favourite August posts by you lovely lot I would also like to take this opportunity to reflect a bit on what Charlotte and I have achieved this year and why we have both grown to love this styling project that we dreamt up in a park this time last summer. I have gained so much through the wonderful, growing STS community and it has completely changed my blogging life as I have got to know so many of you. It was so daunting when I began my blog a couple of years ago because it felt as if everyone knew each other and I was out on a limb; it could feel a bit lonely as though I was writing my blog but no one was reading it. Starting STS has been such a brilliant way to get to know other bloggers and creatives and given me a genuine reason to engage with people on Instagram or on blogs. I have made new ‘real life’ friends because of this project, which is quite an amazing thing. Who knew styling a surface could lead to such an amazing support network?
Charlotte and I were always clear that we wanted to meet other like-minded people to share ideas and creative fun, which was realised with our wonderful seasonal events: Crafting the Seasons at Liberty last winter and a floral workshop, Styling Spring at{mine} . We are teaming up with other bloggers for the Bloggers’ Vintage Jumble Sale for our Autumn event. Hopefully, over the coming year we can meet even more of you!
Professionally, I have found so much value in developing and practising my styling skills, which has led to exciting opportunities with some of my favourite brands. I have been so inspired by the styling of others this past year, which has helped me explore and define my own style and I’m so grateful for that. I always said that when I gave up my teaching job to explore the world of interiors that I wouldn’t make firm plans but wait to see where the journey would take me and remain open to every opportunity that landed in my inbox. That has really paid off and I’m so pleased that I took up Charlotte’s suggestion to meet last summer during her lunch break to chat about working together. It has been such a fun partnership and she is ridiculously creative and inspiring.
Thank you to everyone who has taken part this year and I really hope you have found value in being more aware of the passing of time and change of seasons and reflecting that in your own home. Having lived in London all my life I must admit that until we began STS I was only really aware of the change in weather as the seasons changed; I paid very little notice to nature. I have loved discovering what defines each month in terms of nature, whether it be the Cow Parsley of May or the Lavender of July. And, as ever, I have LOVED tending to neglected surfaces in my home and bringing them back to life with my seasonal styling.
And so, that leaves me with just one last task of this first year of Styling the Seasons and that is to share my favourite styling of August. There were two posts that really stood out to me and look so “August-like”. Firstly, this beautiful shot by Ruth from Gathered Cheer that she took in France.
I also fell hard for this gorgeous styling by Jane of Tea with Ruby. I love the textures and natural colours.
Do check out all of the other posts that were written and styled this month, as well as checking out the #StylingTheSeasons hashtag on Instagram:
We would be thrilled if you join us for the second year of Styling the Seasons. You can either share your styled surface on Instagram or blog about it; you do not have to take part every month and feel free to dip in and out whenever the mood suits you. I will share my September post tomorrow and there’s a little twist next month as we would like you to use your favourite vintage finds in your styling as we gear up for our Bloggers’ Vintage Jumble Sale.
Thank you again for all your support over the last year, we hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have.
We are about to let out our flat on airbnb for a couple of weeks so I have been trying to look at each of the rooms through the eyes of our guests and getting rid of as much stuff as possible (you probably know by now that this is a constant narrative in my life!). If I invited you round for tea, you would probably say that I have a very tidy home. Usually there aren’t random piles of clutter here, there and everywhere and only one bowl of random bits, which sits on the hallway table. However, dark secrets lie behind a lot of my cupboard doors: the hallway cupboards, the wardrobes, the kitchen cupboards. Dark, dark secrets. Unfortunately, airbnb guests need to use these cupboards so there’s nowhere to hide!
The truth is that I’m not very good at keeping on top of my cupboards and I think this is because each one is full to its capacity, which means every time I want to use something from one of them, negotiating how to get the item in and out is like a Crystal Maze challenge. The bottom line is that we have too much stuff. When I first bought my flat five years ago I lived here alone and my cupboards functioned well but when Jules moved in just a few months later we didn’t add enough extra storage space to accommodate all of his stuff.
I am definitely one of those people that suffers as a result of disorder; I can’t concentrate and I’m not particularly productive in messy surroundings. Even if the room I am in is beautifully tidy and clutter free, if I know the cupboards are disorganised it puts me on edge (sad, I know). When I did my bedroom makeover a couple of months ago I cleared so much clutter out of the room, which felt amazing. However, I didn’t get round to sorting out the wardrobes and drawers so even though the room looked lovely and calm on the surface, unrest was lurking below.
And then everything changed when I watched this brilliant video by Heather about the KonMari method of decluttering…
Marie Kondo’s ‘The Life Changing Magic of Tidying’ claims that: “The KonMari Method will not just transform your space. Once you have your house in order you will find that your whole life will change. You can feel more confident, you can become more successful, and you can have the energy and motivation to create the life you want.” She has a mile-long waiting list of people desperate for her services so there must be something in it, right?
Marie Kondo suggests that you don’t tackle a room at a time, but rather you divide your belongings into categories. So, I gave the KonMari method a go with our clothes, bags, coats and shoes. Stage one involved gathering every item from around the house – from the wardrobes, drawers, hallway cupboards, shoe box, hooks on backs of doors and underbed storage.
Completely terrifying!
I also cleared out the under bed storage cases we have filled with clothes and added those to the pile on my bed. Otto promptly jumped into the storage case and fell fast asleep.
Stage two involved sorting through everything and trying to get rid of as much of possible. You are advised to hold up each item and decide whether or not it sparks joy – if it does, you keep it, if it doesn’t you thank it for its service and get rid of it. I worked through the shoes first, the bags next, Jules’s clothes after that and then mine. I managed to fill seven bin bags full of clothes, hats, shoes, jackets and bags that we no longer need, don’t wear or were worn out. I took three bags to the charity shop, I put one bag’s worth on eBay (I made £700!), offered one bag’s worth to my sisters and mum and two bags were recycled.
Stage three was all about putting the remaining clothes back into the wardrobe and drawers but in a considered way. I managed to use thirty fewer hangers (so you can imagine how cramped our wardrobe was before this) and the KonMari method is all about hanging the heaviest, longest items from the left to the right.
I need to paint the inside of my wardrobe now it’s all nice and organised.
Watch Heather’s video to see how to fold clothes in the KonMari way – WHY HAVE I NOT BEEN DOING THIS MY WHOLE LIFE??? I can finally see my clothes and fit soooo much more in to each drawer.
All in all the process took me about four or five hours. You may think it is an over statement but I genuinely do feel that the KonMari method of tidying and decluttering has the potential to be life changing for me, which I will discuss more in a future post as I have already become aware of subtle differences just tackling the clothes category has made. I am a convert – thank you to Heather for her video that motivated me to get started! I have moved on since I wrote this post to do my kitchenalia and I will post again next month to give you my thoughts on just how life changing it has been.
What do you think?
Katy x
P.S. Voting has just opened for this year’s Interior Blog Awards and I have been nominated in the Best DIY and Crafts category that I was so lucky to win last year with the help of all your votes. I would LOVE your vote this year and it will just take a couple of seconds. Thank you so much! Just click on this badge…
Without consciously meaning it to, this month’s Styling the Seasons really resembles my March styling in terms of textures and colours. March was a difficult month for me and August is also going to be full of big life stuff, which means we can’t go on holiday and experience all the loveliness that I normally associate with this month. Instead, I’m hoping for a calm and quiet time hence the muted colours and soft tones of all the beautiful ceramics that I have used to style my Pocket String shelf. I do also feel that these colours reflect the way I perceive August; the grass is drying out, the weather becomes hazy and the beautiful blooms of June and July begin to fade. I always connect colours with the different months of the year and August is definitely a yellowy golden month in my mind so the natural stoneware fits in well.
Let me just tell you a little bit about some of the gorgeous pieces that I have been collecting and brought together for this month’s styling. The jug on the top shelf and matching beaker on the middle shelf were lucky eBay finds and they are Welsh Helyg pottery. The two stoneware bottles were bargains I picked up in Hastings. The two white pouring bowls, small pouring jug and large vase are four of my favourite purchases ever. They are all made by Jude Allman who is a potter based on the Isle of Wight and her ceramics are hand thrown on a wheel using stoneware clay. Aren’t they beautiful? I also love the fact that they are such functional pieces. You can find more of Jude’s pieces over on Folksy.
I bought another trailing String of Hearts vine after my July post and I like the contrast between its delicate form and the big chunky leaves of the other plant – anyone know its name?
I’m going to try to get as much rest as possible this month, which means I will only be posting here once a week but I hope to be back at the beginning of September with lots of great posts and to celebrate a whole year of Styling the Seasons! Charlotte and I are so pleased that we can celebrate the year with as many of you as possible as we are joining forces with a group of our favourite bloggers to hold a vintage jumble and prop sale on October 4th in Lindfield, West Sussex, that is open to anyone and everyone that can make it. Please do come along and buy lots of great stuff to style up your home!
Do pop over to see Charlotte’s gorgeous post this month as well as searching the #StylingTheSeasons hashtag over on Instagram for inspiration. Don’t forget to hop over to our Pinterest board with the hundreds of blog posts that have been styled and written since last September. We would love for you to join us this month and style a surface in your home to show what this month means to you. Blog about it or post a picture on your favourite social media platform and tag us in so we can see! I wrote up a few of my photo-styling tips (plus a video of me in action!) last month just in case you are new to the styling game and want a bit of guidance.
July has been a funny month for me. I am so used to July being a ‘wind down’ month, having been a teacher, so it came as quite a shock, in this my first year of freelance work, that I have had to up my tempo rather than slow down. The result was a couple of weeks of paralysis – you know when you have so much to do so you do nothing at all?! I watched Wimbledon, enjoyed spending time outside and became fascinated with which flowers were blooming on my balcony, went on a couple of lovely weekends away and soaked up the sun at the beginning of the month. However, reality struck in the last couple of weeks, as did the rain and miserable weather, and I have come to terms with the fact that the summers will no longer be work-free zones for me.
Saying all that, I wouldn’t swap working freelance for anything now and I do realise how lucky I am. I have loved the flexibility to choose when to work and when not to; getting up extra early on big Wimbledon match days so I could spend the afternoon watching tennis guilt free, working into the evening so I could have an extra long walk with Otto when the sun was beaming, having a proper lunch break on our roof terrace with Jules and just adding an extra hour of work at the end of the day.
Never before have I been so aware of the seasons as I have this year and as summer has arrived I can not stop myself from inspecting every front garden that I pass and absorbing the changes in my local park. I’ve spent two wonderful weekends away this month in Norfolk and then Malvern and Warwickshire and both places had vegetable gardens that I loved foraging around in and asking questions about. I’m so grateful that Styling the Seasons has brought this awareness, something I have always lacked having lived in London all my life and never reallly encouraged to think about nature. I have asked “what is seasonal this month?” far too many times this year – I can’t want for next year when I will have so much more knowledge.
It has been far too difficult to pick my favourite shot for this month; I have loved them all in one way or another. I loved the way Emma captured the essence of summer, Esther’s first beautiful and thoughtful contribution to STS, the joy and excitement behind Kate’s post and the mental image of Rachel’s boys helping her with her gorgeous styling. I could go on and on.
In the end I chose this shot by Julia, whose beautiful blog Humphrey and Grace is fast becoming one of my favourites. The reason I chose this styled surface is the fact that it reflects how I have been feeling this month – a bit lost in quiet, calm contemplation. Such a beauitful image.
Do visit the other blog posts that were written this month for lots of lovely stories and beautiful styling. Don’t forget to search the #StylingTheSeasons hashtag on Instagram for hundreds more images from this month alone (5 000 in total now!).
