Styling the Seasons – Page 2 – Apartment Apothecary

katy 1st May 2016

Styling the Seasons – May

May is definitely one of my favourite months. There’s warmth in the sunshine, the parks in London look so beautiful and it’s definitely a time to really enjoy the city and take as many opportunities to get out into the countryside, too. We got up early yesterday morning and took Otto for a walk in our local park before all the picnics and football games as neither of these are safe with our dog around. I very bravely took my vintage basket and some scissors to snip a few blooms for a May Day posy. I think I have shared here before that I am terrified of being told off for picking wild flowers in parks even though I have been assured it is absolutely fine. I can happily tell you no park wardens chased me home so I think I’m safe for now.

I found the first few stems of Cow Parsley, a couple of remaining Bluebells, sweet smelling Lily of the Valley and a tiny fallen branch of blossom. I also cut a few flowers from my Hellebore plant on my balcony, which have gone to seed. This little posy of flowers represents the end of Spring for me and the beginning of Summer, which is how I view May. Flowers are set to feature heavily in this coming month as I have a flower arranging workshop booked in and I’ve been invited to the Chelsea Flower Show, which I am BEYOND excited about.

When we got home, after a pitstop at the market for fresh pastries and coffee, I put my posy together in a jam jar and looped some string around it to hang on my neighbour’s front door to celebrate May Day. To find out more about this Pagan tradition pop over to Lou’s blog and use the hashtag #MayDayPosies if you want to share a picture of yours.

What does May mean to you? Charlotte and I would love to know and see your styled surfaces. It is such a worthwhile process to stop, reflect and re-style a surface in your home to represent the coming month. Tag me and Lotts and Lots and use the hashtag #StylingTheSeasons – either write a blog post or post a pic on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Happy May styling everybody!

Katy x

katy 27th April 2016

April: a review

What a funny month April has been: from beautiful sun one minute to snow the next, from Bluebells thriving to Sweet Peas dying in the frost. Personally, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster month for me too. I started the month feeling pretty horrendous, dosed up on IVF drugs in preparation for our fifth round to finishing the month with a glimmer of hope after both our frozen embryos survived the thawing process and were transferred. This month has been one of counting down the days, literally, and that will continue into May as we countdown to finding out whether this round of treatment has worked. Every day feels like a month and I’ve been taking long walks with Otto to help pass the time so I feel even more aware of the changing seasons compared to most. There’s a gorgeous bank in our local park that represents the seasons perfectly and as the snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils wilt they are very quickly taken over by a blanket of Bluebells and then the Cow Parsley comes in May. Hopefully I can snip a stem or two for next month’s Styling the Seasons post.

This month I’ve spent a fair amount of time at home and as always I’ve been thinking of things I can change/improve. When I visited Laura Lakin‘s home this month I fell for her blush pink duvet cover – a perfect update for spring/summer – and then I saw Jane’s delicious looking bed with folds of glorious linen in Spring colours so I had to order one! As soon as I saw Jane’s post on Tea with Ruby I wanted to jump into the picture and soak it all up for myself. Isn’t it beautiful? You must pop over and see the full post.

Tea with Ruby

Here’s a list of all the wonderful Styling the Seasons blog posts from April:

Let’s talk Mommy / The Vintage House That Could / Lobster and Swan / Growing Spaces / Bradshaw and Sons / Three Sons Later / The Nice Nest / The Twinkle Diaries / Tea with Ruby / The Cabinet Maker’s Love Tale / The Lovely Drawer / Under the Plum Blossom Tree / Lotts and Lots / Apartment Apothecary

Don’t forget, you can see all previous posts on our Styling the Seasons Pinterest board. If you’d like to take part in Styling the Seasons next month, all you have to do is style any surface in your home – window sill, hallway table, wall, dining table, sideboard – to represent what May means to you. Either blog about your styled surface or post a shot on Facebook, Instagram or twitter and tag Lotts and Lots and I and use the hashtag #stylingtheseasons. And let’s hope for some warmer weather in May!

Katy x

katy 8th April 2016

Styling the Seasons – April

My kind friend Farah popped in yesterday with some beautiful flowers for me and I knew they would look lovely in separate bottles. As I was putting them on a little shelf in my bedroom they looked so pretty and added a touch of Spring, perfect for this month’s Styling the Seasons. This sort of floral display also looks beautiful on a windowsill or dot the bottles in different rooms throughout your home to make a bunch of flowers go that bit further. Farah also gave me a bunch of tulips and told me that adding a copper in to the vase would keep them fresher for longer – has anyone else tried that?

Sorry that I’ve been a bit quiet over here and on Instagram; I will try and get a few more posts up this month if I can but hope May will be a bit more productive.

Charlotte and I 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.

Happy April styling everyone!

Katy x

katy 31st March 2016

March: a review

If I’m honest, I was on the verge of not picking a favourite Styling the Seasons post this month as I found it so difficult to choose and I loved everyone’s in one way or another. However, I kept on coming back to Heather’s blog and these gorgeous pots that she found at the back of her garage as she cleaned it out for the Minimalism Game! You must drop by her post and see more of her beautiful styling…

Growing Spaces

There were many other wonderful posts this month, as well as a huge number of images on Instagram that you can find by searching the #StylingTheSeasons hashtag. I think everyone has been touched by the joy of Spring this month as there was bountiful blossom and blooms. Do make sure you pop over to these blog posts, too:

The Twinkle Diaries | The Villa on Mount Pleasant / Growing Spaces / Lapin Blu / Capture By Lucy / The Ordinary Lovely / Let’s Talk Mommy / Mummy Limited / Marmalade Pie / The Cabinet Maker’s Love Tale / Under the Plum Blossom Tree / We Made This Home / Tea with Ruby / The Lovely Drawer / Gathered Cheer / Lotts and Lots / Apartment Apothecary

I hope everyone had a good month and fingers crossed April will bring much joy with it too. Please do join Charlotte and I next month and style any surface in your home to represent what April means to you and share on any social media or blog about it. We can’t wait to see!

Katy x

katy 2nd March 2016

Styling the Seasons – March

Welcome March and the return of Spring! One of the things that I love most about this time of year is that the mornings are brighter and I feel like I can reclaim hours in the day that were otherwise lost to me over the winter. Productivity levels go up and energy returns as everything comes to life once again.

Styling the Seasons - March | Apartment Apothecary | Indoor bulbs | Plants under cloche

This month is set to be a busy one, full of celebrations starting with my Dad’s partner’s 70th birthday this week (happy birthday, Shirley!), Mother’s Day, a special weekend getaway for my mum’s 70th, Easter and then my friend’s wedding at the end of the month. Lots of parties, presents and having a good time. Hopefully, we will see more of the sunshine and that special Spring feeling that is so hard to describe in words.

Styling the Seasons - March | Apartment Apothecary | Indoor bulbs | Plants under cloche

I did this month’s styling a couple of weeks ago as I was doing an Instagram takeover for HomeSense with a ‘Getting ready for Spring’ theme. I bought these cloches for £5 each and I love how they make a humble pot of Spring bulbs shine – they’d be perfect for an Easter table centrepiece. Just don’t leave them under glass for too long!

Styling the Seasons - March | Apartment Apothecary | Indoor bulbs | Plants under cloche

Charlotte and I 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.

Happy March styling everyone!

Katy x