This month’s Styling the Seasons is a little different to previous months as lovely Laura Ashley got in touch and very kindly offered some of the bloggers who regularly take part in our monthly styling challenge a few pieces from the new SS15 collection to use in February’s posts. On the 10th and 11th of February you will be able to see the twelve blog posts on the Laura Ashley blog and you can vote for your favourite one (as an extra incentive to vote you will enter the hat to win a £50 Laura Ashley voucher).

So, what did I choose from the new collection for my styling this month? When I think about what February means to me the one thing that instantly comes to mind is love. I’m not a massive fan of Valentine’s Day from a romantic point of view but since Jules proposed to me on that day last year, it has become special to me. However, it has always been a day to show everyone around me that I love them, not exclusively my partner. I think this stems from my mum because she would always give us a Valentines Day card and present so I began doing the same for my friends and my sisters over the years. Therefore, my styling had to include my Valentine makes that I will be gifting this month so I chose some fabric and wallpaper to get crafty with.

I chose to style the antique bureau that I was given by my parents for my seventh birthday because this is where I keep all my sentimental bits and bobs and the things that my loved ones have given me like old letters, photographs and mementoes…

Valentine’s Day macarons for friends and family.

I chose to style the antique bureau that I was given for my seventh birthday because it is where I keep sentimental mementoes and February always makes me think of love. The mirror belonged to my grandmother.

I made some fabric envelopes for letters that I will send to friends and my sisters. I used Laura Ashley’s Clarissa print, pink gingham, scarlet gingham, and Geranium print.

Precious letters that were sent to me when I was a small child by my great aunty Vera and my grandparents who lived in Ireland. I made some glittery tags for Valentine’s presents that are covered in Laura Ashley Geranium wallpaper and glitter.

I have a little bundle of mementoes that I have collected since Jules and I have been together, including postcards from places we have visited, menus from special meals we’ve had, hotels we’ve stayed in, cards we’ve given each other. The nostalgia from looking through this bundle is so much stronger than photographs of those events.

I covered little gift boxes in Laura Ashley’s Geranium wallpaper for Valentines gifts of chocolates and macarons.

My little drawer of special things including the cork of the bottle of wine that I gave to Jules the month after we met. I bought the wine in France after a wine tasting holiday and I was told not to drink it for at least three years. Jules and I drank it last year on Valentine’s Day after he proposed.

I will post a tutorial to show you how to make the fabric envelopes as they are very simple but so sweet. You could even get fancy and embroider the name of the recipient on the front of the envelope.

So, what does February mean to you? I can’t wait to see your Styling the Seasons shots – just post them on any social media platform and use the #stylingtheseasons hashtag and don’t forget to tag me and Charlotte of Lotts and Lots.

Hope to see you over on the Laura Ashley blog on the 10th and 11th of February and don’t forget to vote for your favourite styling (mine, right?!).

Katy x

P.S. See my Styling the Seasons posts for: September, October, November, December and January. Also, you can see all of the Styling the Seasons blog posts (nearly 200 of them now!) on my Pinterest board.

I have to say that Styling the Seasons brightened up my January no end; the styling has been so fresh, vital and optimistic. I didn’t quite know what to expect from January and I had no idea how everyone would interpret the month but I loved the contrast between the cosy, festive styling of December and this month’s light and breezy style. Every time I have seen a new shot of the lovely corners of your homes I have been more and more inspired to cherish my time at home and try to focus on the sometimes hidden beauty of January.

My absolute favourite came quite early in the month and I instantly fell in love with it. It was styled by Laura who hasn’t taken part in Styling the Seasons before, which makes it even better as I love discovering new blogs. I loved the fact that so many new faces appeared behind the hashtag this month. You must check out Laura’s gorgeous blog and the story behind her styling over on We Made This Home…

Another favourite was also from someone who took part for the first time this month and that is Caroline’s amazing ‘shelfie’ – err, how jealous are you of that shelf?! Caroline writes the gorgeous blog Scraps of Us.

A couple of other styled shots that actually made me gasp when I saw them were Charlotte’s (I know I shouldn’t really choose her but I genuinely loved her post) and Emma’s from The Vintage Good Life. I think the textures, colours and life of their styling are just beautiful and captured so wonderfully well.

I really hope you have found some inspiration from this month’s shots and could you be thinking about joining us in February? Next month we are teaming up with Laura Ashley to make it a bit more exciting and to celebrate their new Spring 2015 collection. Twelve bloggers will be styling the seasons as normal but everybody gets the chance to vote for which one you like the best. If you vote, you will be in for the chance to win a £50 Laura Ashley voucher.

If you need inspiration for next month take a look at all of the wonderful posts that were written and styled in January as well as hopping over to Instagram to see all of the amazing shots there – just search the hashtag. We are beyond thrilled that so many of these bloggers have joined us for the first time so do drop by and say hi:

We Made This Home / Growing Spaces / Tea with Ruby / Camellia Rose / Afkes / Re-made by Sam / The Lovely Drawer / The Cabinet Maker’s Love Tale / Alltomkerstin / A Crafty Alternative / The Ordinary Lovely / Chasing My Village / The Vintage Good Life / This Little Space of Mine / The Villa on Mount Pleasant / Beak Up Crafts / Littlegreenshed / Colourliving / Sew A Little Love / Claireabellemakes / Geoffrey and Grace / Gathered Cheer / Daisy Fay /Lapin Blu / Scraps of Us / A Quiet Style / Cate St. Hill / Really Pretty Useful / Lobster and Swan / Living In London / Made by Molu / Wild and Grizzly / Makelight / Something I Made / Sew Simone / Lotts and Lots / Apartment Apothecary

We really hope you join us next month – I’ll be back on Monday with my February post.

Katy x

Happy January everyone! I hope that the January blues haven’t come knocking at your door.

I’ll be honest and tell you that I’m not a massive fan of January because it never feels like a positive fresh start – I always feel like I have a festive food and drink hangover and that there’s not much to look forward to. For me, it’s a time to be kind to myself; eat well, clean the house (I know that doesn’t sound very kind but it makes me feel better), get some exercise  and plan nice things that I can focus on.

I have tried to represent that essence of being kind to myself in my styling this month. I actually styled this pocket string shelf in exactly the same way for a magazine shoot last month (it only stayed like this for a day) and then I changed it up again for the festive period. I have changed it back to how it was for that shoot because I wanted to take it easy, not fuss around too much, not cause mayhem around the house and to keep things simple, which is something I find really important at this time of year when I can feel a bit fragile.

I love the freshness of these objects, which is something I also think of when it comes to January; I’m craving  fresh food, lots of water, fresh air and new, fresh beginnings, too. I hate setting resolutions, but I do think it’s a good idea to reflect on the year that has passed and think of things that I can do differently or try new ways of doing things. This styling is a a bit of an experiment for me as I normally go vintage where I can so it feels exciting to be playing with modern ceramics and bright colours.

In another way my ‘shelfie’ represents my longing for lighter and brighter days now the festive novelty of dark, cosy evenings has worn off. Let there be light!

What does January mean to you? Charlotte and I would love to know and see your styled surfaces. It is such a lovely thing to stop, reflect and re-style a surface in your home, clearing what was a dumping ground, especially after all the festivities and house guests – I promise it will make you smile every time you walk by or sit and look at it so please do join in! Tag me and Lotts and Lots and use the hashtag #StylingTheSeasons – either write a blog post or post on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Also, you must pop over to Charlotte’s blog as her January post is simply beautiful! I think I gasped when I first saw it.

Happy January styling everybody!

Katy x

Another month has past, another Christmas full of fun is over – I hope you and your family have had a wonderful one. Only another couple of days left of 2014 and the end of the fourth month of Styling the Seasons, that we began back in September. I have loved seeing everyone’s festive styling and the traditional decorations, alongside some alternative colour schemes and so much nature. It’s all been divinely beautiful and what Styling the Seasons was made for!

I do have a few December faves that I would like to share here and then we move onwards and upwards to January 2015, which will be a very interesting – what does that month mean to you and how will you represent that in your styling? I will post my styled surface here on Monday 5th January so I can have a few days off for some New Year fun in a cottage in Wales with friends (definitely no Wifi!). In the mean time I have put together a round up of 2014 blog posts that were photobombed by Otto – that will be a January 1st treat for you!

Anyhoo, back to a few of my faves from this month and Charlotte will be posting her favourite Crafting the Seasons posts over on Lotts and Lots…

Beautiful colours and composition from @xantheb on Instagram.

I love Cate’s sense of style and we both have this tree so this is definitely one of my faves over on Cate St. Hill blog.

I love every single item in this shot from @tomodachiwendymac on Instagram.

Lovely bursts of colour over on The Cabinet Maker’s Lovetale blog.

Such gorgeous use of nature and I love the muted palette in these shots: Top left: @hintyprint on Instagram Top right: @beautyvariete on Instagram Bottom left: Freckled Fenell blog Bottom right: @kojoandlee on Instagram

What beautiful styling, wonderful colours and gorgeous interiors. I just hope January is as beautiful!

See you back here on January 1st for a whole lot of Otto and January 5th for my Styling the Seasons post. I so hope you join in next month too!

Have a wondrous new year and when you are feeling a bit ragged on January 1st hop over to get some inspiration from all of these beautiful blog posts from this month…

Lobster and Swan / The Villa on Mount Pleasant / Growing Spaces / The Planned Adventure / Cate St. Hill/ The Lovely Drawer / Made by Molu / The Cabinet Maker’s Lovetale / The Vintage Goodlife / The Ordinary Lovely / Freckled Fennell / Circle of Pine Trees / Living in London / All Tom Kerstin / Mia Fleur / Beak up Crafts / Daisy Fay / Really Pretty Useful / The Villa on Mount Pleasant / Something I Made / Painting Grace / Littlegreenshed / Lapin Blu / A Quiet Style / Makelight / Geoffrey and Grace / Lotts and Lots / Apartment Apothecary

Katy x