November has been the best month of 2014 for me. I’m sure this is in part because it has been in such stark contrast to the previous month’s bout of illness, but this month has seen such exciting times for my blog so it really stands out as a highlight of this year.

I was beyond thrilled to win at the Amara Interiors Blog Awards this month. It came at just the right time, when I was beginning to feel slightly stressed about the fact that I had had to put my blog on pause as I was out of action for most of September and all of October. The acknowledgement of the judges, as well as you lovely people who voted for me, is such a wonderful feeling and has spurred me on to work even harder on my blog. It was also a really lovely evening as I got to see some blogging pals that I haven’t seen in a while or had never met – it always makes the blogging world seem more real when I get to see other bloggers in ‘real life’. The awards were closely followed by another blogging highlight, which was our first Styling the Seasons event that we held in Liberty. It was the most perfect day and I transcended into a somewhat dream like state, surrounded by beautiful Tana Lawn. It doesn’t get better than that. I’ve also had my home photographed twice this month for magazines, which is always fun, and I finally feel like I’m getting there on the DIY front at home – just the bedroom floor to be done now and then we’ll probably have to move because I will have run out of projects to do here! On top of those exciting events, I’ve had loads of opportunities drop into my inbox, which I’m very excited about and therefore, I’m really looking forward to December.

Thank you to everyone who has helped to make my November such a good one, especially everyone who has taken part in this month’s Styling the Seasons. It has been an exceptionally beautiful month and I’m secretly glad that the orange of October is over 😉 I do have a firm favourite this month and I knew it would be my favourite as soon as I saw it…

Styling the Seasons – The Lovely Drawer

I am in love with Teri’s signature style of bright white backgrounds and pops of bright colour, yet she still represents Autumn so well through her choice of props. I always really enjoy Teri’s story behind each of her styled surfaces. Go and explore her blog for a while and you’ll fall in love too.

I had many other favourites for different reasons but I’ve chosen some to show you that have inspired me this month. I’m getting more and more into white offset with pastel blues, pinks and greens. Aqua has been my favourite colour for a long time now and I’ve noticed I’ve been using it a lot recently. I just love the freshness of a white background and that’s why I fell in love with these styled surfaces…

Styling the Seasons – A Quiet Style

Styling the Seasons – Growing Spaces

Styling the Seasons – Made by Molu

I have to also mention Kerstin’s post from all the way over in Sweden – she even wrote the post in English, just for us. I’m such a fan of Swedish design and interiors so I am so excited that Styling the Seasons has made it’s way over there and that Kerstin has shared this lovely corner of her home, which is so creatively styled…

Styling the Seasons – All tom kerstin

And a few more faves that have used my favourite colour and styled their surfaces so beautifully…

Top left: @c_colli Instagram Top right: @capturebylucy Instagram Bottom left: The Villa on Mount Pleasant Bottom right: @lillekaninblog Instagram

And finally,

Here’s a list of all the wonderful Styling the Seasons posts from November…

Makelight / The Lovely Drawer / Allt om kerstin / Cate St Hill / The Villa on Mount Pleasant / The Planned Adventure / Lobster and Swan / Really Pretty Useful / Hannah in the House / Bradshaw and Sons / A Quiet Corner / Beak Up Crafts / Something I Made / The Vintage Good Life / The Ordinary Lovely / This Little Space of Mine / Claireabellemakes / Lapin Blu / Growing Spaces / Living in London / Wild and Grizzly / Made by Molu / Geoffrey and Grace / Lotts and Lots / Apartment Apothecary

I can not WAIT to see all the beautiful posts next month, especially the Liberty print decorations that were made during our Crafting the Seasons event. Can. Not. Wait. Drop by tomorrow to see my December post – lots of sewing has been going on here in preparation! Don’t forget, you can see all the September, October and November posts on my Pinterest Styling the Seasons board.

Katy x

P.S. 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 December means to you. Either blog about your styled surface and tell us what December means to you, or post a shot on Facebook, Instagram or twitter and tag me and Lotts and Lots and use the hashtag #stylingtheseasons. Keep the tinsel to a minimum 😉

I’m actually a bit in shock that today is November. It seems like yesterday that I wrote my first Styling the Seasons post in September, which was the complete opposite to this month’s styled surface. If you haven’t joined in yet, but would like to challenge yourself to give styling a go (it can be much harder than it looks!) Charlotte has written such a brilliant post over at Lotts and Lots with some tips.

And so to this month. For me, November is all about hibernation, cosying down, watching far too much dreadful TV and enjoying the long evenings. I have chosen to style my bedside table as it is a surface I often ignore and it is much more functional than anything else. However, it is the last surface I see when I go to bed at night and the first I see when I wake up in the morning and since styling it I have really noticed a difference. I have tried to make it ‘cosier’ by adding more ‘stuff’, in a restrained way because I do hate clutter. November is all about warmth, tea, books, blankets and candles burning non-stop (I light them as soon as I wake up). I have tried to inject a bit of colour in to the styling as I always associate November with fireworks, and Bonfire Night is always something we celebrate as it is my sister’s birthday. Aqua and turquoise are my favourite colours so I went on a hunt around my house to collect a group of items of that colour.

I was given this blue Hydrangea three weeks ago for my birthday. I can not get over how beautiful it is and still is, weeks later.

The lovely cup is from Decorator’s Notebook and the candle is from West Elm – Geranium and Ivy.

I love this vintage Burleigh plate and the flowers remind me of fireworks, which is always a night we celebrate because it is my sister’s birthday. I’m also big into match boxes (I know that sounds weird) and when I saw these Hay matches I had to have them.

Photograph by Katharine Peachey

What does November 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 – 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.

Happy November styling everybody!

Katy x

P.S. Charlotte and I are particularly excited about this month as we have invited the bloggers that we reached out to in August to help us launch Styling the Seasons in September. They all did such wonderful blog posts about it, which encouraged so many others to get involved. To say thank you, we have organised a craft party at Liberty next week  so watch out for the photos of the lovely makes. These are the invites we sent out for the event. Charlotte suggested the books, which work perfectly as they are great props for styling and most are connected to nature and the seasons. I made the little tags and packed them all off…

Pictures L to R: Littlegreenshed, Growing Spaces, Lobster and Swan, The Planned Adventure

Another month has been and gone with such speed, which reminds me of one of the reasons Charlotte and I started Styling the Seasons. It’s a chance to stop for a moment, no matter how short, and reflect on the change of seasons around us and think about what the month means to us. It has been so wonderful to see all of your different interpretations of October but also the commonalities; I have so enjoyed seeing you collect leaves, pick pumpkins and decorate conkers. There has been so much beautiful nature in so many of your shots and blog posts and watching your children get involved has been really special too. Thanks to all of you who have posted a photo on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or written a beautiful blog post. Charlotte and I spoke on the phone the other day and gushed about you all and how much you have inspired us! One of the nicest things this month has been ‘meeting’ new people who have shared their posts or shots, which was another reason for starting this blog series. We have discovered such stunning Instagram accounts and wonderful blogs and even a few of the wonderful images were featured on the gorgeous Folkings. Here are links to all the blog posts this month and search the #stylingtheseasons hashtag to see all of the images…

Littlegreenshed / Lapin Blu  / Hannah in the House / The Ordinary Lovely / The Villa at Mount Pleasant / Cate St. Hill / Freckled Fennell / Love Lemon / The Planned Adventure  / Growing Spaces / The Lovely Drawer / Diying To Make It / Made By Molu  / A Quiet Style / Really Pretty Useful / Papermash / Makelight / Celebrate Creation / Daisy Fay / Wild and Grizzly / Geoffrey and Grace / Living in London / Under the plum blossom tree / Katharine Peachey / Lotts and Lots / Apartment Apothecary

To pick a favourite post for October is very difficult indeed but there were a few that stood out for various reasons.

I was so inspired by Rebecca’s seasonal table centrepiece. I love everything about it! See the full post at Really Pretty Useful.

I was blown away by the beauty of the flowers in Sarah’s blog post. The combination of the wild flowers and the antique pine drawers is just gorgeous. See the full post at Freckled Fennell.

What is not to love about the glittery conkers that Lynne created? It’s such a beautiful example of using nature to style a surface. See the full post at Papermash.

Lori snuck this in just yesterday but I fell in love with it immediately. The fact that she has included hand printed tea towels and homemade autumn animal biscuits tipped it for me! See the full post at Wild and Grizzly.

Emily’s styled mantelpiece is so creative, colourful and bursts with joy. I also love that her children helped her along the way. See the full post at Makelight.

Thank you again to everyone who has styled and shared. I hope Styling the Seasons continues to give you inspiration throughout November and we really look forward to seeing more corners of your homes and finding out what next month means to you.

Katy x