Welcome home

There's no doubt about it - I'm a homebody. There's nothing better than walking through the front door after a weekend away, a day or even a few hours out. Closing the door behind me. Kicking off my shoes. And being home. I love to travel. I love to be out doing things. But I love coming home at the end of it.

I've been thinking about home and what it means recently as we're on the cusp of owning our own home again. We've been living in a rented apartment for the last 20 months. It was supposed to be temporary but...here we are 20 months later. We moved here looking for a refuge. A place to figure out the next step in our lives. As I'm such a homebody where we did that was important.

Now that - fingers crossed (I have to keep saying that as house buying in the UK is a rocky business) - we're coming to the end of our time here, I've been thinking about our current home and what a fabulous job it's done for us.

We arrived a little battered. A little shell shocked from the unexpected turn our life had taken. Signing the lease was a leap of faith. We had no way of knowing how much we'd come to love living here - the apartment itself, the technicolour sunsets from our huge windows, the area too - and how this little, supposed-to-be-temporary apartment would become a real home. Our lives aren't, and won't be, perfect but we'll leave here stronger, and knowing that we can deal with whatever is on the menu for us next.

This photo sang the warmth and welcome of home for me. It's the beautiful mix of flowers, the hurricane lamps, the light, the open gate. I'm pleased to say that our new home - fingers crossed - has a similar little garden gate and flower-bordered path leading up to the front door. Perhaps that's why this image struck a cord.

I hope you'll come and visit.

x

(Image: Style Me Pretty)

Just because...

It's amazing what you find when you go looking. I came across this chair and flower set by chance and immediately swooned. The chair is perfect (I'd be very happy with eight for my dinning room). The lilac roses and the miniature lime hydrangeas are so romantic.

So, because I loved this image and on the off chance there might be more, I went looking for similar chair and flower combinations. More there were and these are my favourites.

The burst of pink and yellow peonies among succulents bring arid surroundings and a rusty chair to life. 

This chair is the perfect no-nonsense canvas for the regal, crown-like protea.





































This could almost be an old milking stool so just right for a country bouquet.

To some, chairs and flowers may seem arbitrary but I loved the idea and was delighted by the images I discovered in no time at all. Simple things can bring such pleasure. 

x

(Images: All Style Me Pretty - 1, 2, 3 & 4)

Secret gardens

Can't resisit a little more on the subject of special, hideaway places at home. Who isn't tempted by a secret garden? A place to get lost among trees and flowers, with birds and butterflies for company. And a few special people too.

Imagine a perfect day.

It starts with a pre-brunch stroll under the arbour...


























Then you follow a hydrangea-lined path to brunch in your vintage greenhouse...

A late-afternoon snooze in the sunshine...

The day ends with dinner hidden among the trees...

When can you come over?

x

(Images: Architectural Digest, l'elegance du herisson, The Secret Garden, Sandy Koepke Interior Design)

A special detail to end the week

It's often the smallest, sometimes overlooked, often not crucial detail that makes something special - be it a table setting, an accessory, the colour of a door. I'm always considering and too often staring at small details that take my fancy and make something interesting for me.

I love this image. It's just paint brushes in pots. But one pot, with its delicately-painted garland, hints of pink and yellow and the rough gluing of the cracked piece, makes this image. 

These details turn simple paint brushes into a still life worthy, I thought, of saving and using for inspiration for how I display things in my home.

x

(Image: Jordi Canosa)

Escaping at home

I love the idea of a small space somewhere at home whose main purpose isn't wrapped up in cooking, eating, sleeping, watching or all the doing that goes on at home. A place that's more for just enjoying and being. Maybe it's a place that's just for you. Maybe you share it with others. Either way it's somewhere to escape to - for thinking, reading, hiding, plotting and planning, or all of those with someone special as well as chatting, laughing, tea-drinking, reminiscing and debating.

I've been thinking about spaces and how to use them a lot recently as we're house hunting. These are some of the special spots, which look perfect to escape to, that I've found online.

A view, lots of cushions and it's tea time...

Cozy, sunlit and flowers on the table...

 

My favourite because it's a real nook in the snug sense of the word, it's surrounded by books and the view is, I think, of Paris...



A shady spot in a courtyard...

Most of the spaces I've chosen involve a view or being outdoors and books are an important feature. Clearly some of my must-haves. Could I re-create a space like one of these in a new home somewhere?

And here is one just for fun - we should always be dreaming after all.

x

(Images: Perfect Hideaways, Architectural Digest, Unknown, Samode Hotels, Architectural Digest)