{I’ve asked 5 of my favourite, most-admired bloggers to fill in for me while I am away!  The task?  Tell me about a favourite space or place – either home or away – that you love.  I’m so excited to have some rather talented ladies here keeping Swoon Worthy ticking along while I’m gone and I know you’ll love them as well!

Carole from Mademoiselle Poirot has the most beautiful inspirational images on her blog and her photography skills leave your head in a spin.  This is a woman who can photograph a discarded chocolate wrapper and make it look beautiful.  Think I’m exaggerating?  I am not.  Her incredible eye for detail and her thoughtfulness are wrapped up in every post and every image, a feast for the senses.  Where vintage charm meets French chic. When I saw these pictures, I was in awe.  I think you will be as well…  Take it away Carole!}  

Bonjour lovely readers of Swoon Worthy and thanks so much to Redlilocks for inviting me to do this guest post.

When Red asked me to do this post, I was immediately happy to agree as I like (nearly) nothing more than to write about places I love. So I started thinking about all the places I’ve been too, the countries and cities I’ve seen and lived in. The hotels I’ve stayed in, restaurants I’ve eaten in and the historic buildings I’ve visited.

And then it hit me: my favourite place is home! Simple as that. No particular room because it changes depending on my mood, level of tiredness and time of the day, but simply home as the place I love to be most. Don’t get me wrong, I love to travel and explore the world and I would never turn an opportunity down, but I always like to know that eventually I will come back to my own four walls with my favourite things waiting for me within them.

Throughout my life so far, I’ve been a home-owner and I’ve rented. I’ve lived in a flat share as a student, I’ve previously lived in a huge victorian house (bit too big actually, hindsight is a great thing…) and I currently live in a reasonably sized home in London. All these factors though make absolutely no difference to what “home” feels like because the one thing all these share is that they’ve always been the one place where I can switch off and take myself away from the world. It’s the place where I work, create and cook. The place where I cry when nobody can see it and laugh hysterically at things others might consider mildly amusing. Home is the one place where I can really and 100% be myself.

It’s also the place where I keep everything I treasure. All the books I’ve read, furniture I’ve inherited from my grandparents, my paintings and handmade things, flea market finds, jewellery bought from some market on holiday, music I like and photographs and memories of family and friends. I keep my perfume and makeup here, my clothes and my bags – all the things I feel I need to be “me”. It’s the place where I curl up on the sofa to watch a romantic film, where I chat to my son while we’re cooking together, where I spend the day in bed if I’m not well and where I can have long conversations over a bottle of wine with Monsieur.

I can’t imagine a lovelier place in the world. Having the people I love and my long-held treasures around me are the most important thing. After that, it doesn’t matter if home is a mansion or a tiny flat. Of course I wouldn’t mind living in a beautiful period house in a rather upmarket area, but that’s not the point. It’s the feeling that counts for me and I know I’m home when it feels right. And that could be anywhere and in any size.

Wishing you all a lovely day. Bisous xo

{With such a beautiful and invitingly warm home, I can’t blame her for never wanting to leave!  I’m especially enamoured with her desk – so inspirational! Is home your special place as well?  Have you found that your love of home changes depending upon where you live?  What does home mean to you?}