Well, would you look at that. With a blink of the eye, April has come and gone and we’re closing in on summer. I have to say, it does genuinely feel like Spring is here. My garden is bursting with life and the sun has been shining just a little more often. While the first few weeks of the month were busy for me, there seemed to be a bit of a shift late in the month and I’ve actually had a pretty relaxed couple of weeks. And let me tell you, it’s been utterly welcome.

I know there’s this big idea out there right now that if you aren’t ‘hustling’ or ‘busy busy busy’ every spare second of every day, then you must be doing something wrong. The idea of always working, of always being busy may seem exciting or enticing from the outside but I’ll be honest here – it really doesn’t appeal to me.

I need down time for my own sanity and one of the things I’ve been desperately trying to do is have more than one day a week ‘off’. At the moment, I work from Sunday through Friday so Saturday is the only day I allow myself to unplug completely from the blog, social media and from clients and the one day I don’t put any pressure on myself to do anything, really. But I want a full 2 days off and so I’m trying to reschedule my workload to fit Monday through Friday.

As a freelancer, this is a HUGE challenge (and I’m sure anyone out there that works for themselves or owns a small business etc will tell you the same) but I’m determined that at least this summer, I am going to allow myself a couple days a week off. I don’t want to be constantly hustling and miss out on time with my other half or miss out on just being in the moment, to enjoy the sun on my face or the smell of the flowers blooming in my garden.

And the last couple of weeks, I’ve somehow managed to have a little downtime just for myself – days I’ve decided to ‘quit work’ early and head out to the garden. It’s not about being lazy, it’s about really valuing my free time and making sure I schedule that in properly. Making sure I’m being as efficient as possible, being choosy about what I do work on so that I don’t feel guilty about giving myself a bit of a break when I’m able to.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ve done nothing all month ;)  I went to a rather stylish little blogger dinner last week, hosted by La Redoute and styled by the fantastic 2 Lovely Gays. It was held at the incredible Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings in London. I am rarely able to attend events like this and while I’m often invited, it’s pretty much a full day out for me but every once in a while, I can’t resist and this was one of those times. I do really think La Redoute are doing some incredible things in homewares at the moment and are definitely worth a look (and no, I wasn’t paid to say that nor was I under any obligation to blog about this – I just wanted to because it was really gorgeous!)

I’m obsessed with those bar stools. And the benches below. And I love how they’ve combined them with such contemporary light fixtures. Gorgeous!

Marble mosaic bar and touches of palm print. I mean, seriously. You can’t go wrong, can you?

This is where the dinner was set up. Unbelievably gorgeous with all those plants! Yess! And the table is just beautiful! It’s like English Garden meets Boho Chic. Yum yum.

And these are some of La Redoute’s new products for SS17…

I’m really loving that little wicker console table with the black details.

Some of the lovely peeps at the event including Sarah Awkisombe, Kate Watson-Smyth and you can also see Erika Davies as well as Emily from the Pink House in the background. #squadgoals

I was able to take home that cute little plant in that pretty pot! Such cute favours for a party – an idea that you can easily steal if you’re entertaining. Anyone know what kind of plant it is? I’m not sure but I’d love to know how to take care of it!

Okay, so sorry for all the pictures but it was just so beautiful – I couldn’t resist!

I also enjoyed working with Curtains.com on their new Quiz: What Does Your Interior Style Say About You? One of the options you might just end up with is the one I’m most passionate about – Eclectic Boho Glam! How cool is that? You can read more about how to get the look here in their blog post here.

So I have a few exciting things coming up over the next month. One of those is that we’re going to be updating the back garden and giving it a little spruce up for the summer. I’m going to be working with West Elm which has been a huge favourite brand of mine for such a long time so it’s fantastic to be joining up with them for this one. I’ll be sharing a few bits and pieces that I’ve been doing along the way and what I’m planning soon. Added to this, I’ll be sharing the ‘big reveal’ as the host of the #UKHomeBlogHop during the week of the 29th May along with 26 other UK bloggers so that should be good fun!

Of course, we’re also busy working away in the ‘Man Cave / Glam Snug / Cellar’ and bits and pieces have been coming in for the space which I’m so excited about!

I did want to say that although I said I’d do more video content this year, I haven’t quite seemed to manage it. In fact, I’ve actually failed MISERABLY. However… what I have managed instead is to totally get into Instagram Stories which I am LOVING. Seriously, it’s just so much easier to do stuff off the cuff in really short 10 second videos and I’m really having so much fun with it. So if you want to see what I get up to in my day-to-day, then please do follow along.

So as per normal on these posts, I wanted to give a little shout out to the following websites/bloggers who’ve mentioned my blog this month!

• I was featured this month on HGTV Canada’s websites about open shelving in the kitchen which was pretty cool! There is some serious interiors porn going on in that article so if you are considering some open shelving action, you’ll like this one.
• Anna from Don’t Cramp My Style included both incarnations of the back of my garden for her post on Spring Garden Patio Ideas – loads of inspiration and good ideas in that one so do check that out!
• I was named in Sleepy People’s 30 of the Best Home Interiors Bloggers to Follow in 2017 – thanks, guys!
• Victoria from Apartment Number 4 included my home in her article on some of her favourite Interior Home Bloggers – absolutely chuffed to have been included! If you are looking for some new bloggers to follow, that one is certainly worth a look.
• Bon Apetit included my sprayed Grundtal rails in their post about Ikea Kitchen Hacks which was a huge honour.
• The Interior Blog Awards highlight my post on 3 Ways to Style a Side table in their Top 25 Interior Posts for April which was lovely of them!

As per usual, I’ve been chatting about interiors for various websites over the past month and so I’m rounding them up to make it easy for you to have a look when you get some time this weekend and fancy a bit of light reading! Of course, I wouldn’t expect anyone to read ALL of these but if something catches your eye, then I’d love for you to have a little look. Each link opens in a new window so you can just click the ones you like the look of and go back to it later!

Outdoor Living

5 Tips to Create a Gorgeous Garden (Wood Finishes Direct – guest post)

How to Bring the Outdoors In (Avant Homes)

How to Use Tiles in the Garden (Tile Mountain)

Spring Trends

12 Ways to Organize Your Home for Spring (Oak Furnitureland – US)

Duck Egg Blue: Your New Favourite Colour (Oak Furnitureland)

Bring Your Home Back to Life This Spring (Oak Furnitureland)

5 Simple Steps to Spring Clean Your Study (Oak Furnitureland)

Decorating Advice

7 Reasons You Need a Nest of Tables in Your Home (Oak Furnitureland)

Wonder Walls: Our Favourite Ideas for Feature Walls (Tile Mountain)

The Best Tiles for Pet Owners (Tile Mountain)

How to Style a Sideboard (Oak Furnitureland – US)

So this evening we’re off to into Manchester for dinner at Grand Pacific which looks crazy beautiful! Don’t worry, I’ll probably share on my Instagram Stories because I have a feeling I won’t be able to resist. And then we’re going to be seeing Micky Flanigan at the Manchester Arena, a comedian who we both absolutely adore. So that should be good fun!

What are you up to this weekend? Has April been a good month for you? Are you trying to schedule in some relaxation into your weeks as well? Do tell!