Styling the Seasons: February

I feel like this Styling the Seasons, and perhaps a touch of Spring, has come around super fast, probably because I was a bit late with January’s. The light is slowly getting better for taking pictures and we’re heading into one of the most romantic months…

This Styling the Seasons post is a little different, not only have I been a bit braver with my styling (I never thought when I started doing styling posts for the blog that I’d be sticking flowers to a roll of wallpaper but there you go…) but this time 12 bloggers who regularly take part in Styling the Seasons have teamed up with Laura Ashley to style a few pieces from their SS15 collection. This week, Laura Ashley will be inviting readers of their blog to choose their favourite styling, with the chance of winning two £50 vouchers up for grabs!

I couldn’t do a Styling the Seasons post for February without somehow hinting at Valentine’s Day. I didn’t want to get too gooey and doe-eyed, with pink love hearts everywhere, but I wanted to style something just a little romantic. For me, growing up, Laura Ashley always reminded me, and still does, of pretty, floral patterns that are quintessentially British. I chose this ‘Poppy Meadow’ wallpaper because the soft, yellow colours give a hint of Spring, without being obviously Valentines-Day-y. I can imagine it lining the hallway of a cute, country cottage, the doorway open with sun shining in and a blossoming meadow growing outside. So, I might also imagine that I’ve gone out into that garden and picked some wild flowers to scatter on it (I can dream…I live in the centre of King’s Cross after all…). I paired the wallpaper and flowers with my favourite Alvar Aalto stool, to stop it being too country bumpkin, and keep it modern and fresh. Added to that are some vintage yellow espresso cups, conveniently exactly the same yellow as the wallpaper, and some romantic novels I would read with my sweetheart next to me, in this imagined meadow…!

Don’t forget to head over to the Laura Ashley blog on the 10th and 11th of February and vote for your favourite blogger’s styling (pick me?!!).

You can also join in with Apartment Apothecary and Lotts and Lots by styling any surface in your home, from the dining table or sideboard to mantelpiece or kitchen worktop, to represent the change of month. Then share using the hashtag #StylingTheSeasons

I couldn’t resist a bit of neon pink washi tape to stick these darlings up. You could easily do this for a birthday party, baby shower, or something, to create an eye-catching wall display that smells as good as it looks!

I love a Persephone novel and it’s exactly what I would read if I was basking in the sunshine in a meadow, the top one is Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple, it’s actually about the destruction of a marriage and the fragility of love, perhaps not what you want to read on Valentine’s Day, but I love the cover so much and she is such a great writer.

All images my own. (There was supposed to be a lovely Laura Ashley candle in this post, but what with missing the postman and me being a noggin and loosing the slip to go and claim it at the post office, it got missed out…)