Styling the seasons – July

This is the first month since we started Styling the Seasons in September 2014 that I have had a complete block and have had no idea which surface in my home to refresh and style. In fact, my block goes a bit further than that as I’ve been struggling to be productive at all and last week was almost a complete write-off. Ideas have been lacking, motivation is almost non-existent and there has been a lot of procrastination and faffing.

What do you do when you have a creative block like this? I’ve realised two things help for me: a little bit of time off and buying myself a few new lovely things, which help ideas to flow again. To help clear my mind and think about what to do for this month’s Styling the Seasons I have tried to go back to what really attracted me to the project; the conscious decision to clear a dumping ground in my home and taking time to sit and think about what the coming month means to me and try to show that in my styling.

All that being said, I decided to clear this dumping ground in my home office that is the first thing I see to my right as I walk in the door to the room. This month isn’t about making a surface look beautiful, it’s about making it more practical…

I completely cleared the top of these drawers where I store my crafty bits and bobs and found new homes for everything. I decided to buy a wall cupboard to store some of my props that I use in blog posts. It is not a deep cupboard so it doesn’t encroach on the space or feel too dominant; this is especially important because it is the first thing I see as I enter the room. I also put a file box and some metal baskets (much prefer these to storage boxes as you can see exactly what is in them and they don’t look or feel as heavy) on top of the drawers to corral the clutter (my new favourite phrase!). Here is my refreshed surface for July…

What I have realised, as I struggled to think about what July means to me, is that this has always been the month that I start to unwind and slow down – I have been a student or a teacher all of my life and the coming of the summer holidays is obviously very deeply engrained. I think I have needed a bit of time off to gather new inspiration and new ideas. Hopefully, with my freshly stocked props cupboard and better organised work space, my creative block will clear.

Do pop over to see Charlotte’s gorgeous post this month; it is definitely one of my all time favourite STS posts. Also, search the #StylingTheSeasons hashtag over on Instagram for inspiration, as well as hopping over to our Pinterest board with the hundreds of blog posts that have been styled and written since last September. We would love for you to join us this month and style a surface in your home to show what this month means to you. Blog about it or post a picture on your favourite social media platform and tag us in so we can see! I wrote up a few of my photo-styling tips this week just in case you are new to the styling game and want a bit of guidance.

Katy x