Hi folks, excited to let you know that I’ve been asked to judge the ‘adopt a style’ interiors challenge for the Nectar’s Savvy Lifestyle competition. I always say style has nothing to do with money, you can put together the most amazing spaces on a shoestring if you’re prepared to be creative, go for ballsy choices and think a bit outside the box!
Nectar is running their comp to show people how to live a fabulous, stylish lifestyle on a budget. They’ve already had some amazing results with food and fashion… now it’s interiors, which is where I come in. We’re on the hunt for the smartest budget decorating ideas – think upcycling, cool flea finds, DIY projects, junk shop art gems etcetc. I reckon I have some of the most stylish readers on the planet, so you lot should ace it! If you go to Nectar’s Facebook next week (kicking off Wednesday 26th), you can show off your thrifty skills and there’s £250 worth of Nectar points up for grabs for the winner.
To get you inspired here are some of my favourite savvy budget tricks over the years.
Improvised art You don’t need an eye wateringly expensive curated art collection. Anything beautiful is art – a page torn from a book, a cool rusty sign or a gorgeous rug hung on the wall. I’ve tried all of these in my pad. A cool page I saw in a J Crew mag takes pride of place in my studio, the rug is hung on a double height landing.
My cabin You guys probably know by now that the little summerhouse cabin at the bottom of my garden is my latest obsession. Can’t get enough of it, so much so we actually shot a lot of next season’s brochure in there. I’d been lusting after these hermit cabins for ages but buying one of those would be pretty much chucking the budget out of the window. Believe it or not my cabin was an eBay find! Cheap as chips and just needed a few weekends work to totally transform it. I’ll get before and after pics and a walk-through of the cabin makeover up on the blog soon.
My desk The trick with rootling out good secondhand furniture is to see past ugly finishes or problem patches, and look for a beautiful overall shape. I found this claw footed table at a flea and it was love at first sight, even though it was really dated with ugly brown staining. I picked it up uber cheap, and took it to the local car garage for it’s teal spray paint makeover. The car paint gives it the most incredible luxe lacquer look!
Shopping my home
You might have seen on my instagram that I’ve had to swap out the teal desk for a larger cork version. But have no fear the teal desk is still very much loved so I’m thinking of finding a place for it upstairs. Likewise my Willy Guhl concrete chair I’ve had well over 13 years and I adore it, it’s moved from room to room as the house has changed. Not an easy feat because it’s pretty hefty so G isn’t a fan of the frequent reshuffles, but heyho.
“Shopping your home” like this is the best savvy interiors tip, because it’s completely free. When you get bored with your furniture or think that a room could do with a bit of a lift, have a reshuffle before you run off and buy anything. I do it absolutely all the time. I hardly ever get rid of anything, always tweaking and moving things from room to room to give them a new lease of life. Clever styling or a fresh pair of eyes makes all the difference.