Images: No Glitter, No Glory
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As 2016 draws to a close I thought I would take a quick moment to focus on the blogs which have really inspired me this year, you may well know many of them, some may be new discoveries, but allow me to introduce to you 10 fantastic interiors bloggers with distinct voices and styles who have made blog reading a wonderful space for me this year. I’ve seen these kinds of post from time to time on other blogs, often they seem to be one of those chain mail things where a certain number of bloggers all choose each other for favourites and run a kind of co-promotion. I have nothing against this, just letting you know that this is not that. Some of these bloggers I’ve met or speak to online, some I would even call buddies, but this is my, truly objective, absolute real line up of 10 favourites. There are so many great voices out there and people working really hard to produce original content it’s really hard to narrow down to 10, I have included an afterword on another 10 I love but here below are the big guns that make my life brighter:
No Glitter, No Glory
Images: No Glitter, No Glory
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I’m opening with No Glitter, No Glory, which won the Amara Interior Blog award for Best European blog this year and has been featured on many well known sites (Apartment Therapy for starters). Patricia is based in an Art Deco apartment in Antwerp, I didn’t realise til we’d hung out a few times that a shot of her flat is the cover image on my Pinterest Dark Colours board, she has an impeccable sense of design style that is always interesting. Jealousy is the word for this blog, I’m so in love with Patricia’s style, photography and travels. If she wasn’t such a lovely person then I’m not sure I could handle this much envy for her style. If I could steal one thing from a fellow bloggers home I know it would be Patricia’s I’d be raiding, maybe the lipstick poster from her dining room (above) but I wouldn’t say no to her bathroom, her cat, her clothes closet or even her whole apartment either! Follow the blog here.
Images: No Glitter, No Glory
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Bright Bazaar
Images: Bright Bazaar
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I think it pretty impossible that you wouldn’t know this next blog, who doesn’t love Bright Bazaar?! Two published beautiful coffee table books and a spot on American TV, Will is a true torch carrier and ambassador for British interiors blogging. His blog was the very first blog I started reading 4 years ago and also the first I ever left a comment on, it pretty well made my month when he recently commented on mine and shared my wreath making d.i.y on Pinterest. Thank you for being so continually inspiring Will, both your sense of colour and creativity continue to make my heart leap when I see them. Stand out pieces this year have been Wills travels around his new home in America, the botanical wallpaper living room makeover he did in Spring making him one of the first to absolutely nail this trend and his recent own bedroom makeover which is about as near to perfect as a scheme gets (which is not to say staged at all, perfect in the sense of, well, perfection!). Follow the blog here.
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SFGIRLBYBAY
Images: SFGirlByBay
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SFGirl bybay, this is the dream world that exists in my head realised through blog format! In my head I live in this blog, Victoria’s aesthetic eye is unparalleled in seeking out the beautiful and sharing through her sources, or through her own individual shots. I am the hugest girl fan of sfgirlbybay, her coffee table book See San Francisco is one of my favourites ever. I was a little worried when she moved to L.A that id miss her shots of S.F but Victoria finds beauty everywhere and her stunning aesthetic continues to be so en point, just look at those shots of Cuba above, glorious. This blog is a veritable sourcebook of all things stylish. Follow the blog here.
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Images: SFGirlByBay
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Sarah Akwisombe
Images: Sarah Akwisombe
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I read every post Sarah writes, she has a genuine voice and passion and she definitely styles to the beat of her own drum which makes all of her creations memorable. I love her non apologetic no bull approach to the interiors world and her passion for staying true to her instincts, her home is gorgeous, her content thought provoking (particularly the piece on being a bit dangerous with design decisions at the start of autumn). She’s landed a fair few amazing coups this year too including styling for Estée Lauder and Habitat. I recently caught a re-run of Kirsty Alsops Honemade Christmas which Sarah styled a tree on, when asked if her glam punk creation was a touch Goldfinger, im sure she sardonically responded ‘kinda’ which I took to mean the ladies were on very different style wave lengths (I may have laid my own interpretation on this!). Sarah also runs the No Bull Blog School which teaches a 6 week course for new bloggers to learn the ropes fast track, I’ve watched a number of free tutorials she’s been generous enough to put out and they’ve all been really illuminating. Follow the blog here.
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Sugar & Cloth
Images: Sugar & Cloth
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The d.i.y’s on here are the absolute best I know of, I found it really hard to limit to favourites from the last year as I remember so many brilliant previous hacks, leather handles on drawers, gold spray painted animals as candle sticks, Pom Pom key rings, mid century plant pots, so much genuinely fresh inspiration to be found on Sugar & Cloth. I love Ashley’s style, can’t wait to see her wedding next year! Follow the blog here.
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Flat 15
Images: Flat 15
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Flat 15 is a blog that I discovered at the end of last year when it scooped The Editors Choice award at The Amara IBA’s in 2015. I love this blog, Gabriella’s voice and choice of content is fresh, her photography is beautiful and her work as an interior designer always inspires me. Most of Gabriella’s posts stick in my mind, just this weekend she posted Christmas present wrapping with foliage that was truly stunning, I’ve seen others do this but when Gabriella turned her hand to it the result was truly special. Follow the blog here.
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Mad About The House
Images: Mad About the House shot by Habitat
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I absolutely love this blog, Kate is prolifically able to keep five posts a week going and there’s never a dud one among them. It was through Kate that I found the perfect sofa for the dining room this year when she featured it in a piece on Atkin & Thyme in spring, we both found Studio Flock within days of each other and many other crossovers that I can’t think of right now! I read all of Kate’s posts as I love her voice, which probably has something to do with the fact she’s a proper journalist. Her style feels very London to me, a bit industrial with a hint of glamour and humour, can’t really beat that as looks go. Plus she published a whole book on the colour grey this year so she knows her downpipe from her blackened. Follow the blog here.
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Seasons In Colour
Images: Seasons in Colour
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Ah Jenny! I love Jenny on a personal level and am happy to call her a friend, she’s one of the people I’m most happy to have met through the blogging community so it’s hard for me to divorce her from her blog. But, her blog is truly spectacular, she’s an inspiring lady and it really shows in her content. Jenny is all about colour and great design, that often has a wink of fun to it. She writes pretty comprehensively on all things design and blogging. I love her house, her flat lays, her colour pieces, her styling, her baking, well just about everything, including the blue antique ducks that I’m sure end up in so many shots purely to make me envious! Jenny very deservedly won the Amara blog award for colour this year and I couldn’t be more pleased for her, very well deserved. Follow the blog here.
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The Pink House
Images: The Pink House
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The Pink House is a new blog on the scene that launched in February this year, but Emily, who writes it, has truly blazed a trail of success taking the interiors world by storm with features in the national press and awards to boot and who could forget her awesome t-shirt at the Amara blog awards? It’s easy to see why this blog is so popular, her natural chatty style and an Edinburgh home that is the very definition of beautiful eclectic-colourful-modern-
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Afterword
That was such a hard list to narrow down, there are genuinely so many great people out there I take inspiration from all the time. First up would be Cate St Hill – who I really wanted to squeeze on this list but she’s also one of my favourite instagrammers so she will be in a post I’m drafting on that, go to Cate’s site for understated beautiful and architectural sensibilities. Melanie Lissack Interiors is a great blogger to follow for crafts and interiors, her style is vibrant and eclectic and so pretty. Love Chic Living is a stalwart on the British blogging scene, Jen has a real passion for solving design dilemmas and passing on useful tips. Her free Pinsight course this year on how to create more traffic from Pinterest was absolutely fantastic, thank you Jen. Boo & Maddie is a very down to earth blog written without pretension by a very sweet lady I’m lucky to know. Lins does not deliver staged content which I really love, her blog is a genuine journey renovating her new home and the things she gets up to along the way. Another lady with her own true style is Kimberley of Swoon Worthy blog, I love this lady and her bold boho glam style. Final favourites are: Style Juicer, Emily Henderson, French by Design, Interior Junkie & 2 Lovely Gays. Thank you bloggers one and all for producing so much content that inspires me.
