This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for a good long while now and I have finally gotten around to reading it. I could have reviewed it before but I don’t like to write book reviews until I have had the time to actually read the book from cover to cover. Needless to say, since Matylda was born I haven’t had a great deal of time for reading. However, I have been dying to curl up with this particular book as it is about two of my very favourite things: homes and blogging. Design Bloggers at Home is written by London-based freelance interiors journalist, stylist and author, Ellie Tennant and the photography is done by Rachel Whiting. As a design blogger myself I just love taking a sneak peek into the homes of other bloggers. On the one hand, I find it really inspiring and actually quite aspirational to see how many of my counterparts live. But on the other hand, I find it can make me a little glum because I inevitably end up feeling like my own home is completely inadequate and not a patch on those of the bloggers that I have come to love and admire. I have to keep telling myself though that me and my little family are really just at the beginning of our home journey. We only bought our flat 18 months ago and we had our daughter within three months of moving in so we’ve had neither the time nor the budget to do anything drastic. We’ll get there eventually and in the meantime I need to stop comparing our home with those of other people. So when I picked up Ellie’s book I had this in the forefront of my mind before I turned to the first page.
The book opens with an introduction by Ellie in which she talks about the travels that she embarked on with Rachel in order to style and photograph the bloggers’ homes. She mentions that she was struck by how small the world of blogging really is and how surprised she was to learn that all of the bloggers featured in the book were friends with at least one of the others and says, “it soon became clear that the world of interiors and design blogging is a close-knit, friendly community of passionate enthusiasts.” This doesn’t surprise me at all and I have met one of the bloggers myself so I totally agree that it is a very close and supportive community.
The book is broken down into six separate chapters which focus on the style of the homes. These include: Pared Back, Rustic, Retro Chic, Homespun and Colour Fun with the final section being dedicated to tips and advice on creating your own blog. Within each of these chapters you will find a couple of the bloggers’ homes portrayed through beautiful imagery. You will see not only the rooms in their homes, but also close up shots of cosy corners and the tiniest little details, all beautifully styled. Accompanying the pictures you can read explanations from the bloggers on why they made certain design choices and how those choices fit in with their particular lifestyle. They also offer tips and advice on how to style and decorate our homes. In the main text of each section Ellie gets the bloggers to open up and tell her a little bit of background information on their homes, the building’s history, why they chose their particular dwelling, what they love most about it and how they have managed to put their own stamp on it. At the end of each section each blogger also shares a selection of their favourite websites, their go-to shops and stores and their top blogging tips.
The final chapter on creating your own blog explores the various steps required to get your own blog up and running from choosing a name and a blogging platform, to getting your images right and growing your audience. This section is packed full of golden blogging advice from the expert bloggers featured in the book.
Below is a list of all the bloggers featured in the book with links to their blogs. Many of them I’m sure you’ll know already but there will probably be a few that are completely new to you so hopefully you will find new inspiration for your own home projects.
All the Luck in the World
Bodie & Fou
Dreamy Whites
Futurustic
Happy Mundane
IDA Interior Lifestyle
Justina Blakeney Est. 1979
My Friend’s House
My Scandinavian Home
Oh Joy!
SF Girl by Bay
Vosges Paris
If you’ve read the book yourself I’d love to hear your thoughts. Whose was your favourite home? Did any one style really grab you? Are any of these blogs on your must-read list?