Slow styling ideas to create calm

Create corners for quiet moments in your home

Carve out spaces where you can pause, take a moment, and get back to ‘old-fashioned’ activities, such as journalling, soaking in the bath or enjoying a leisurely breakfast.

Book nook

A space by a window is a lovely place to create a reading nook, somewhere to sit with a cup of tea and your favourite novel. Here an old wooden toolbox becomes a practical and beautiful table, and a vintage eiderdown adds a touch of cosy.

Sourcebook

• Vintage toolbox: hunt at car-boot fairs or auctions for similar boxes; this one is painted with Annie Sloan‘s chalk paint in Duck Egg Blue
• Traditional eiderdown: This soft chintz quilt was found on eBay
• Bunting: I made this from scraps of vintage doilies and tablecloths

Writing desk

Make an area for journalling and hand-writing letters, using an old trestle table. Prop up an antique printer’s tray and use it to arrange your favourite collections. I’ve displayed tiny vintage bottles and old paste brooches in mine, but you could try foraged, natural treasures.

Sourcebook

• Trestle table: Look on eBay for second-hand bargains
• Printer’s tray: Find similar at Permillion 44
• Vintage bottles: You can still discover plenty of these at car-boot fairs

Breakfast table

My family and I have just started making our own granola, which not only tastes delicious but also looks beautiful stored in vintage Kilner jars. Created simply by toasting oats, seeds and nuts mixed with coconut oil and honey, we then add dried fruit and let it cool completely, before storing in jars where it lasts a few weeks. Add a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkling of fresh fruit for a luxurious start to the day.

Sourcebook

• Vintage Kilner jar: From the selection of vintage homeware at The Old Haberdashery
• Glass bottle with stopper: From IKEA‘s Korken range of storage bottles and jars
• Old-fashioned doily: Try charity shops or car-boot fairs – or ask your grandma if she has any stashed away in a bottom drawer!

Bathtime bliss

Making time to soak in a bath with some traditional bath salts is a real luxury, and the perfect way to relax. Hunt for alternative bath trays at reclamation and salvage yards, and store bath salts in old French canning jars.

Sourcebook

• Bath tray: I used an old whitewashed floorboard, but search reclamation yards for interesting pieces of reclaimed wood to make your own
• Vintage French canning jars: Look for similar on Etsy
• Savon de Marseille soaps: Find a wide selection of scents of these natural Provencal soaps at French Soaps