Styling Archives - Visual Resource

Holiday reading inspiration

Before January slips away for another year… I will linger (just for a moment), to share my favourite summer holiday pastime… reading.   There is a massive contrast to my experience of reading during the year versus on holidays. While engulfed in the throws of the yearly work/life juggle, reading a novel or book is a great challenge to squeeze in. I also struggle to conquer more than a few pages before I start to nod off! (Regardless of the time of day.) So every summer… with leisure time in spades, reading is like discovering a newfound joyful hobby, again, and again!

This year my holiday reading included the page-turner ‘Reckoning’ a memoir by Magda Szubanski, along with a book by Anna Spiro ‘Absolutely Beautiful Things : a bright and colourful life’ (pictured above).  Both wonderful.  The interiors book by Spiro bursts with vibrant, energising colour, along with eclectic, layered styling. (No chance of nodding off with it in my grasp.)

I found Spiro’s love for and use of colour playful and rambunctious. Best of all Spiro offers her reader insight into how she found her own unique style, along with encouragement to experiment, in order to find your own sense of style. That’s generous!

The style presented in the beautiful photographs of the book is not akin to my own. And I think that is one of the key points Spiro is making. Rather than trying to emulate a particular style, explore and trust your instincts, so that you may find your own style – one you love. The book invites you to be brave, “go for it,” “mix and match”, “Give it a try,” all come to mind as I read.

So why not put your favorite colours on display in your home? Who cares if your neighbors’ favorite shade is Antique White U.S.A., with a choice of cushion toned Whisper White (for a radical contrast)?

Why not let your home shine with items and colours that provide a small reflection of the complex character which is you!!!