A Shared Style - Katy Orme
Yay, I am finally out of my sick bed, and I very excited to be back with my second a shared style post. My guest today is Katy Orme, from Apartment Apothecary, a blog I am sure you will all probably know, Katy's DIYs are just brilliant, and if that's not enough, she is also one of the people behind the fantastic Styling the Seasons. Katy has very kindly shared more than one styled space from her home, so you are in for a treat! Which part or parts of your home have you shared?
The two rooms I have shared, and that I spend most of my time in, are the home office and the sitting room, which also doubles as our dining room. Both of these rooms are really bright because I live at the top of an apartment block and there are huge windows that look out across London and it's quite spacious for a London flat. However, they are different in style as my sitting room is full of vintage finds and some family antiques, whereas the office is all white and quite modern - a bit of an oasis away from the vintage feel of the rest of the flat.
The table is from a French flea market and the Ercol chairs were given to me by an old neighbour when I lived with my parents to take to university with me - can you believe I nearly left them in my university house because I didn't like them much?!
The trunk is my mum's old school trunk and I added castors to make it into a coffee table and the green vase was my grandmother's. The terrarium was found in a bush at my parents' house and I rescued it and brought it back to life. I love everything I have in my home to have a story behind it.
We recently turned our guest room into this office, as both Jules and I work from home. It was a bit of a DIY job - I ripped out the carpet and painted the floor white, made the desks from pieces of MDF, mounted peg board and did a cabinet makeover for storage. I love how white and bright it is, which I find really motivating for working.
How would you describe your interiors style?
I would say my style is definitely eclectic; I like to mix antiques with mid-century furniture and a dash of Scandi-style for good measure. I think as long as there is always some sort of unifying element, whether it be a colour, the flooring or textiles, that runs throughout a room or your whole house, then you can get away with a bit of a mish-mash.
Do you have any tips for styling your home?
Do a bit of 'home shopping'. Decide on a surface that you would like to style and shop around your home for a collection of items that will work well together. You rarely need to buy anything new, you just need to bring together the existing objects in your home. These are the guidelines I try to follow when deciding which items to put together and how to style them:
- Choose at least three items that are of a similar colour.
- Vary the height and textures of the objects.
- Don't place objects side by side - they either need to be overlapping or have a gap between them.
- Group things in odd numbers - 1,3,5 of something (although 2 is the exception to that rule).
- Just try different arrangements and don't be afraid to experiment, live with it for a while, and change it up if it's not working for you.
(this is a bonus photo from Katy's home of her lovely bedroom, although I didn't ask her about it, I just had to share it with you anyway)
Is there anyone whose interior style you admire?
So many! I'm constantly being inspired and taking on influences, which is why my tastes are always evolving. I am in love with Lisa Levis's house, which we shot for the blog last year, as well as other bloggers that I follow like Jeska from Lobster and Swan, Sarah-Louise from Lapin Blu, Lou from Littlegreenshed and you, Emma! My favourite home is photographer Katharine Peachey's, and that's why I love working with her so much because she has such a great eye for interiors.
Thank you so much for sharing your gorgeous home here Katy, and such great styling tips, I love the idea of doing a bit of 'home shopping', and I also now have an overwhelming urge to find myself a terrarium. Plus I am sitting here grinning like a cheshire cat after your last comment!
You can find Katy here:
- Blog - Apartment Apothecary
- Instagram - AptApothecary
- Twitter - aptApothecary
All the beautiful photos of Katy's home were taken by Katharine Peachey.
Have a great weekend.
Emma x