A Day in the Life of an Interior Stylist and Writer

I hope this is interesting?

I get up and check Instagram. I know - groan!

I am not a particularly early riser, so, unless I have a shoot, for an admin day I am up about 7am and having coffee and breakfast on the sofa by about 8am. I get stuck into Instagram, enjoying the view from our living room while I work. The App is very useful to me, but I am careful to focus on interiors and not doom scroll of a morning!

I then head to my desk by 9am. I answer emails, do admin, and handle almost all the communication with the people we are working with, editors, clients and homeowners that we are photographing for magazines. This is intense, as our work is very detailed. We have to make sure that the people we are photographing understand the copyright situation of the images, have planned something suitable to wear, are generally prepared and their house is reasonably tidy, all without stressing them out!

I typically start preparing for a shoot several weeks in advance. The shoot below was with Terian Tilston for Ideal Home magazine.

For long distance jobs accommodation needs to be booked and if we are travelling, it works well to do two or three in an area. This can be tricky, making sure people are free on adjacent days and that the weather will work for us, we cannot do shoots in the pouring rain and bright sunshine is not great either, even for high summer shoots, the ideal is a soft hazy cloud.

Post covid I have started booking our accommodation right at the last minute actually, as everyone involved has to be feeling reasonably healthy on the day as well! The editors send us detailed briefs of shots they need, views they want, vibe and style. This is both helpful and nerve wracking, because they are looking at quick, raw phone snaps, they don’t really know what the house is like, so sometimes we arrive and there is a whole other dimension to the property that is a bit unexpected.

After a morning of admin, my lunch is always followed by a walk – so needed, as I will have been staring at a screen since 7am by now.

We live in a beautiful place, so I am very lucky that I can walk out of my house straight into woodland leading down to a river, which in a few miles opens out to the sea, so no complaints there.

Afternoons are usually all about collecting props for shoots, and looking for inspiration for styling…

We are very fortunate to have a flower farm in our village, Ginger House Garden I can really rely on the two extremely creative sisters who run it to come up with a selection of flowers that work for me. I typically send them a pic of the main rooms of the house we are shooting, and they put arrangements together for me, with the correct season in mind.

Their business is very seasonal though of course and they do close for the darkest winter months, so I use a florist in Berwick as well, called Buds of Berwick and I wonder around the shop with the lovely lady, who patiently discusses every bloom in the shop with me, while I weigh up whether it will work.

I always use a lot of greenery on shoots, to ensure that they are ultimately, reasonably season neutral, as editors appreciate the flexibility that gives them. So, unless a shoot is for Xmas or the height of sumer with patio doors thrown open and blooms bursting with colour are required that is what most editors prefer. Working with Gita Interiors and Crabtree & Crabtree below…

If I am preparing for a shoot the next day, I like to have everything ready by the end of the day, and I load up the car the night before.

Then, I do switch off. Despite my work being very varied, I am a real creature of habit. I start cooking about 6pm and almost always have a glass of wine while I cook. I serve up dinner at around 7pm or so, I might do a little more on Instagram during this time and I am known to answer emails, during the evening, but I really try not to. I think the nature of modern life: technology enabling us to be available 24/7 is very unhealthy and is really taking its toll on family life and relationships.

Doug and I have experimented with my doing ‘a few last emails’ while he does the dishes, but I honestly find I have to be really careful – he can do the dishes in about five minutes, but 45 minutes later I am STILL answering emails and the evening is gone!

I try to be present and enjoy the meal and chat. Although we run a business together we try not to talk about work all the time. Luckily, we live in a fun place, so there is usually plenty of village gossip to keep us going over mealtimes.

We then relax and watch a crime drama - the longer and darker the better... We have recently discovered Vera – wonderful – all filmed in our back yard in the stunning countryside and on the incredible beaches of Northumberland AND there are about 13 series of it!

Would love to hear about your work routines if you have any? Maybe you are much more random than me? Does anyone else like working on the sofa?

Or are you all desk bunnies?

I could happily sit there all day, but I fear it wrecks my back and I know it is healthier for me to sit on my pilates ball at my desk. Plus, it can cause a bit of friction in our family if everyone is ‘working’ in the living room, Doug says it is like an internet cafe sometimes and he starts asking for everyone’s orders. Also, if I need to phone someone, I cannot bear him listening, it just makes me feel very self conscious and I can’t get into the zone, so I have to be ‘at my desk’ to phone someone. This must be an issue for a lot of households now so many of us are ‘working from home

As I write, Douglas is actually creating a beautiful new office for me - I think he is hoping I will work slightly harder! I will share as soon as it is ready on here.

When our new kitchen is ready I am looking forward to working in there actually, in the new dining area looking the garden. I will be working and making lunch I think… I will report back