CREATE by Ali Heath

I am a very lucky girl to call the author of CREATE a friend.  I am also very lucky to be able to write about this beautiful book here on Tea with Ruby.  I do love interior books, I have them piled up all over the house ready to dip in and out of when I need inspiration.  Sometimes a book comes along that is just that little bit more special, one that feels like it was written just for you and this is one of those.  Each page is a feast for the eyes, the colour palette is one that speaks to me, the content informative, insightful and full of knowledge.  A guiding hand that makes you feel comforted that there are no hard and fast rules just simple guidance to help you trust your own creativity.

Ali has split the book into three chapters, Establishing Your Style giving encouragement to trust your own style giving advice on how to get started by having the courage and conviction to experiment. Remember no rules just you and your ideas to create a home that is personal to you.  Chapter 2 Developing Your Eye is full of ideas on defining your palette, changing the way you shop for your home, thinking about sustainability, mixing old with new, styling your space using fabrics and texture, how lighting can change a space to building collections and much more.  Chapter 3 Inspiring Your Journey where 10 inspirational homes are introduced. Their owners are designers, antique dealers, shopkeepers all whose creative paths have nurtured their own unique styles, using old, new and handcrafted within their own homes.

To be able to create a home of your very own is a very personal journey. The joy of finding out what you love and how you want to live is a gift.  I hope by reading this book you will also realise that following trends and having the biggest newest shiniest thing isn’t want makes a home, its the simple things that warm your soul weaving in the patina of life.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough (available here my choice of book store). My copy will be read over and over again until the pages are worn, stopping to take in the beauty at particular moments to reflect that my home truly is a mixture of old and new and is deeply loved.

 

 with thanks to Ali Heath & Octopus Books for my copy CREATE  

image 5 Lisa Mehydene edit58 shot by Michael Paul

image 6 Anna Unwin shot by Michael Sinclair

image 7 Anton & K shot by Emma Lewis

image 8 ecoco shot by Marnie Hawson

styling by Ali Heath (excluding image 8)