Grey Is Taking Over | Interiors

Grey is taking over. To have 'granny chic' grey hair is fast becoming a popular choice of colour, and just about everyone and their mother owns a basic grey marl tee - sometimes two for when the other one's, you know, in the wash. But it doesn't end there. Grey - and greige in particular - are now taking the world of interiors by storm. Colour schemes are now more neutral with light nudes, creams, greys and stone colours. When rounded up together you have GREIGE. 

I mentioned in my July Favourites that I had had new things in my bedroom, one of them being a desk. I am now completely happy with the set up I have on my desk and windowsill; it's all done, so I thought I'd show you snippets. (I would like to do a full room tour in the future, and maybe a desk tour, as I know those sorts of posts are quite highly requested).

You'll notice from the photos that I have a strong grey/white/metallic/glass theme to my desk top and windowsill - proper greige colours feature on my carpet and in my blind, but I don't have any photos of them today. On the left of my desk I have a white work lamp (funnily enough, when I first got this years ago, I used to think it was quite ugly, but now I think it's very attractive), and on that I have a little glass tealight holder containing rings. Next to that is a vintage white cup which I use to store my makeup brushes, and in the dish next to that I keep my everyday jewellery.

On the right of my desk, I keep a cactus candle which I will never burn, and a succulent in a grey pot, just to add some greenery, freshness and life. Next to that is a Yankee Candle votive in Garden Sweetpea, and an opaque box with gold frames in which I store a few hair grips, bobbles and a scrunchie for quick and easy access. The rest of my desk is completely clear to allow space for working; I just like having the simple decorations at either end.

On to my windowsill - the left hand side has a black digital photo frame, and next to that I have a jam jar with some fake white flowers. I have three windows in my room, and in front of the second right in the middle I have a blue dish, and on either side are two little white owl lights. The pop of blue amongst the neutral is so beautiful. Finally, on the right of my windowsill I have a silvery-grey candle holder and a candle inside, and a mirrored set of three drawers.

worklamp - B&Q I belive
glass tealight holder - I'm not sure but you can buy these anywhere
vintage cup - an antiques store in Wells, Norfolk
dish - Malta

grey plant pot - I'm not sure, I found it in our garage
candle - Yankee Candle
cactus candle - a shop in Freiburg, Germany
box - a charity shop in Holt, Norfolk

digital photo frame - kitvision
jar - just a strawberry jam jar, I think the make is Tiptree
fake flowers - a local discount store

white owl lights - M&S a few Christmases ago
blue dish - the same antiques place in Wells

square candle holder - I'm not sure, it's old
mirrored set of three drawers - it was a gift so I'm not sure on that either

curtains - Dunelm Herringbone Blackout Eyelet

I hope you liked this post; it's something a little different to what I normally do, but I love the way my desk and windowsill have turned out. Grey has to be one of my favourite colours - I'd love for this greige trend to continue for as long as possible!

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10 Ways To Improve Your Blog Photography

my photos now - July 2015

my photos then - September 2014

I'm definitely no photography expert myself, but when it comes down to the photography on my blog, I'd say my current pictures are miles better than when I first started almost a year ago now. I've definitely learned a few things over the past six months, and so I'm going to share with you my top ten tips to improve the photos you post on your blog.

Number one has to be: use a decent camera/phone with a high quality camera. When I first started blogging, I was using my old HTC and the photos really were terrible! Since then I've got a DSLR camera which means the quality of my pictures has improved so much. 

Don't leave your photography till the last minute! I've done this a few times, and ended up taking my photos the evening before the post went up when the light was really not good. Morning light, on the other hand, works wonders. 

Photographing in the winter months can be so tricky as the majority of the time the light is dim, especially here in England. For this reason, many people invest in white soft box or studio lighting (and even just to improve quality and brightness all year round). I don't own any myself but I hope to someday.

Don't have busy backgrounds in your photos as it's really distracting for the reader, who will most likely struggle to focus on the feature of the photo. Go for simple backgrounds of neutral colours. I often use my white desk, and sometimes areas of my room where I can blur fairy lights or pretty plants and makeup brushes in the background.

This is really important: take a lot of photos but only keep a few. You don't have to be happy with the first photo you take if you think you can do better, and don't give up if your first try doesn't go well.

There is no shame in using apps to improve your photos, whether that's turning up the brightness or highlights, which I often do, and occasionally the saturation. I use the app Aviary for this; it's brilliant!

Think about different ways to 'show off' what you're photographing: what props will flatter it, create a nice colour scheme, reflect the mood, add more to the surroundings? Make the picture more interesting with plants, pretty bowls, maps, compasses, brushes, lights, jewellery, you get the gist. Just think of different ways that you can display your main feature

Remember the focus of the image doesn't have to be central - think about the rule of thirds.Having something slap bang in the middle can look quite junior school, but it totally depends on what you are photographing, and what you're saying about it.

Be sure to make your best image your first image in your blog post, because this is the one that readers will see and be enticed by.

And last but not least, just persevere. If it doesn't go right the first time, that's fine! We're all still learning.

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