On Friday I had the pleasure of being invited to the beautiful Nib and Ink book launch (which deserves it's own post!) at the Platform Gallery above Habitat on King's Road in London. I felt like I was amongst Instagram royalty with almost everyone introducing themselves as an Instagrammer when I said hello. 

It was a wonderful but slightly surreal experience to be surrounded by the London elite, firm friends who exchanged big hugs as we cooed over the decor and pretty inks on the table, as well as those who had travelled from a little further afield. People whose galleries I adore.

I was in awe and got a little over excited, barely pausing for breath on several occasions! But the reality is everyone is just the same. Despite followers in 6 figures, no one was elitist. Refreshingly ordinary, normal people with extraordinary followings. Once upon a time suggested users, members of a real community, building and shaping the influence and power of visual social media.

I feel like you can learn something everyday, that you can evolve your gallery, curate your feed any which way you want. That perhaps it's not about being a master of the platform, it's more about being the master of your account. So what works for them might not work for you. You can read the thousands of posts of tips, share your own - be open with what's helped you and help someone else. But the most important thing is that it's yours. 

That still life, as beautiful as it is, quite possibly doesn't interest you. Maybe your gallery is all about you, your face, your family, your clothes, your home as opposed to a feed full of stunning florals, with no hint of the person behind it. 

Whatever it is I just think you need to love it. And your passion will shine out and inspire, engage and resonate with people. 

Whenever I get together with friends I have met through blogging and social media the conversation always turns to Instagram. Why we all love it, what hashtags we all join in with, what new communities people are starting (if you love a good coffee join in with the brand new hashtag from Wild and Grizzly #stylemycoffee) and the mystery of why people follow and unfollow and milestone moments we are all so proud of.

And I couldn't be more proud of #capturingcolour. A 33,300 and growing strong gallery bursting with bright florals, patterned mural walls, delicate pastel houses, magnolia trees starting to blossom and injections of colour into family lives.

No one photo linked up feels the same. For some a love of colour means pops of pastel, neon brights, for others a more muted palette is how they embrace gentle hues in their home. The gallery is bursting with inspiration for interesting compositions, portraits, capturing your children, flat lays and eye catching photographs to give you ideas on your next weekend away or holiday.

I seemed to fill my February feed with lots of feminine colours, blush roses, pink petals and a mix of softer tones amongst my more stronger shades. I realise how much my photos jump around, when I look back at the #capturingcolour gallery. One minute I share something from the house, the next a floral flat lay, boys to westies and there was even a few of me last month! I was discussing with a friend how there isn't a real theme, bar colour. And I guess that's fine by me. I don't want my grids to blur into each other. Our lives are an organised mess of 4 different jobs, boys, school life, friends and family. And I think my feed is exactly the same. An organised mess but hopefully a pretty mess!

Every month when I scroll through the gallery to pick out a grid of favourites I open the gallery on my laptop and randomly bookmark those that ping out at me, and they always seem to flow into each other. I spotted the photo of the tule skirt and it went on from there.

I love the coolness of the violet tones against the warmth of the pinks. February was biting cold in the UK and I love that despite the serenity of these images there's a hint of whimsy, a lightness, almost a hint of spring.

Hop over to Instagram to find these accounts and follow them! So much inspiration for your daily feed.

And this month I want to highlight Britt's account that I discovered a while ago. Her use of texture blows me away. The way she incorporates muted colours is so captivating and her engagement is just incredible. Stunning still life, delicate pinks and a real sense of depth with metallic.

I could get so lost in her gallery. 

I want to dive in and eat everything she bakes! I can't wait to follow her through spring, to see how she shares the brighter colours of the season. Every picture she shares could be a piece of artwork. 

Thank you so much to every single one of you who make this gallery so beautiful. And a huge thank you for following me on Instagram. For me, it's become almost a blog of it's own, a daily journal and it was so interesting to hear that Julia and Hannah only recently started their blogs in the last year or so and that Jess only uses Instagram.

That Instagram had been their sole creative writing and visual sharing platform. That the power of the community online has given them this audience around the globe. And more importantly that there is so much room for everyone. To not get caught up in how many followers someone else might have, not to rush. As tempting as it is to want to post every few hours or even every day, by being more conscious and discerning, you only share your very best. 

I find it hard to only share a few times a day - what about you?! I guess it's all a balance about posting for you, posting for your followers and posting with purpose. Just like a blog. 

Come and join in with #capturingcolour. I share my grid of favourites each month and I hope you find some new wonderful accounts to follow. 

Over the winter working from home is a tricky business. Especially tricky when the majority of your work involves taking photographs! I shoot in natural light and there have been days over the last 3 months that I've wanted to sit in a heap of tears, when the sun barely showed it's face. 

My absolute saviour has been our leaking conservatory, bolted onto the family room and kitchen. It's important you know it leaks because I want to set the scene for this latest behind the scenes post and see if you can help me with some ideas for making the most of it.

The space is fantastic, it doubles as a playroom for the boys and a work space for me, you can just about see the steps to our offices above the garage in the background of the photo below - which I must show you soon - and the most perfect diffused natural light pours in all day long.

I move furniture in and out, drag armchairs in and set up a coffee table scenario, wheel the marble topped console which acts as a makeshift kitchen island in and out, pin fabric to the wall to the house and over the course of a week my desk over flows with props and table cloths and anything else that has been featured.

I can work well into the afternoon, even when the rest of the house feels like a bat cave and at the end of a day I try to clear away all the petals and props and the boys takeover after school. I've hung masses of bunting from the ceiling to try and hide the plastic roof panels that really need replacing and even though the Lego heads often double up as rain catchers when the water pours in during a heavy storm, I feel so lucky to have this extra room. 

It's like having a home photo studio. When I have to dodge the golden hour sun rays I just pop everything on the floor! I use a reflector too to block out light when I need to and the boy's desk chairs come in handy for still life compositions and stools for overhead shots.

So many of my Instagram gallery photos are taken in here but this month I have also made the most of outdoors too and my sideboard was the perfect backdrop to my Pantone Colours of the Year post over on the Roost blog. 

Our garden is always strewn with toys and balls but for this blossom snap I turned a blind eye and cropped them out, focussing just on the blossom itself! And there are a couple of extras in this post that I will be sharing tomorrow. 

What I hope these posts do is highlight how you only have to tell a little of a story. Little details can be just as engaging as a full picture. And I move the rubbish out of the way when I need to! The tidy surface in a new Mother's Day afternoon tea feature I am writing for Laura Ashley this week is so much prettier than the mangled bags and plastic pots and Sammy walked in just at the moment I was taking the photo! I took it again without his cheeky hand but actually loved it more when I loaded all the images onto the laptop. 

You can take something quite ordinary and make it seem extraordinary just by cropping out the rest of the scene!

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In dream land we'd replace the conservatory with a beautiful orangery kitchen extension but that's a fair few more pennies than we have, this decade at least!

I adore the idea of keeping a glass roof, in an old house with low ceilings having a view to the sky and vaulted ceiling makes such a difference to the feel of a room. Ours is pre fancy glass that keeps it cool in the summer and warm in the winter, but all we do is keep a small fan heater handy in the colder months and use baskets and boxes for toys in the summer to stop them being bleached by the sun.

The local listed building officer agrees there is the potential to one day do something special and knock through the wall of the kitchen and incorporate the footprint of the conservatory into a modern family kitchen and dining room. Isn't this house is West Sussex the ultimate inspiration?!

You can find all our dream plans on my For our forever home Pin Board, so pop and have a peek.

Image credit deVOL Kitchens

Imagine the windows at the back of the house are all in the same style as the french doors... painted grey like the front door. Do you think it would be worth painting the exterior and interior woodwork to match?

I spotted some tile paint the other day and thought that could be a good way to freshen up the red window ledge too - anyone ever tried tile paint before and could give me some tips?!

This year the basic foundations of the house are our top priority, a new heating system and new electrics, so it's needs to be a quick fix type job. Replacing some seals around the really drafty windows and go crazy with some sealant in the leaky patches!

But I believe a lick of paint could transform it, maybe whitewashing the stone under the window cills? What do you reckon?!

Joining in with The Ordinary Moments

Well what a miserable month of weather in January in the UK. Grey skies, drizzle and days that seemed to get dark as soon as they had begun. My frame of mind is dreadfully affected by the weather. Even just a hint of sunshine makes me more cheerful. Which is why I am so thankful for every single almost 30,000 of you who have linked up to the #capturingcolour gallery on Instagram.

It is just amazing!

The gallery is bursting with inspiration from bright and bold candy pop colours to moody hues and everything in between. 

It is almost impossible to choose a grid to feature each month, I love them all, and I scroll through on my laptop and right click those that pop out at me, opening them in new tabs. Some weeks I seem to be mesmerised by florals, other weeks with people and places.

These have all made my January brighter. They've given me a boost of spring cheer in one of the darkest winter months. I look at them and feel happier, thinking about the moment they stopped to snap the photo, the holidays they were on, the errands. Each one tells a story and I make up the next bit in my head.

Go find them and check out their accounts for some colour inspiration.

I was lucky to collaborate in January with a wonderful online home ware company Rose and Grey, to giveaway a £100 voucher to our followers and highlight their range of affordable and stylish home accessories.

If you love the Scandi/Industrial style with a hint of femininity then this is the site for you.

Well done to Jody who is our winner.

Her beautiful still life felt like it was straight out a Rose and Grey shoot. Not a requirement to win obviously but it naturally caught our eye!

We loved the bold captures, the soulful sun streaked images but this one was so striking it just had to be the winner.

Delicate with layers of loveliness.

Find and follow her for gorgeous floral styling and country living. 

Thank you to everyone who joined in.

Now come and join in this colour loving community. I decided to stop the weekly themes last year to make the gallery as inclusive as possible and perhaps save them for special occasions.

So whether you favour bright and beautiful, monochrome or muted colour schemes join in by tagging #capturingcolour.

And here are some other fab hashtags to join in with too.

I love:

• #colorcolourlovers - there's a new colour each week for the next few weeks - this week is pink!
• #DScolor
• #InspirationIsColour
• #ColourMyJoy
• #BBColourful
• #ABMlifeiscolorful
• #acolorstory - a must have new app from Elsie Larson founder of A Beautiful Mess. It's #acolorweek on Instagram this week so head to the hashtag to find the daily prompts. Make your whites white and your colours pop! I haven't stopped using it since I downloaded it on the day of release!

Any I am missing out on? Let me know.

Happy colour hunting everyone :)