A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of whizzing up to the most beautiful London apartment to hear the incredibly talented, self confessed colour addict and International Colour Consultant Joa Studholme speak about the new Farrow & Ball range of colours. 

Joa spoke so passionately about their determination to develop life giving colours that lift your experience with sophistication, but that would stay true to the deep roots of the Farrow & Ball brand. They could see that there were gaps in the iconic colour card, missing links between shades of white, grey and stronger brights. 

They've produced nine new colours that will take you from a "safe pair of hands" in Shadow White that sits between a less yellow and a more cool grey, a new grey in Drop Cloth to compliment the popular range, less red than Oxford Stone, less green than Old White. Subtle but significant new colours that could transform a room, giving it a different feeling entirely.

Due to popular demand they have added to the range a grey filler called Worsted which you could use with confidence in every room of the house a warmth to its cool undertone.

There's a romantic shade in Peignoir, traditional but for a modern market and not just bound for our bedrooms. 

Joa spoke about the desire to bring forward colours that make your shoulders relax as you walk in a room. Salon Drab that conjures that sense of being plucked from a "drunken gathering of intellectuals" in a traditional snug. She told us about the enduring popularity of greens, colours that encompass the fabric of British life, the drama of the Scottish Highlands to striking bold statement colours that ease people into the dark side of home decorating.

This new range isn't designed to break the magic, essentially the success of this three year journey will be the test of whether the old card looks the same as the new card. That the nine new additions sit completely comfortably next to their peers. Like they were always there.

The full range comprises 9 new colours that were individually and painstakingly crafted by a small team at Farrow & Ball. These colours are three years in the making and you could hear in Joa's voice the sense of pride and achievement in finally being able to reveal their hard work. 

These nine replace an existing set of colours on the famous palette of 132 paint colours. There's an overwhelming feeling of the classic heritage of the brand in the new whites and muted colours. Each one has it's own unique naming story and in true Farrow & Ball style, they defy convention and have chosen, distinctive names, with a couple relatively tricky to pronounce and spell!

But that's what gives them an air of opulence balanced perfectly with understated confidence. Age old production methods combined with contemporary updates to existing colour families within the instantly recognisable colour card. 

I loved hearing the honesty in her voice when Joa talked about their appreciation that there were certain colours that were ready to be retired. That don't suit more contemporary homes and decor in 2016, but it was good to know that all the colours are available from their archives. So if you have an older colour on one of your walls, you can still get a new tin made up!

The thing I love about Farrow and Ball is that although they are very serious about colour and craftsmanship, but they don't take themselves too seriously! There's so much humour and humility in this video - you can't help but smile.

And you can enter to win 5 litres of one of the new colours in either Estate Emulsion or Modern Emulsion by joining in with their fab competition.

Simply share a photo on social media telling them the name or showing them a picture of something with the colour of your favourite new shade on. Have a peek at their website, pick your favourite photo or grab a new colour chart in a DIY store near you. You can enter through any of the methods below:

For nine weeks Farrow & Ball will be selecting nine entries at random to each win their favourite new colour in either Estate Emulsion or Modern Emulsion. Full terms and conditions here. 

In an age when mass production is often moved out of the UK to the Far East and beyond, it's refreshing to know that all their products are made right here in the Uk from their factory in Dorset, which I hope to visit in the near future.

So which is your favourite?! Mine just has to be the beautiful Yeabridge Green. Discovered in the kitchen of the Georgian farmhouse in Somerset where it gets it's name. It was hidden behind an original gun cupboard and I think it could look quite something in the kitchen of this Somerset farmhouse. 

A project for next month perhaps?!

Pop along to one of their Milk Float tours, coming to a high street near you! 

It's no secret that I like to pretty up the house with fresh flowers. I love my local florist, I add a bunch into the supermarket shop and over the summer months shout wildly at Rich to pull over to every roadside flower stall we see on our travels.

But... I do spend a fair amount on this floral habit. I sort of justify my monthly flower bill with all the photos I use them in, they are my living props for client work and Instagram daily photos, justifying my other great love - faffing! I've never really been able to find and buy good silk flowers to help ease my habit, I've always found them too bright, less delicate than real petals, which always gives away their not so secret secret. 

So when HomeSense got in touch to see if I would like to be part of their #FromWhereIStand campaign to highlight their new faux flower market in stores I jumped at the chance. I have been a HomeSense fan for years, the never ending changing stock meant I could (and often did) visit once a week when we lived closer to a store! It's my go to home store for blankets and cushions, unusual but affordable crockery, vases and their selection of trays and baskets never ceases to amaze me! 

The long stem tulips are a must buy! Perfect for a spring display in your living room and even more perfect for beautiful Instagram flat lays. The shaped petals give them an even more realistic look and feel and there are a good handful of colours to choose from. 

I love creating different displays on our painted sideboard and wanted a selection that gave me height and depth as well as lots of colour. I started with some sprigs of blossom and forsythia which would be ideal for my tall bell jar and worked downwards!

The peonies had me at hello there!!!

Layer upon layer of ruffly loveliness - and every hue of pink to mix and match to create a bunch with real likeness. I love cutting the heads off flowers so they lie flat and afterwards I float them in shallow dishes to keep them alive for longer. But they always perish a little quicker than they would left to stand tall in a vase, so being able to trim these fabric peonies is brilliant, prop box favourites for the spring and summer! 

It's the texture of the fabric and the subtle patterns that give these beauties that extra something. Even the foliage feels real. Sometimes I quite like a vase full of greens, so I picked up some extra greenery for a couple of pounds a stem and might make a nice spring garland for the fireplace this weekend.

Over Christmas I decorated with lengths of ivy but within a week they were curly and crispy! 

If you fancy winning a £50 voucher to spend in HomeSense all you have to do is pop in store and share your #FromeWhereIStand photo on social media, sharing your favourite pick of the faux bunch by 5pm GMT Sunday 31st January 2016.

With £50 you'd have the pick of the market, potted mini succulents that never need watering for £6.99, hydrangea posies that you could split into individual stem vases for £14.99, or single stems of vivid forsythia which is so lifelike and flexible, you could weave it into a wreath shape and freshen up your front door.

Full T&Cs can be found here over on their Facebook page. 

All this week I will be sharing my home style over on the HomeSense Instagram account. Come and say hello!

Their feed is full of home decorating and storage inspiration and ways to incorporate the secret garden look into your home.

What's your home style? Are you a fan of accessorising with florals? I look around and see that I tend to stick to neutral backdrops and flooring and add floral prints and patterns with cushions on the grey sofas, bold floral bedding and botanical prints on the walls.

In fact, I was thinking of framing a few of these photos for my office, the silver shoes and beautiful mess on the floor sums up a perfect day!

In collaboration with

I love love love the #stylingtheseasons project by Apartment Apothecary and Lotts and Lotts. A monthly styling prompt to share a surface in your home to represent what that month means to you. I join in on Instagram, sharing my beloved blue sideboard and other little ledges around our house, but this year I want to document all the corners of my home that are filled with flowers and trinkets. I move things around from room to room, and I like to call it my capsule home. One week a vase will be at home in the sitting room, the next it will pop up in the hallway.

I look how the light is on a given day, revive wilting stems overnight in the conservatory, blasting them with a cold air that keeps them going a few days longer. I adore having fresh flowers in the house, it is a luxury, but one I am happy to commit to, because it brings me so much pleasure. My jeans may be a little snug and perhaps my money could be better spent on a gym membership but I find my whole demeanour changes when I have popped to one of my favourite local florists Sprout and Flower and picked up a paper roll of loveliness from her seasonal buckets and other goodies they may have in stock.

I never know what might be in the shop when I visit and I potter around, seeing what catches my eye. I always have our sideboard in mind, and most often like to make a bigger display in the centre with twigs or blossom and then work outwards.

 The #stylingtheseasons gallery is bursting with beautiful interiors and floral inspiration that makes me endlessly scroll, makes my mind light up with ideas sparked from someone's kitchen window or fireplace display. It's a gallery full of love for styling, bursting with people who feel like I do, that taking time to arrange your favourite things, the things that make you happy, makes a difference to your happiness.

I was totally drawn to the shades of blue, catching the light at the back of the shop. It must have been a premonition because a couple of days later my family were blessed with a new tiny blue one! I must share a few photos of little Logan, the new man in their lives, the one that arrived at lightening speed and made us all weak at the knees, hearts swollen with love and tears running down our cheeks.

I look at this display and I think of him, but really it was here just before he arrived! I wanted some warmth, baby pinks and pale blues, whispers of coral pink in the blossom and the feeling of new life. Little wooden egg cups of sprouting bulbs ready to grow over the next few weeks.

I kind of like that the light was a little strange when I took these pictures, they could be sharper, less grainy but that wouldn't be January. Not in this house anyway! The smidgen of sunshine we've seen has lit up the frosty fields with an everlasting sparkle, that if you miss it one morning, is still there the next day. 

The house feels like a cavern, fires blazing, hot water bottles at the ready at bedtime, but it feels touched by magic when a stream of sunlight blasts in. These photos are a snapshot in time, on a cold and frosty morning.

Standing quietly next to the baby pinks and baby blues are a splash of hot pink ranunculus and vivid purple anemones. It wouldn't quite be me without them ;)

But blue rules this week.

I'd love to see your January home styling, are you joining in with #StylingtheSeasons?