Skip to content
  • HOME
  • BlogExpand
    • Interiors
    • Travel
    • Seasonal living
    • West Country & Cotswolds
  • About
  • Work with me
  • PortfolioExpand
    • Interiors & seasonal living
    • Travel, nature & location
  • My booksExpand
    • Bring The Outside In
    • The Soft Minimalist Home
  • The Edit
  • Contact
Instagram Pinterest Threads
  • Briiv - a stylish & sustainable air purifier to tackle indoor pollution | These Four Walls blog

    Briiv – a stylish & sustainable air purifier to tackle indoor pollution in the home

    July 7, 2022February 25, 2026

    Indoor air pollution can be very damaging, causing breathing difficulties, sleep disturbances, brain fog and more. The all-natural and very sustainable Briiv air purifier claims to help, and I tested it out in my own home. Here’s my review…

  • 'Sartorial Living' - a sophisticated showroom makeover for New Works | These Four Walls blog

    ‘Sartorial Living’ – a sophisticated showroom makeover for New Works

    July 4, 2022February 25, 2026

    New Works’ latest showroom makeover is an elegant mix of beiges, browns and greys, with an interplay between light and dark, classical and contemporary, raw and refined…

  • Highlights from 3 Days of Design 2022 - part two | These Four Walls blog

    Highlights from 3 Days of Design 2022 | Part 2

    June 30, 2022February 25, 2026

    The second half of my round-up from Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design, with plenty of inspiring Scandinavian interiors and some very interesting new product launches…

  • A look inside the Vipp Loft & Vipp Garage

    A look inside the Vipp Loft & Vipp Garage

    June 28, 2022February 25, 2026

    A look inside the Vipp Loft and Vipp Garage – a conceptual hotel and events space with minimalist interiors, industrial style and modern rustic touches from Danish design brand Vipp…

  • Highlights from 3 Days of Design 2022 - part one | These Four Walls blog

    Highlights from 3 Days of Design 2022 | Part 1

    June 23, 2022February 26, 2026

    With more than 200 exhibitions and installations, Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design is a delight for fans of Scandinavian interiors. Here are some of my 2022 highlights…

  • Launching my scatter-cushion packs with British Design Shop | These Four Walls blog

    Launching my scatter-cushion packs with British Design Shop

    June 21, 2022February 26, 2026

    I’m really excited to share a project I’ve been working on behind the scenes for several months: a nature-inspired collection of scatter-cushion packs created in collaboration with British Design Shop…

Page navigation

Previous PagePrevious 1 … 26 27 28 29 30 … 111 Next PageNext

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM

A heatwave combined with fibromyalgia and the peri A heatwave combined with fibromyalgia and the perimenopause isn't exactly fun... Along with iced coffee, here are four tried-and-tested things that are getting me through the soaring temperatures in the UK this week:

1. Temperature-regulating bamboo bed linen from @laud_sleep. It's super-soft, easy to care for and it really does keep me cooler on hot, sticky nights. 
2. The @duux ' Whisper Flex' fan, which is quiet and energy-efficient yet very effective. It can be adapted to sit on the floor or a table, and it has a remote control. It's also portable and rechargeable, so you can use it in areas without a nearby plug socket. 
3. 'Birch Water & Neroli' cooling facial mist from @findubiety, which I take with me everywhere during summer. It smells and feels wonderful, and all profits go to support my local hospice charity @dorothyhousehc.
4. My traditional Spanish fan, which I've had since I lived in Spain in my early 20s. It's now very tatty and missing a few rungs, but it still does the job. I sometimes get strange looks when I whip it out on the bus in the UK, but it works so I really don't care! 

For full disclosure, I've worked with Duux and Laud in the past, but this isn't a paid or sponsored post and I haven't been asked to share it. These are items that I use myself on a daily basis in weather like this, and I thought other people might find them helpful, too. 

#heatwave #uksummer #summermood #simplehomestyle #seasonalliving
They say the journey is as important as the destin They say the journey is as important as the destination, and that's certainly true of my trip to Bergen in Norway with my friend Becky earlier this month. Rather than fly straight there, we decided to use it as an opportunity to do something that's been on my bucket list for a while - a classic itinerary dubbed 'Norway in a Nutshell', which goes from Oslo to Bergen by public train, boat and bus (including two of the most scenic railways in the world). 

It was a spectacular experience encompassing mountains, plateaus, fjords, lakes and waterfalls, taking us from spring to winter and back again. Here's a taster from the many photos I took along the way, but there's much more on the blog - including tips on how to book tickets, where to sit on the trains for the best views, and where to stay overnight if you have more time than we did and want to split it over more than one day. 

It's a journey that will linger in my memory for a long time, and one I'm very glad I got to do. 

#visitnorway #norwayinanutshell #fjords #divineworldplaces #postcardplaces
More kitchen progress! The cabinet that sits on to More kitchen progress! The cabinet that sits on top of the worktop (which hides the boiler and some storage) is now finished, and the perfect little freestanding island unit has arrived (I wanted something quite gnarled and rustic to contrast with the pale units). We're just waiting for the window blind to arrive and for the electrician to come out and install the pendant light, and the whole room will be done. Scroll through to see a 'before' shot - it's a big change! 

#cottagerenovation #minimalistkitchen #shakerkitchen #neutralkitchens #simpleinterior
From a beautiful evening mooching around Oslo wate From a beautiful evening mooching around Oslo waterfront last week. I was in Norway for a short break with a friend, and we were treated to an amazing spring sunset. It made a wonderful start to our trip, and also an opportunity to catch up with the fabulous @dimakaterina. Our stay in the Norwegian capital was only very brief, though, as early next morning we headed off to do something that's been on my bucket list for a long time. More on that (and a full blog travel guide) later in the week...

#visitoslo #norwaytravel #theprettycities #divineworldplaces #sunsets_oftheworld
Photos from a spring visit to Great Chalfield Mano Photos from a spring visit to Great Chalfield Manor, a 15th-century National Trust property not far from our new home. It's a beautiful, fairytale kind of place, especially at this time of year when the blossom and wisteria blooms. And see if you can spot the image where I may have captured a ghost... I mean, it was probably just a smudge on my camera lens, but a ghost is a far more interesting explanation. And intriguingly it didn't show up on the frames taken a second beforehand and a second afterwards...

#thisprettyengland #wisteriahysteria #visitwiltshire #springgarden #visitthecotswolds

DISCLAIMER


This site occasionally contains paid-for content, gifted products and affiliate links. All such content is clearly marked.

Simple, relaxed living at home & beyond

Instagram Pinterest Threads

Copyright 2026 © Abi Dare

  • Privacy Policy
Scroll to top
  • HOME
  • Blog
    • Interiors
    • Travel
    • Seasonal living
    • West Country & Cotswolds
  • About
  • Work with me
  • Portfolio
    • Interiors & seasonal living
    • Travel, nature & location
  • My books
    • Bring The Outside In
    • The Soft Minimalist Home
  • The Edit
  • Contact
Cart Shopping Cart 0
This site uses cookies to give you the best possible web experience. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with this.