Travel Inspiration & Interior Design ideas
Travel inspiration and sustainable design – lets go!
Hi, I’m Emily and this is the launch of my new travel inspiration and interiors blog ‘Green and the Great’ which will document my discoveries and interests in the worlds of interior design, art, sustainable living and travel escapes. This is also my very first blog entry and it is a wee bit scary, so please be gentle with me!
I’ve been toying with the idea of a travel inspiration and interiors blog for several years now, but until now the only blogging that’s been done has been in a notepad by my bed where I write down all the ideas that swim through my mind and stop me from getting my full 8 hours every night. So, for the sake of my dearly beloved fiancé, who will tell you that I don’t do too well on little sleep, I have decided to bite the bullet and make ‘Green and the Great’ a reality!
Why travel AND interiors?
A little about me. Since a very young age I have always yearned to be ‘doing’. Whilst my sisters would be happy watching a film during the summer holidays, I yearned to be outside. It felt criminal to be indoors when the beautiful Wiltshire countryside was calling. We’d play Fox and Hound, build dens and camp in the garden (the tent being created by mum’s blanket hung over the washing line!).
At school my passions were for art and design, which led me to arts college and then on to completing a degree in photography. After university, I spent 7 years working and travelling, working any job available to fund my travels taking me to new countries and experiencing some great adventure escapes. My yearning to explore took me to New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Iceland and more. I would however always come back home after a trip and delight in being back in the countryside and home.
Travelling opened up my eyes to the world. It was also a great outlet for my love of photography.
It was on my return home in my late twenties that I met my now fiancé James. At the same time, I got my dream job working for distinguished landscape photographer Charlie Waite, running his company Light and Land, where I arrange landscape photography tours around the world. During the past seven years, myself and James have added a new member to our family – our lovely moggy Django, the most spoilt cat in the world, who also has many names including Tronics, Scooter and Jangs! He may appear in this blog a few times, for that I apologise!
During this time, I have continued to travel. James and I take a road trip every year to a new destination. (More to come on these adventure escapes in later blog posts). A big turning point came when we bought our house and I took on the job of redesigning and decorating it for resale. I used my creative experience and James’ DIY enthusiasm to completely alter the house, and in turn we sold it for a lot more than we paid. This enabled us to buy our dream home, a beautiful 1800’s cottage in the Dorset countryside, where I can retreat from the noise of the world and focus on my creativity.
Doing up a house on a very small budget made me rethink the way we had been spending money. I realised that although I loved designing our rooms with pieces from high street stores, I also became more conscious of the bigger issues in our world at present. Inspired by the Scandinavian ethos of Lagom and Lykke, I realised being content and happy is nothing to do with what you own or how much money you have, it’s about enjoying life’s simple pleasures and slow living.
Now I was not a thrifty student nor was I a wise spender in my twenties. I have a wardrobe full of Topshop jumpers, shoes I have worn only once and too many handbags to admit to. But the happiness they brought me was fleeting at best. This throwaway nature is something I probably didn’t realise I was doing. If I look back at how much of my hard-earned money I probably spent on meaningless and unneeded items, I actually cringe inside. With that money I could have visited a new place, taken a friend or family member on a trip or treated someone who had very little.
Making a difference – sustainable travel and sustainable furniture
So, in January this year, I decided to live a more sustainable lifestyle by abiding by a few homemade rules.
Only buy something new if it is really needed (example of my inner mind “do I REALLY need another white woollen jumper??”)
If I do need another white woollen jumper, then buy second-hand. Visit a charity shop, browse sites like eBay or have a swap session with friends.
I do allow myself to spend money on new experiences and travel. My new moto “Don’t buy things, by moments”.
When buying for the house or myself, then buy better. Don’t buy throw away items anymore, but invest in quality pieces which are well designed, durable and sustainable. Ideally these will be from independent designers, makers and artisans. (My love of the arts is still going strong!).
I want to inspire in people a curiosity and desire to make more sustainable and ethical choices in their day to day lives.
Let’s all care about the future of the world we live in, but at the same time enjoy it.
I will be sharing with you travel inspiration for 2019, travel escapes to inspire, adventure escapes and cool boutique places to host you. Ideas for getting outdoors, spending less and introducing you to talented artists, designers and makers.
Enjoy interior ideas and adventure escapes? Then join me on the journey!
Green and the Great is about making the most of the opportunities this world gives us – be Green but explore, there are amazing places right outside the front door if we just find the time to appreciate them. It’s about buying better and buying the Great – from independent designers whose designs will not only last a lifetime but look amazing too
I hope to stimulate conversation about fresh and exciting travel escapes, interior design ideas, sustainable living and unique places to stay and would love to hear about your projects and experiments too! Let the journey begin!
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Other posts that may interest you:
Top 5 Instagram accounts to inspire
Bruton: cool, creative and in the countryside
Tags: Travel Inspiration 2019 | travel inspiration site | travel inspiration blog | travel inspiration Europe | travel escapes | adventure escapes | interior design ideas | interior design blogs | sustainable design | sustainable tourism