Well, it's been a super busy few weeks as I've been immersed in getting the first ever print edition of 91 Magazine in to print. It's been stressful yet joyful as well as knackering yet hugely rewarding! if you would like to see the results of months of work bringing the publication together, you can pop over and order a copy via the 91 Magazine website. I really hope you might enjoy it the same as so many others have already. You can see lots of readers pics over on Instagram via the #my91magazine hashtag.
To give myself a little break and get away from it all last weekend, we took ourselves down to Kent to visit the Decorative Living Fair. This is only the 2nd time I've been to the event at Eridge Park, although I've been to the London one a few times, but this Kent based fair is definitely one of my favourite ones to make the effort to travel to.
Set in the grounds of a beautiful private house, overlooking a stunning view of the Kent countryside, the fair has a real feel of a French brocante or flea market yet is beautifully curated; firstly by Caroline Zoob and Hetty Purbrick who carefully select the vendors, and then each stall is impeccably styled by each individual.
Chatting with some of the regular sellers, I find out that they only bring their very best stock to the Decorative Living Fair. The quality of stalls means that everyone makes sure they up their game and they all spend lots of time planning and preparing how their stand will look.
Not only is the quality of stands and products top notch, Caroline & Hetty pay extra attention to every detail. Their food tent is full of seriously delicious lunch options, you can even have a glass of wine or fizz if you so wish! And this may sound silly - but, posh portaloos! I'm sorry, but it does make a difference! (to me anyway!) :)
While all the stands are great, I do have a few favourites that I look forward to rummaging at! The first is Goose Home and Garden (pics above). Sarah and Paul are talented vintage buyers, and always have the perfect mix of interesting finds - from painted furniture (which they've often restored themselves) to architectural salvage items down to delicate china, cutlery and glassware. I had to stop myself from bagging this enamel bucket (loved the colour!) as I've put a bit of a shopping ban on myself until we move house!
The other fave is The Old Haberdashery (pics above). If you've got my book, you may have spotted Sonia's gorgeous shop and home in there, and her stand at the fair is like a mini version of her store - so many beautiful and unique finds and LOTS of haberdashery items you never knew you needed to rummage through. I did cave at this point, and purchased two pairs of scissors! You can never have enough scissors in these days of Instagram photo styling right?!
Here's a few more shots of lovely stalls and some things I could have easily bought but held back due to the house move!
It was just what I needed after a hectic few weeks (months in fact!) - happily strolling around taking in all the vintage beauty, plus I get a weird thrill from photographing vintage things even though I can't buy anything! :)
Put the date in your diaries for next year peeps! It's well worth it! More info here: Decorative Living Fair.