Creating a seasonal home with homes & gardens writer, Victoria Harrison.
#04 INSIDER interview exploring home as a place of nurture, creativity and an anchor to our surroundings as the seasons turn.
I’m Lyndsay, mother, creative and storyteller with a background in interiors PR. Story & Thread. is a weekly letter exploring the intersection of creativity, mothering and the living world, with a home and a garden at the heart...
Please feel free to share parts of this newsletter that connect with you — here on Substack, on social media or I would love you to send it on to someone special to you.
Hello everyone
How are you feeling this week as we edge ever closer towards December?
I am writing to you a little earlier in the week because I have two posts to share as autumn draws to a close and we move into the winter threshold.
This week, I was also delighted to write a post for Sarah Robertson’s gorgeous Notelets on Nurture series for her publication . I was grateful for the opportunity to hunker down and share my reflections on the shift from autumn into winter and what we can learn from the slower, quieter seasons…
Later this week I am excited to share my Love Letter to Autumn, the last hurrah for the soulful season. It is an offering that is evolving yet is moulded by the gems that have caught my eye (and heart) within the burnished bronze days of autumn.
But first, I am joined by interiors & lifestyle journalist and author for the next instalment of the INSIDER series — a deep dive into our homes as a place of nurture, creativity and an anchor to our surroundings as the seasons turn.
Victoria began her career as a homes journalist and stylist in 2005, writing and styling for many leading interiors titles such as, The English Home, House Beautiful, Real Homes and Ideal Home. Our paths have crossed over the years through my work in PR for the interior design industry — I vividly remember tearing out the features about Victoria’s first book ‘Happy by Design’ about wellbeing at home to pin to my inspirational notice board — naturally, I was so excited to find her here and writing on subjects that feels so closely aligned to my interests.
When researching her first book, Victoria became aware of the importance of bringing the outdoors in for our health and happiness. This realisation led to her second book and a fascination with seasonal living — she now shares regular posts on slow living, seasonal magic, country interiors and a sprinkling of folklore and mythology via her publication Seasonal Living with Victoria Harrison.
I loved speaking to Victoria — about her home and garden as a foundation for family, creativity and happiness as she lives in tune with the seasons — from her light-filled bungalow (complete with the perfect secret hideaway writing shed…) in the heart of the English countryside…
Describe who you are and what you do.
I’m a homes and garden writer and the author of two interiors books, Rewild Your Home and Happy by Design. I’ve been writing about homes, and the way we live, for magazines and newspapers since 2005 and I write a
called Seasonal Living with Victoria Harrison.
What led you on your path?
I'm fascinated by homes and the way we live in them. I think we all love peeking inside other people's homes don't we? It's endlessly fascinating! I started out by styling homes for features, then moved into writing and editing for magazines and newspapers. I've been doing this for nearly 20 years now and I never, ever get bored of it.
Where is home for you?
A village in the countryside.
Describe your home and garden.
My home is a small bungalow which my son calls a 'short house'. He's very disappointed by the lack of stairs. A few years ago I extended out into the garden, creating an open-plan kitchen / dining area that is full of light and connected to the garden on two sides. There are four small skylights in the roof that draw down an amazing amount of light during the day as well as moonlight at night. We spend 99% of our time in this room.
I think of my home and garden as completely connected. Whenever I plant something in the garden, I'm thinking about how it will look from indoors.
My house is sunk down a little bit, with the garden at the back of the house sloping up, so I've made a feature of that, and planted a lot of hedge plants right around the boundary. From every window now all you can see is green reaching up above you (or yellow and red in the autumn). It makes me feel totally cocooned and surrounded by nature.
I'm a real advocate of planting big in a small space. There's nearly always room for a tree or two. My garden is small, but I planted a mixed boundary hedge of hazel, hawthorn and maple and I've allowed some of these hedge plants to grow into trees which brings so much drama and colour. The hazel tree is a magnet for squirrels who raid it for nuts every autumn and the hawthorns are covered in white blossom in spring and red berries in winter.
I've tucked a small writing shed into one corner that has now been completely taken over by trees and plants, but if you can fight your way in, you feel like you're sitting in a secret green hideaway. My son loves it.
How do you feel in your home?
Very happy.
Why is seasonal living important to you?
It's at the heart of everything I do. When I started out in interiors journalism I wanted to pin down that elusive secret ingredient that makes a home just feel right when you walk in the door. I attempted to solve this when writing my first book, Happy by Design. I took apart all the elements of a home one by one, and asked experts what they thought was the secret of happiness at home.
By the end of writing that book I realised that the one essential element was being connected to nature. That led on to my next book, Rewild Your Home, where I looked at how to bring nature into your home and connect to the seasons.
And now, here I am, completely obsessed with seasonal living and writing a Substack all about it. I write a monthly notebook post that explores all the rituals, traditions and folklore associated with each month, as well as writing about all the nature festivals and ancient pagan practices that still influence our lives and traditions today.
I also dig into seasonal food and recipes, my recent post on pumpkin season was one of my most popular — everyone loves autumn don't they?! It's a really magical time of year, but then I find I say that about every season these days — I love them all.
Why is it important to bring nature into our homes?
It's totally essential for our health and our happiness.
How do you pay attention to the seasons within your home?
They weave their way into everything I do. In every season I bring leaves and flowers from the garden into the house, and I'm trying to grow more of my own vegetables and fruit so I can eat and cook seasonally. In recent years I've started marking the solstices and equinoxes and all the nature festivals in between with little rituals like lighting candles, or baking seasonal recipes.
My son is always finding treasure outdoors and bringing it in, so we've set up a nature table where he displays his stones, sticks and flowers. I also rotate a selection of seasonal story books and activity books for him which gives me an excuse to buy lots of lovely children's books and put them out on display. I find children's books completely magical, they tap into something so simple and timeless and they are a great way to weave in seasonal themes and ideas. I often read them myself after he's gone to bed!
How do our homes affect our health and wellbeing?
They are crucial. We spend on average, 90% of our day indoors, so I think getting this space right is one of the most important things you can do for your overall sense of wellbeing.
Where do you feel most creative at home?
In my kitchen / dining room. It's filled with light and there are green views from every window. In the spring and summer I write with all the doors and windows open and in the autumn and winter I light a candle and watch out of the window as the wind runs through the trees and the rain falls against the skylights. Also, the biscuit tin and coffee machine are close to hand which is essential.
Where do you spend most time in your home as a family?
Although we do have a separate living room, the kitchen / dining room is the space that everyone is drawn to. There's an old squashy armchair in the corner next to the patio doors that everyone fights over — it's positioned just so it catches the sun, and you can peacefully sit there and watch the trees outside, while being part of everything that's happening in the rest of the room at the same time.
How have you considered the needs of your family within the design of your home?
The open-plan kitchen area is designed for family life with space for everyone to potter independently while being in the same space. The smaller lounge is north facing and it doesn’t get as much natural light so I've made a feature of that by making it cosy and snug. My son uses the space to watch TV or play with toys and books in the autumn and winter.
Do you have any family rituals and rhythms?
I've started loosely following the Wheel of the Year1 in recent times - marking the solstices and equinoxes as well as the ancient nature festivals in between. We usually bake something seasonal to mark each festival (with varying degrees of success, but much enthusiasm) and as I uncover new rituals and traditions we try out the ones we like. This Halloween we made Soul Cakes to give to friends and family and our autumn was very pumpkin-heavy. The winter solstice is the next big occasion on the horizon and I can't wait to introduce some more family rituals then.
Is your home complete or do you have any further plans or aspirations?
Once I finished the extension I swore not to have any more building work done ever again! it was a fairly stressful experience. Because my home is small my main aim now is to try and keep it clutter free, which is near impossible with a three year old, but I try.
The front garden is my next 'project'. When I moved in there was a small patch of grass and a flower bed. A few years ago I planted a hornbeam hedge all around the edge of the space, which is beautiful now — it turns an amazing yellow in the autumn. I also planted a miniature pear tree and a plum tree. This year I plan to replace the lawn into allotment-style beds, so I can plant more vegetables. It's a small space, but I'm packing it with as much as possible.
I think we all tend to be a bit more nervous about doing anything much with a front garden as they are such public spaces — we are much braver with enclosed back gardens. But I decided to make mine into a tiny jewel box, packed with as much life and colour as possible.
My son has his own small wheelbarrow and set of garden tools and is never happier than when he's digging in the mud, so we'll work on that together next spring.
You can explore more of Victoria’s work via her Substack publication Seasonal Living with Victoria Harrison, on Instagram, her website and two interiors books, Happy by Design and Rewild your Home.
I loved learning about the ways in which Victoria unites her home and garden, her beautiful seasonal family rituals and her plans for a jewel-box front garden in the spring.
I would love to hear your thoughts and what brings you happiness at home…?
Thank you for reading, I hope we can chat more in the comments.
Lyndsay x
The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, marking the year's chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them.
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Thanks so much for inviting me to be part of your lovely substack Lyndsay! These were great questions, I really enjoyed answering them 💫
Love the idea of connecting the indoors and outdoors. And that writing shed 😍