At home with Tara @OurLayeredHome
We love visiting people’s homes and having a cheeky little nose around! There is just something extra special about seeing how you can transform a place to make it just perfect for you. The latest home we’ve had the pleasure of seeing belongs to the wonderful owner of @OurLayeredHome, Tara who lives there with her husband and little boy Henry. Sadly, with everything being a little out of sorts this year, we’ve not been able to pop over for a cuppa, so we had to get creative. Tara and her wonderful family have been lovely enough to show us around their gorgeous place on their phones (thanks both!) and give us insight into what makes it so special.
Describing her home as an inviting, colourful jungle full of an impressive sixty plus plants (that takes ‘green fingers’ to a new level!), Tara has built her home on a love of layering, upcycling and ‘shopping her own home’. If you’ve never heard of shopping your home, it’s a clever way of sprucing up a room with things you already have somewhere else in the home - refreshing a space without spending a penny! Now that’s super savvy and gets top marks from us.
Tara started to document the projects and transformations she was doing in March, when the first lockdown began. By simply sharing her progress on her Instagram account @OurLayeredHome she went from 4000 followers to an inspiring 27,000 when more and more people wanted to come along for the journey. We can see why! When asking Tara about the decisions she’s made to create her colourful abode, she spoke about how she loves to layer everything from multiple pillows and rugs to gorgeous textures and patterns and you only have to take a look to see what a stunning impact that has had.
Talking to her about how she updates her home on a budget, she told us about what a life-saver self-adhesive wallpaper can be, especially if you’re renting and want to revamp your walls. Saving pre-loved bits to upcycle and taking on DIY projects (including her ‘secret garden’ foliage door) not only kept her sane during the first lockdown, but also introduced Tara to her favourite Instagrammer Victoria on @ThisEnglishHome who shares her passion.
Another thing that has impacted Tara this year is how what we buy and use can have an effect on the environment, so not only has she taken to re-purposing things around the house, but she has also made changes to buy less single-use plastic including changing up her deodorant.
With the weather changing and Christmas just on the horizon, we wanted to know how Tara would be keeping cosy and enjoying the festive season. “I am the coldest person ever! Cosy blankets…something else is candles, we love having candles lit” Well, we’re feeling cosier just hearing that! Tara and her family are all about making Christmas magical by decorating the house, making their own advent calendar and also trying their hand at homemade decorations using our very own recyclable wrapping paper. Don’t forget to send us photos of your tree-mendous creations Tara and have a wonderful Christmas!