November has been a bit of a whirlwind for me as, after months of talking about it, we finally put our house on the market to sell. And sell it has. In fact, it officially went live for sale on the afternoon of Thursday, the 9th of November and by Tuesday, the 14th, we’d accepted an offer over asking price. Great news, of course, but this means we’re having to put our ‘arses in gear’ to find a house we want to buy!

House buying and selling is not exactly straight-forward in this country but we’re hoping that it’ll all be as painless as possible. Trying to find a house in this market has been challenging however and while we had high hopes on a property we viewed not long ago, we were outbid on the price as it soared high above asking price and too high to make even what would have been a huge project worthwhile. I know there will be others and there may even be better houses to come but of course, we were disappointed.

And so our search will continue. Of course, there aren’t many houses coming on the market at this time of year just prior to Christmas but we’re hoping we’ll see more that fit our criteria appearing at the start of the new year. Of course, for the blog, this is all a little bit more challenging. We won’t be doing any further improvements on this house and so you might just see a bit more lifestyle content in the mix until we move into another home and we can start the process of planning and decorating once again.

Until then, things are a little in limbo so I’ll apologise for that! I know many of you come to Swoon Worthy for the decor and styling posts as well as those big reveals that are always so popular but if you hang tight for a bit, I promise there will be plenty more to come as we move forward with a new project!

News

In other news, I recently attended the Vuelio Blog Awards in London and was absolutely thrilled to walk away the winner of the Best DIY & Interior Design Blog! My gorgeous friend Kate from Mad About the House (last year’s winner of the same award as well as the winner of the 2016 Best UK Blog award) handed me the prize and it really meant so much to me. It was a gorgeous and glamorous night and I couldn’t be more honoured to win!

Events

I also attended Rose and Grey‘s special Christmas shopping event which was really beautiful. I shared the launch of their Altrincham store on my blog last year and since then, they have really gone from strength to strength. If you haven’t checked out their website yet, you really must as they have some really gorgeous Christmas offerings as well as plenty of ideas for gifting too. And of course, if you are in the area, then you really must just stop by and check it all out in person.

Travel

I actually just got back last night from a couple of days in the heart of Sweden. Yes, another trip to Sweden although this one was hosted by the wonderful peeps at IKEA. They invited me and a couple other bloggers to get a little peek behind the curtain of what actually happens at the birthplace of their amazing company in Älmhult, Sweden. It was a fantastic couple of days and so incredibly impressive and I can’t wait to share more with you on that one soon.

Features

I was interviewed over by the lovely team behind Harvey Jones Kitchens recently where I shared my tips on what I think will be the next biggest trend in kitchen design as well as where I’m gathering loads of inspiration recently, beyond Instagram and Pinterest. Do check that out when you have a chance!

I was also honoured to be named TripAdvisor’s Holiday Lettings Top Lifestyle Bloggers of 2017. There are some fantastic blogs on the list so if you are looking for some new blogs to discover, you’ll love that one.

What Else I’ve Been Writing

So this is the part of the post when I share where I’ve been chatting about interiors for various websites over the past month! I’m rounding them up to make it easy for you to have a look when you get some time this weekend and fancy a bit of light reading! Of course, I wouldn’t expect anyone to read ALL of these but if something catches your eye, then I’d love for you to have a little look. Each link opens in a new window so you can just click the ones you like the look of and go back to it later!

Seasonal

How to Add Sparkle to Your Christmas Decor (Tile Mountain)

How to Host Thanksgiving in a Small Space (Oak Furniture Land US)

Festive Lighting Inspiration (Avant Homes)

How to Have a Stylish Yet Functional Christmas (Oak Furnitureland)

Advice

How to Style Your Console Table (Oak Furniture Land)

How to Choose Paint Colours for Your Home (Oak Furniture Land)

Four Ways to Cosy Up Your Floors for Winter (Tile Mountain)

Trends

What’s Out in 2018 (Oak Furniture Land)

Winter Warmers: Snug Style for Colder Months (Tile Mountain)

What’s Coming Up in December

So December is nearly upon us and with that, the race towards Christmas and New Year. It’s crazy how fast this year has gone and I feel like I only just did my roundup post of 2016! I’ve got some plans to meet up with my fellow North West interior bloggers for a lovely Christmas brunch as well as a housewarming of some good friends down in London. I’m also looking forward to the premiere of the newest Star Wars film (yes, we are geeks at heart)! And of course, I’m looking forward to Christmas!

Last year’s tree – and no, I still haven’t put mine up this year! Ack!

I feel like I’m so behind in all my planning – the whole upcoming move is really throwing a bit of a spanner in the normal goings-on around here and the schedule has been a little busier/more chaotic than normal. I do want to just head off any raised eyebrows as I have some sponsored content coming up and with the way that brands schedule things, it seems they all want the content going live within a short span of time. I normally like to spread out my sponsored content over the course of the month but I couldn’t do that this time around so I hope you forgive this!

As I always say and repeated in this post, I only work with brands I love and I would never want my blog to look like one big advertisement after another. It’s just the way things have worked out in terms of the timing so it’s a very temporary thing and I do hope you’ll still love what’s coming up!

Now it’s your turn! How was November for you? What are you most looking forward to in December?