REUSE & RESTYLE | Seasonal Styling at Long Cottage with Samantha Abbott

One of our key brand values at The Interiors Yard is to style your home with the seasons. We use the phrase ‘Reuse & Restyle’ on a regular basis to demonstrate how our timeless pieces can be restyled with each season to add a freshness to your home.  Instead of buying new pieces, we encourage you to restyle these seasonally.

We’re working with Samantha Abbot on an inspiring new styling series.  Samantha lives in Long Cottage, in Somerset and embraces all aspects of living seasonally. Samantha has restyled our Bruton Bowl which is fast becoming a popular piece to restyle in your homes.  We’ve seen lots of you adding spring bulbs to our Bruton Bowl and we’ve enjoyed watching these bloom in your kitchens and on your windowsills.

We caught up with Samantha to find out a little bit more about life at Long Cottage…

How long have you lived at Long Cottage?

We moved here in October of 2022, so around five months. I was away visiting my parents in France at the time, (not an intentional clash of events), but it meant I arrived home to find everything done, which was lovely.

 What do you love the most about living seasonally in your home?

 I’m a slow living advocate, which, of course, goes hand-in-hand with embracing a seasonal way of life. I love to watch the landscape change and bring the outside in with plenty of spring bulbs and fresh flowers during the warmer months.

Throughout autumn and winter, I enjoy foraging the hedgerows, making dried flower arrangements, and wreaths for the doors. Is there anything lovelier than hunkering down when the weather turns colder, taking comfort from being at home, and then springing back to life when the days lengthen?

 Living in a rented property can sometimes be a little restrictive. How do you make Long Cottage feel like home?

Renting isn’t ideal, especially when it restricts any changes one can implement that really make a house a home. However, we were allowed to repaint the walls in colours of our choosing which made a big improvement, in itself. We added some new pieces of furniture (along with some preloved for a fresh start feel. I’ll have to hold off on the pretty wallpaper and occasional tongue and groove a while longer.

 What’s been your favourite DIY project to date?

That’s a tough one - there have been so many across the years. However, more recently, I prefer to take a piece of furniture back to its original state, by removing the paint, rather than applying more. With that in mind, I’d say my favourite project to date would have to be our console table. After working my way through multiple layers of decoupage, paint, and wood stain, it is now a feature in our lounge, with its warm and natural wood tones.

Your photography and film are simply beautiful, and it has a romantic, poetic feel about it. Have you always had a passion for this?

Thank you, that’s really kind. I’ve been passionate about photography for many years now, but I didn’t really get into video until more recently when Instagram released reels.

 It was a few summers ago, I was in my garden, proudly taking photographs of the flowers I’d grown from seed, when I decided to make a short film around them. After some trial and error, I stumbled upon a certain way of filming and have since “geeked out” on the subject of video.

I’ve developed my style into what you perfectly described as: romantic and poetic. I like my videos to have a rhythm if you like, a certain flow, and one that’s recognisably mine. That said, I recently tried a stop motion style video which is a whole new kettle of fish, so to speak.

 Over the last few years, I think we have all embraced a simpler lifestyle and we have realised what joy our homes can bring us. What little things bring you happiness in your home?

Very true. I’ve always been a homebody at heart, and I love nothing more than pottering around, baking, gardening, creating content and adding welcoming touches to our home. Happiness for me, is having the guilt-free time to stop and listen to birdsong, or smile at a squirrel feeding in the garden. These small moments in time are so valuable to our well-being, and should never be taken for granted.

We hope you've enjoyed our catch up with Sam and finding out a little bit more about life at Long Cottage. Head over to our Instagram to see how Sam has styled our Bruton Bowl for the spring season.