Paula Sutton - Hill House Living: The Art of Creating a Joyful Life

THANK YOU

Marianne Tatepo at Penguin Random House for believing in me, guiding me and holding my hand through each part of the process.

Simon Brown for seeing the beauty that I see and bringing it alive in the most spectacular way.

Dave Brown at Apeinc.co.uk for art directing a book that looks good enough to eat!

Megan Staunton at Gleam Titles for helping me believe that I could do it.

Amelia Bell and Lauren Clark at Gleam Futures for being the best cheerleaders.

Lucy Loveridge at Gleam Futures for taking a chance and starting me on this incredible journey.

Tamsyn Morgans for being a constant source of friendship, support and style.

Nina Fuga for bringing the magic of Hill House to life through illustration.

Clare Sayer for being a fountain of knowledge, plus reminding me to dot my is and cross my ts with kind diplomacy!

Huxley Ogilvy for always being so cheerful on shoots, even when holding my skirt!

Coco for being the star they really want to see!

Afterword

I often wish when I had first moved to Hill House that I had received an operating manual on how to remember to be a joy seeker, but like any type of growth, to see the best results takes a bit of experimentation and patience. Its certainly not a one shoe fits all practice, and where one person may find their moments of happiness in watching a plant grow from seed, another may just need to be encouraged to take five minutes out of their day to sit quietly and in peace.

The hardest part is often acknowledging when life doesnt feel quite right and believing that you deserve something better. Like an extra dollop of pudding, an extra dollop of self-care can seem like an indulgence but it isnt. As the mythical Mary Poppins sang in the Sherman Brothers song, A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and Id like you to see this book as your spoonful of sugar. It wont make all of your troubles miraculously disappear, but hopefully you might find a few incentives here to help distract your mind from a few of them.

Over the past decade, and with increasing frequency, I have been asked on social media how do you stay so happy? or whats your secret to living happily?. The pursuit of happiness is a very real and prevalent desire. I am always quick to remind people that what they see on social media is a few seconds of a day and a small glimpse of a life not the fully rounded picture of someones lived experience. Comparison is certainly the thief of joy and it would be wiser to use social media as a reference folder to spark inspiration rather than as a template to emulate.

However, the truth is that I have taught myself to experience life in a more joyful manner, but the important word to remember here is taught. Its not something that always comes naturally or easily, but like anything else, takes self-discipline, commitment and a realistic sense of expectation of the results.

In a world where the news seems to offer up one tumultuous event after another, and where social injustice and inequality is still sadly rife, it might seem an oversimplification to offer up a recipe here and a styling project there as a form of jolly-hockey-sticks-style antidote. Staying abreast of world issues is of course crucial, but the point is, it was in these bite-sized helpings that I turned my mind towards the beauty all around me and learned to stop focusing solely on the negative.

Use this book in the same way that you would a radio. Tune into it like a happy song when you need a bit of inspiration and an uplift. Time spent away from drama, trauma, worry or sadness is an important part of a journey towards joyful living. In fact, as demonstrated by the Black Joy movement, for some of us, its important to remember that, just as Audre Lorde defined self-care as a radical act of political warfare, expressing joy can be a political act in itself.

If theres one thing that you can take away from this book its that you are doing something extraordinary. So remember that whoever you are, wherever you are and whatever you look like, you have every right to be a joyseeker. Enjoy your joyful living.

Photo by Tamsyn Morgans

Paula Sutton is a stylist, writer and creator of popular blog and Instagram, Hill House Vintage. A born and bred south Londoner, having trained as a Town & Country Planner, she worked at ELLE as Bookings Editor and Elite models as Head of Press. Hill House Living is her first book.

Website: hillhousevintage.com

Instagram: @hillhousevintage

Twitter: @hillhousevintag

Facebook: @hillhousevintage

Notes

Chapter 1: Living a Joyful Life

Abigail Brenner, The Benefits of Creative Visualization, Psychology Today, June 2016 www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/in-flux/201606/the-benefits-creative-visualization

Pinterest www.pinterest.co.uk

Instagram www.instagram.com

Canva www.canva.com

BeFunky www.Befunky.com

Mural www.mural.co

Keri Smith www.kerismith.com

Sophie Robinson www.sophierobinson.co.uk

Royal Horticultural Society www.rhs.org.uk

Huw Richards www.youtube.com/channel/UCeaKRrrpWiQFJJmiuon2WoQ

Cat Bude @cat_in_france

Chapter 2: Country House Style

Country Life magazine www.countrylife.co.uk

Colefax & Fowler www.colefax.com

Ben Pentreath Ltd www.benpentreath.com

Max Rollitt www.maxrollitt.com

Francesca Rowan Plowden www.rowanplowden.com

Carlos Garcia Interiors www.carlosgarciainteriors.com

Kemi @cottagenoir

The Cornrow www.thecornrow.com

Victoria Ford @prepfordwife

Chapter 3: The Art of Vintage Hunting

House & Garden magazine www.houseandgarden.co.uk

World of Interiors magazine www.worldofinteriors.co.uk

Ian Mankin www.ianmankin.co.uk

Constance Spry gardenmuseum.org.uk/exhibitions/constancespry/

Homes & Antiques magazine www.homesandantiques.com

Millers Antiques Handbook & Price Guide (UK) blog.millersantiquesguide.com

Kovels Buying and Price Guides (US) www.kovels.com/buying-guides-booklets

WRAP www.wrap.org.uk

Etsy www.etsy.com

eBay www.ebay.co.uk/www.ebay.com

Summer

Mental Health Foundation www.mentalhealth.org.uk

Further reading and resources

Finding joy in the everyday is an incredibly relevant and timely topic. Its worth making time for, worth working towards, worth setting goals to achieve and definitely worth fighting for.

Book recommendations

Here are some more reading resources to help you along with your own personal journey to living a joyful life:

Happy