Pillow Talk with... Charlotte Bell

May 1, 2025

This season, we’re joined by Charlotte Bell of Nourish HQ, a herbal medicine farmer and homesteader from the Yorkshire Dales. Charlotte Bell is a herbal medicine farmer and homesteader living in the Yorkshire Dales. After spending two years in a temple on the other side of the world, working as an āyurvedic healer and yoga teacher, Charlotte returned to her Dales roots to grow food and medicine, tend animals, and host retreats and workshops. Charlotte’s life and work beautifully align with the Wildflowers collection, both inspired by the natural beauty of the British countryside. WHAT IS ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND? About six glasses of water that I continually forget to bring downstairs in the morning. A giant biography of Thoreau that I re-read every year. A stack of novels (historical fiction, always). A handmade wooden cross I was given at my confirmation. A little vase of whatever currently smells the best in the garden - at the moment, the sweetest tête-à-tête narcissi WHAT IS YOUR ULTIMATE BEDTIME ROUTINE? A pot of fresh mint tea, a really good book and a shoulder massage if I can wangle one!  YOUR ONE PEARL OF WISDOM FOR A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP? No screens for at least an hour before bed. Magnesium. AND ONE FALLACY? Earplugs. I’m all about quiet and dark rooms, but things stuck to my head while trying to sleep? It’s a no from me.  Charlotte wears Poppy in Meadow IF YOU HAD TO DESCRIBE THE RHYTHM OF YOUR LIFE IN THE YORKSHIRE DALES IN THREE WORDS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE? Routine, chaos, freedom  WHOSE BEDROOM WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO SNOOP AROUND? Tasha Tudor! I bet it would be packed with Victorian dresses, bowls of flowers and sketches of corgis.  WOODWORKING, GROWING AND CARING FOR ANIMALS ALL REQUIRE PATIENCE - HAS WORKING WITH YOUR HANDS TAUGHT YOU ANYTHING UNEXPECTED? I’ve learnt that we are all so much more capable than we think! You don’t need to know how to do something perfectly before you start. Have a child’s mind - be curious and excited by things and then just give it a go. Don’t take things too seriously. Surrender to the inevitability of getting covered in animal poo. Invest in good hand cream. IF YOU COULD BOTTLE UP ONE SCENT FROM YOUR DAILY LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? There is this absolutely tiny wild thyme that grows high up on the hills. In the summer, when you sit on the ground, you are hit with the scent of warm stone, coarse grass and thyme. It smells like Home. I’d love to bottle it. WHAT'S SOMETHING ABOUT SLOW, SEASONAL LIVING THAT PEOPLE OFTEN MISUNDERSTAND? People often think slow, seasonal living is easy or idyllic - but it’s deeply engaged. It’s not about doing less, but about doing with intention and presence. The pace is set by nature, not the clock. It’s muddy, repetitive, beautiful, and unpredictable. Tending land and animals requires a huge amount of responsibility and difficult decision making. It can be challenging and sometimes isolating, but in return it offers a quiet richness that I wouldn’t exchange for anything! WHAT INSPIRES YOU MOST FOR YOUR WORK? The hill farmers who have been tending these Dales for generations. It’s a very hard life, and one you would only do for the love of it. I’m inspired by how they have become part of the fabric of the land around us. It couldn’t exist without them, nor they without it. I find this coexistence deeply moving and aspire to it myself everyday.  WHAT IS ON YOUR BREAKFAST-IN-BED TRAY? Fresh orange juice, crumpets with homemade raspberry jam, and an espresso.  YOUR FAVOURITE IF ONLY IF NIGHTIE IS... Oh my goodness… it totally depends on my mood. However, Georgie berry bird and blue gingham Jessie do feature quite heavily in the rotation. I have recently fallen for Phoebe from the Wildflowers designs after my time with the collection. WHEN IT COMES TO BED, NOTHING FEELS BETTER THAN... Slightly stiff linen sheets. Buttery soft cotton nighties. A cold bedroom and a hot water bottle. DISCOVER MORE ABOUT CHARLOTTE BELL & NOURISH HQ WEBSITE // INSTAGRAM

January Reads with Sarah Gwonyoma

January 22, 2025

January is all about new beginnings and resolutions. It’s also about going a bit slower and hunkering down and what could feel more ‘hibernation mode’ than a good book and a fresh nightie. In celebration of this we chatted to our book crush, Sarah Gwonyoma to share a selection of her favourite reads – and yes, it doesn’t hurt that she is a fellow nightie devotee and looks just perfect in some of our designs! Writer and Book Critic, Sarah Gwonyoma is the Founder of the popular online platform What Sarah Read Next. With an acute eye for the hottest reads, Sarah writes brilliant book reviews and has interviewed an array of notable authors on literary circuit; Douglas Stuart, Abi Morgan, Annie MacManus and Musa Okwonga, Ayobami Adebayo, Paul Murray and many more. Her joy of reading is contagious, and we adored hearing her thoughts below. Dive into to Sarah's literary world, discovering her perfect nighttime routine as well as her monthly online book club - What We Read Next. WHAT IS ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND? Lumity Morning and Night capsules, Neom Perfect Night’s Sleep Mist (Lavender, Chamomile and Patchouli), Magnesium Glycinate tablets and Wideye Lavender Oil. Oh and books of course.  THE LAST BOOK YOU READ WAS... 'The Wedding People' by Alison Espach - laugh out loud funny. Oh my goodness, EVERYONE has to read it BEDTIME READING: PAPER BOOK OR KINDLE? Paper book every time. Kindle only if I can’t get hold of a book I’m desperate to read or when I’m travelling.  WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BOOK OF ALL TIME? 'A Little Life' by Hanya Yanagihara. I think about this book (Jude) every day. No book has ever affected me like this one. WHAT IS YOUR ULTIMATE BEDTIME ROUTINE? If I’m not travelling or out at a work event, I’m usually tucked up in bed by 8:30pm. My routine usually involves cleansing my face and whacking on my Aesop Fabulous Face Oil, slipping on my PJs and getting into bed by 8:30pm. I spritz my pillow with Neom Perfect Night’s Sleep mist, take both my Lumity Night and Magnesium tablets, and then lie in bed with my book, until I fall asleep.  THE ONE BOOK EVERYONE SHOULD READ IS... ‘Possibility’ by Sareeta Domingo - A romantic novel about a woman called Anika who wakes up in hospital on her thirtieth birthday with a second chance at life, vowing not to waste another second. It’s a book about manifesting the life of your dreams and lots of sexy love. WHEN IT COMES TO BED, NOTHING FEEL BETTER THAN... Wearing your favourite luxe pjs, lathered in lavender oil, propped up in bed with a unputdownable book.  IS THERE A BOOK THAT YOU ALWAYS GO BACK TO AT THIS TIME OF YEAR? 'With Love Grief and Fury' by Salena Godden TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR BOOK CLUB, HOW IT CAME ABOUT AND HOW PEOPLE CAN GET INVOLVED? My friend Charlie and I set up our monthly online book club - WHAT WE READ NEXT - last year. Every month we sit down and chat to a different author about their book, which I have specially picked from the hundreds I’ve been lucky to read and love. The online events will all run virtually, so you can watch it from the comfort of your home or on your phone. As a book club member, you will also have the chance to ask the author questions during the live event AND chat about the book in our very own blog space. The monthly subscription covers your ticket for the online event and 3 free newsletters from me. Charlie and I REALLY want to build a community of book lovers from all over the world because for us books ARE JOY. To find out more about the What We Read Next Book visit: Website // Instagram

Pillow Talk with... Caroline Kent

December 16, 2024

Welcome back to The Nightstand, our quarterly newsletter landing in your inbox in time for each season change, so here we are with Winter, in all its glory. This season's Pillow Talk is with the beautiful and charming Caroline Kent. With a background as a curator of contemporary art, illustrator Caroline Kent founded stationery brand Scribble & Daub in 2012, to create stylish cards and paper goods for gifting, hosting and correspondence. For those who still delight in handcrafted, tangible pieces as a remedy to the digital world. WHAT IS ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND?  A Moleskine diary to jot down a line or two about the day, a pebble my son Caspar drew love hearts on for me, a painting of roses on an odd bit of cardboard which hides the plug socket that was put in the wrong place, and The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers, recommended to me as a great Christmas read by my friend Jo Rodgers. WHAT IS YOUR ULTIMATE BEDTIME ROUTINE?  A candlelit bath with Susanne Kaufmann’s Oil for the Senses, followed by  Votary’s Night Oil. Then a few pages of a great book, turning out the light when I find it drops from my hand… This is not a scenario that occurs with any regularity! YOUR ONE PEARL OF WISDOM FOR A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP?  Fresh air - I sleep best with the window open. AND ONE FALLACY? Sleepy tea, it just makes you need a wee in the middle of the night! DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT CHRISTMAS MORNING... I love the feeling of a rustling, present-filled stocking at my feet, and childishly insist that my husband still make one for me - he one hand-painted me a little box of marzipan fruits (I love marzipan). Waking up to that is the best. Our alarm clock on Christmas morning is the excited shrieks of our three boys as they open their own stockings, and who then pile into our bed to show us their loot. WHOSE BEDROOM WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO SNOOP AROUND?  Alexa Chung WHAT INSPIRES YOU MOST FOR YOUR WORK? The garden and meadow we’ve made around our cottage. I won’t ever get tired of drawing flowers. But I do get terribly distracted by the endless jobs that I could be doing outside the studio window…  MOST ROMANTIC PIECE OF MUSIC TO RELAX TO?  My husband Tim playing the piano. WHAT IS ON YOUR BREAKFAST-IN-BED TRAY?  A pastry magically teleported from Lannan bakery in Edinburgh, half a pink grapefruit, a glass of Champagne, and coffee in my favourite Ginny Sims mug. And a copy of the FT on the side. BEDTIME READING: PAPER BOOK OR KINDLE?  Paper book, always and forever. WHAT IS ON YOUR CHRISTMAS LIST THIS YEAR?  A holm oak tree, Art is Magic by Jeremy Deller, a pair of beautifully coloured socks, a charm necklace from Grainne Morton, and a bolt of Common Room’s mochaware fabric for my January decorating plans… ONE SMELL THAT EVOKES AUTUMN IS...  Frost (or even better, snow). YOUR FAVOURITE IF ONLY IF NIGHTIE? Carey - cannot believe how soft and light it is, just want to spend all day in bed… WHEN IT COMES TO BED, NOTHING FEELS BETTER THAN...  Fresh clean sheets. And a cuddle. Discover Scribble & Daub: Website // Instagram

Pillow Talk with.... Florence Sweryda

October 12, 2024

Welcome back to The Nightstand, our quarterly newsletter landing in your inbox in time for each season change, so here we are with Autumn, in all its glory.  This season's Pillow Talk is with the beautiful and charming Florence Sweryda. Florence is an artist and maker from East Sussex. She explores making in all its forms from hand painting the walls, making the crockery for the table, and now in the last couple of years, returning to her childhood love of painting and constructing in miniature. A connecting thread of fine decorative detail and the natural world runs throughout Florence’s body of work. What is your ultimate bedtime routine? Supper at 7, smallish cup of tea (strong, milk no sugar) a very hot bath and in bed by 9:30.  What is on your nightstand? A glass of water, a half painted barley twist lamp and a battered paperback copy of When Marnie was There - a default relaxing book since I was age 10. Normally there’s some English paper pieced patchwork but as we’ve just moved into a project house there’s a small pile of Edwardian floorboard nails instead. Your one pearl of wisdom for a good night's sleep? A long walk, like today's windy walk onto the South Downs. Or being read three quarters of a page of a sci-fi book by my partner; nothing makes me fall asleep faster.  Whose bedroom would you most like to snoop around? Paddington's attic room. What inspires you most for your work? Old small things, the kind you'd find in a drawer in a big house. Which piece of art do you adore the most? Anything by Edward Ardizzone or David Gentleman. What is on your breakfast-in-bed tray? Buttered toast with the tiniest spread of marmite, a large cup of tea, possibly some yogurt with Polish honey. Bedtime reading: Paper Book or Kindle? Paper always. One smell that evokes Autumn is...  Crispy bonfire air in the evening. I like to have a good sniff when I let the dog out of the back door before she goes to bed. Your favourite If Only If Nightie? A tie between Chloe Long or Pandora. When it comes to bed, nothing feels better than...  Liberty lawn sheets. Discover Florence's work: Website // Instagram

Pillow Talk with... Violet Dent

July 21, 2024

Welcome back to The Nightstand, our quarterly newsletter landing in your inbox in time for each season change, so here we are with Summer, in all its glory.  This season's Pillow Talk is with the beautiful and charming Violet Dent. Violet is a Fashion and Homeware Designer, Creative Consultant and Stylist who has worked with Cabbages & Roses for the past 18 years. She started her career as a make-up artist whilst working in the Cabbages & Roses shop part time. Christina Strutt, founder of the brand, quickly realised they had a similar eye and took Violet under her wing, teaching her everything from fabric printing to designing an entire fashion collection. She worked for the brand for 10 years until 2017, when she then worked as a freelance designer and stylist before having her daughter Dolly in 2020. She re-joined Cabbages & Roses in 2022, overseeing all creative projects and designs which led to our wonderful If Only If x Cabbages & Roses collaboration. What is your ultimate bedtime routine?  A bath, face mask, clean sheets, an If Only If nightie (obviously) and in bed by 10pm. This is extremely unrealistic and very rarely happens but when it does there is genuinely nothing better. What is on your nightstand? I love the Deep Sleep Pillow Spray from This Works, The Sleepy Cream from Lush which smells like heaven, Kalms, a pile of books I'll never read, water and my phone. Your one pearl of wisdom for a good night's sleep? When I was pregnant and finding it hard to fall asleep I started listening to Harry Potter on Audible. It's been almost four years since then and my husband and I still fall asleep to it every single night. It's read by Stephen Fry and there is something so calming and familiar about his voice. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad habit but if you're feeling anxious and want to take your mind off the real world I would highly recommend it. And one fallacy?  I've just received a grounding sheet to sleep on. They are meant to be amazing for sleep, mood, stress, inflammation and a million other things so I'm excited to try it and see if it's true or a fallacy. Whose bedroom would you most like to snoop around?  Probably Kim Kardashian's. Most romantic piece of music to relax to? Anything by Ludovico Einaudi. What is on your breakfast-in-bed tray? I'm not a huge breakfast person but I love coffee, my first of the day is a black Americano. Bedtime reading: Paper Book or Kindle? A paper book. Your favourite If Only If nightie? I adore all your nighties but the ones from the If Only If x Cabbages & Roses collaboration are my current favourites. One smell that evokes Spring is...  Elderflower and suncream.  When it comes to bed, nothing feels better than...  Clean sheets, a fresh nightie and a silk pillowcase. Discover Violet Dent