I went out one night last week. Didn’t get to sleep until well after midnight… and i’m still paying for it now (god, i’m so old). I don’t get out much, mainly because i’m a natural introvert, i’m normally in bed for 8.30pm and I find pyjamas just oh so comfortable. But for this recent No House Rules event, I made an exception.
The No House Rules ladies, Katie and Amy (aka. @comedowntothewoods and @thisstyle_rocks) in partnership with Rose & Grey had arranged for Kate Watson-Smyth of Mad About the House fame to come to that there Leeds. I’ve been a huge fan of Kate and her work for several years now. It was one of the first blogs I latched on to. Her words, insight and general take on design certainly resonated with me. And a lot of other people too….
I remember when she followed me back on Twitter a few years ago, I was mega excited. Proper fan-girl style. Spring forward a few and our paths have crossed virtually a fair few times. I’ve written for her multi-award winning blog, had my own work featured on it a few times and been seen in Kate’s interiors feature in The i Paper, but i’d still never actually met her. Hard to meet people in London when you don’t leave your county very often. But ya know. Pyjamas.
So when I heard Kate was coming to Leeds for a book signing sesh and evening of interiors chat, I must have been one of the first to get a ticket! If you’ve not already read my review of Kate’s latest book, ‘Mad About the House’, then I suggest you click over pronto and have a read.
The event was at the Northern Monk Refectory, on the outskirts of Leeds City centre. A fab, industrial building converted from what was once a mill into a 3 storey bar, events venue and brewery. Very cool. We took over the entire top floor which was dressed to impress with gorgeous furniture, lighting and accessories from Rose & Grey.
With nearly 100 interiors nuts in the house, the venue was filled with a shed load of creative bods from all over the north. It was great to finally meet so many people I know from Instagram and some lovely readers of my blog too. So nice to put faces and voices to logos, avatars and business names.
People still arriving….
And more…
Oh, there’s me. Just look at that terrible posture. My mum won’t be happy.
“And then she said, of course not, not on a Wednesday!” Oh how we laughed.
After a bit of yummy food and a cheeky, floral G&T, people started to take their seats for the main event.
The No House Rules ladies, Katie and Amy kicked off with the welcomes, intros and a bit about the evening’s events.
And once we were all settled in, KWS did her thing.
Kate discussed the nuts and bolts of her latest book; the whats, whys and wherefores whilst the audience listened intently. Probably more than they did than when they were actually at school.
These are the faces of people learning about a subject they are passionate about.
There were some questions thrown out for Kate to answer…
… people making notes….
…. lots of Instagramming….
…. and shits n’ giggles.
It really was a great evening, at a fab venue with some pretty inspiring people. And it was sunny….
Say cheese!
It was a rare treat to have an event like this up north, the No House Rules ladies certainly did Leeds proud. More of this please!
Big thanks to Melissa Photography for letting me share the photos. I took not one all evening and I bloody loved not being behind my phone all night. Thanks to Katie and Amy for inviting Kate up north and arranging such a splendid and tremendous event and of course, thanks to Kate for coming.
Great article… Loved the way you drafted everything in sequence 🙂