A view into Bristol’s boldest homes

Interior design is one of those things that many people think is easy, but few really have a talent for. And while Pinterest is full of staged photos of rooms that that invariably have five-metre-high ceilings and at least one wall of exposed brick, it’s always much more fun to look around a real home.

Enter professional interior designer Zoë Hewett from Stylemongers of Bristol, who has been encouraging the stylish of Bristol to share images of their interiors for a year, using the hashtag #mybristolhome. It has now been tagged almost 700 times, creating a fascinating look inside some of the city’s most well-presented houses.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfELllVAUmx/?tagged=mybristolhome

“Setting up the hashtag was prompted by curiosity, or nosiness, about how other people in the city are choosing to decorate at home,” says Zoë. “I was a latecomer to Instagram, and initially only joined so I could look at pretty pictures of cakes at the end of long days, to wind down after hearing all the awful things going on in the world.

“Gradually I found more interesting interiors accounts and after about a year I began to notice that there were quite a few locals on there with massive followings, who I’d somehow never heard of despite living just up the road – like @marciekdesigns, for example.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeuojDTnfxp/?taken-by=marciekdesigns

The fact that interior design enthusiasts in Bristol have picked up on the hashtag has been a pleasant surprise for Zoë. “I wasn’t even sure if anyone would bother playing along with me so it is really lovely that they are,” she continues. “Not everyone who has contributed is a professional designer – lots are people who have a day job in a different field but have creative flair and a bit of confidence when it comes to their homes.”

The accompanying My Bristol Home account that Zoë runs takes the best photographs and shares them, collating photographs of local interiors in a huge variety of different styles: from midcentury modern to bohemian, white minimal to bright colours and popping patterns. It’s testament to the range of designers who have made Bristol a home, and to the power of social media to create harmony rather than rivalry.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BciQHuaHQlZ/?taken-by=zoehewettinteriors

For Zoë, one of the best parts of running the hashtag has been the development of a real-life community. “I have met up with Kyla Magrath (@kylamagrathinteriors) a few times and we are hoping to collaborate in some way in the future, and I’ve had lots of online conversations with others with plans to meet as well,” she says.

“It’s become a bit like virtual networking, so I’m really looking forward to putting real life faces to some of the other names at the birthday event too. It’s a nice example of social media bringing people together.”

Zoë will be hosting a meet up at Cox & Baloney on March 1 to celebrate the first anniversary of the hashtag and the community it has spawned. To get involved, tag your photos with #MyBristolHome on Instagram and follow @mybristolhomeofficial.