Living Life Beautifully by Christina Strutt: Book Review

It's been a little while since any book reviews were seen on the pages of Modern Country Style and there are some real corkers out there at the moment. Let's start with a book review of Living Life Beautifully (click on the links to be taken straight to Amazon...what a temptress I am!!), which is the new book from Christina Strutt, of Cabbages and Roses fame, published by CICO books.  

Cabbages and Roses are synonymous with simplicity, nostalgia, and almost edibly beautiful faded floral fabrics, and it is these qualities that the book seeks to imbue its pages with.

Living Life Beautifully begins by talking through the history of the Cabbages and Roses, from its humble beginnings to its global success today. This is my favourite section of writing, and I longed for it to go on and on!

However, as a consolation, we're taken on a succession of utterly gorgeous home tours, including that of Brigette Buchanan, who started out as Christina Strutt's business partner, before going on to start her own company, called, delightfully, Odd.  

The variety of houses represented in the pages of Living Life Beautifully is excellent - from the quirky, country home of the Buchanan's, to the teeny-tiny London apartment of Brigette's daughter Violet, who still works for Christina. Though the diminutive flat is very small indeed, it is no less lovely for it and, in fact, shows how wonderfully Cabbages and Roses' fabrics work in any space. 

Their son's somewhat sparser Notting Hill flat is also included, making the book a definite family affair!

Living Life Beautifully finishes by including two of Christina's houses - one, a large country pile, but with a definite cottagey vibe, and the other, her London residence, which is decorated with Cabbages and Roses' fabrics in blacks, for a crisper, smarter look.

The book is a Modern Country dream to browse through for house inspiration, or to delve deeper and enjoy the close familiarity that these successful business woman so obviously still enjoy.