JJP and I celebrating the double Amara Interior Blog Award win!

Excuse me while I indulge myself in a little bit of self-love, but for those of you that follow me on social media, you might have seen that last week was a rather special week for me indeed. Overnight, I became a multi-award-winning blogger (say what?!) and suddenly the world of blogging seemed a little different, like I could do anything.

The awards in question were the Amara Interior Blog Awards – a renowned set of awards in the industry with the epitome of the blogging world both nominated and shortlisted for the series of accolades from ‘Best Colour Inspiration’ to ‘Best Lifestyle Blog’. I’ve followed them for years now but have never been quite interiors-led enough to deserve a nomination so have instead watched as fellow friendly bloggers like Sarah Akwisombe, Forward Features and Stella + the Stars have used it as a platform to push the boundaries of blogging.

The beautiful John-Pawson designed ceiling in London’s Design Museum, Kensington.

When I made the shortlist for ‘Best Colour Inspiration‘ back in September I was over the moon. The first stage requires votes from readers, friends and family so to know that there was some support from all of those people meant the world. Thank you, thank you, thank you, if you were one of them.

When the big night came, I was ready to graciously accept defeat – and where better to do so than the John Pawson-designed Design Museum, eh? Sipsmith gin in hand, I donned a floral Boden suit to chat to fellow bloggers before heading down to the actual ceremony in the Bakala Auditorium where the delightful Sophie Robinson and hilarious Daniel Hopwood were ready and waiting to kickstart the proceedings, oozing natural chemistry and providing us with laugh after laugh – really, name a more iconic interiors duo, can ya?

Sophie Robinson and Daniel Hopwood warming up the crowd. I think this crowd pic is actually the moment I won – you can see me in the corner looking at Natasha and Mary in disbelief!

My category, colour inspiration, was up first and boy oh boy was I bricking it. I couldn’t understand why I was so nervous, not expecting to win and all, but I guess part of me must have known that all of us were in with a chance and you never know how these things are going to go. Cue, the introductory judges comments to my category…

This years winner was a blog that was fantastically put together and uniquely informative, fresh and expertly designed, complete with sleek layouts and beautiful images too.

~ Amara Judging Panel

When they announced my name, I didn’t know what to do. I turned to my left to ask Natasha what was happening and then to my right to hear Josh and Rosh yelling at me to get up. Suddenly, I realised, I’d actually bloody won it and the rest was a daze. If you listen closely on the live stream, you’ll hear me continually squealing “I’m freaking out, I’m freaking out.” After awkwardly facing the cameras and getting some boomerang action in (obviously), I returned to my seat to watch the rest of the proceedings, grateful and slightly numb to the weight of my award sitting on my lap.

At least the Boden suit proved colour inspiration worthy!

Nine awards later, with some serious kudos going to Grillo Designs and Girl About House, we were on to the open categories, the additional awards of the Best Written, Photography and Designed categories along with the top winner of the night for the Bloggers’ Choice award. These babies were open to everyone and by the time I’d even slightly calmed down my name was suddenly called again for the accolade of the best-designed blog – woah!

Commended for being the best looking blog in the industry, this award is for the blog the judges feel goes above and beyond. No easy task to achieve, the winner of this award strives to ensure their blog always looks current, is impeccably styled at all times and is easy to navigate making it a joy for readers to visit.

~ Amara Judging Panel

Feeling a little more confident, I actually managed to smile for the camera without looking like a deer in headlights and suddenly I had not one, but two awards. I’m still a little taken aback but incredibly proud, that’s for sure. I made it back to my seat just in time to see the lovely Malcolm of DesignSixtyNine crowned as the bloggers’ favourite – a very worthy winner indeed.

Wouldn’t be a winner without a signature EJP jump!

The rest of the night really is a blur, I grinned from ear to ear and I certainly drank my fair share of gin but realistically I was a little shell-shocked and spent most of the remainder of the evening in my own little world. Disappointingly, this kinda made for a lack of networking and I’ve been catching up on getting to know the fellow winners and shortlisted bloggers since! Which is where I’d like to leave this post. I’m excited for what’s to come and how I can progress but realistically I’m just looking to give you content that will allow you to expand your horizons and I think sharing fellow bloggers to support is vital to that. So without further ado, here are the rest of the winners for your viewing pleasure.

From left to right: Malcolm of DesignSixtyNine, Emily of The Pink House, Evija of From Evija with Love, Medina of Grillo Designs, Catherine of Dainty Dress Designs, Amy and Athina of Topology, Alice of Alice in Scandiland, ME!, Sam from Amara on behalf of Design Chic, Sarah of Girl About House, Rockett St George, 91 Magazine and Fiona of Nor-Folk.

1 // Best Company Blog | Rockett St George

2 // Best Craft Blog | From Evija with Love

3 // Best Design Inspiration Blog | Alice in Scandiland

4 // Best DIY and Home Improvement Blog | Grillo Designs

5 // Best Interior Designer Blog | Topology Interiors

6 // Best Interior Magazine Blog  | 91 Magazine

7 // Best Interior Lifestyle Blog | Dainty Dress Diaries

8 // Best Luxury Blog | Design Chic

9 // Best Newcomer Blog | Girl About House

10 // Best use of Photography | Nor-Folk

11 // Best Written Blog | The Pink House

12 // Bloggers’ choice | DesignSixtyNine

Cheeky snapshot of my main girls Natasha Nuttall and Rosh Thanki, who were 100% the best crew a gal could ask for.

What do you think? Will you be entering any awards in the year to come? I hope that I can inspire at least one of ya to think about it at least. You never know what will happen and where it’s going to take you. WATCH. THIS. SPACE.