As the founder and editor of jewellery blog Decades of Elegance, Iidamaria Heikkinen leads a creative and busy life with no day ever looking the same.
After telling us all about how she set up her beautiful website and where she finds inspiration, here the Swedish/Finnish blogger gives us insight into her fascinating world by sharing 12 hours of work and play with us.
6.30am
Rise and shine! I always start the day by making a green smoothie with lots of vegetables, and making sure that whoever is in the house at that moment gets one too! The energy kick to the body is unrivalled, so I make time in the morning for making them. A bunch of my girlfriends have asked for my recipes, so I tend to put those on my Instagram account before I head out.
7.00am
Time for a power walk or run – and when I get back I get ready for the day. I love this part of my routine as I get to rummage through my jewellery collection to see which antique pieces to wear today. I like wearing gold and pearls with light colours and in the winter I often end up in a shift dress and a warm, knitted jumper. I usually match them with a pair of dark tights and some black ankle boots – and either a statement necklace or some elegant earrings and matching bracelet.
9.00 am
I sit down with my breakfast (I am addicted to Finnish rye bread and always on the lookout for it here in London!) while writing the blog post of the day and going through my emails. I also upload any photos that I have taken over the weekend and sort and edit those for future posts. Once the blog post is published, I share the link on all the social media channels and respond to any comments from my readers. I also get in touch with anyone that I have featured on the blog post to make sure that they are happy with how they have been portrayed. This is a lovely way of networking and I have met the most amazing people this way.
12.00 noon
I’m heading off to Portobello Market! Today I am looking for a pair of antique or vintage cufflinks for a customer and I am hoping to find the perfect ones in Notting Hill. I will send her photos of my finds during the course of the day and once she sees something that she likes I will buy and take it home for wrapping and shipping! Portobello Market is so much fun, with traders shouting their best prices on everything from jewellery and clothes to works of art and food. I will wander from stall to stall to see what amazing things are for sale, and every now and then I will buy something, take a photo and eventually write a post about it on the blog. However, the pieces that I buy are few and far in between as they all have to be just perfect for Decades of Elegance.
3.30pm
I am back again from the market. I grab my laptop and iPhone and head to a coffee shop for some internet and a herbal tea, as it is time to do some more blogging! I don’t know what it is about sitting and writing in a café but for me it is just heaven – this is what makes me the happiest! There is a wonderful café in Fulham called Moosh, where you can get the most divine juices and smoothies while typing away. They also do amazing brunches in the most stunning setting of greenery, so you must be there on time if you want to get a table at the weekend.
6.00pm
It is time to call it a day and hopefully I have a blog post or two prepared for the next week, with the most glorious pieces of jewellery awaiting my reader!
To find out more about Iida and her work, head to www.decadesofelegance.com
Source: Images via Decades of Elegance, with special thanks to Vintage Shrewd
