Immerse In Shabby: The Jolly Good British Guide To Stress-free Living Translated By Josie Lloyd Offered As Printed Matter

is a tongue in cheek look at ordinary British lives and homes, the ones you don't see in the decorating magazines, Kind of the antiMarie Kondo, Shabby as defined by the authors is based on messiness, dilapidation, clutter and bodged works, Embracing shabby means giving up on chasing perfection, not being materialistic, not keeping up with the Joneses or appearances, and realizing life is too short to be doing anything except enjoying life with family and friends.
Not bad goals really in themselves, According to this book, constantly worrying, fussing, tidying up, decluttering, cleaning, organizing and fixing is not the Shabby way,

I do agree that shabby hospitality should totally be a thing, and that we should invite people over to see us much, much more often, spontaneously and without three days of cleaning and food prep and ridiculous perfectionism.
I believe we should find our own balance between tidy and messy, and decorate with the things that we love and not necessarily with whatever the latest decor trends dictate we should have.
And I believe in wabisabi, in buying second hand, in thrifting, in upcycling, and in letting your home evolve over time,

However, in describing shabby homes, there is a line that is crossed between shabby and "scuzzy" mouldy fruit and out of date tinned food two examples of shabby on the back cover blurb to me is scuzzy, not shabby.
Surface mess is different to actual, gross, germy dirt, And the conditions of the shabby homes described here cross almost into hoarders territory, with nothing but chaos and disorganisation and everything kept wherever without questioning whether it belongs or is still needed.
. . Personally chaos causes me more stress, and I don't mind surface mess but I do want my house to be mostly clean and be able to find things relatively quickly.


So while it's a fun light read, your mileage may vary depending on how messy or neat you are, Not recommended reading for clean freaks,

Päris hea paroodiaraamat, mis pilab korraga nii sedasorti raamatuid kui "shabby chic" trendi, lihtsalt seeläbi, et "chic" on ära jäetud ja kirjeldatakse.
. . tavaliste inimeste tavalisi sassis kodusid, Võibolla õige veidi üle võlli, aga samas jube palju detaile oli ikka täiesti realistlikud ja olen oma elus näinud küll selliseid vannitube ja aedu ja esikunagisid ja köögisahtleid lihtsalt mitte kõiki korraga ühes majapidamises.
At times I couldn't stop laughing because I know people in my family who are like this, Also the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I could see the point the author was making but really, the photographic illustrations in this little book were annoying me, I wanted to start cleaning!
The real reason I picked up this book was for the inside jacket print of two white umbrellas on a royal blue background.
From the creators of the bestselling parodies We're Going on a Bar Hunt, The Very Hungover Caterpillar and The Teenager Who Came to Tea.


Shabby because there is no word for Hygge in English,

We all know Shabby when we see it, It's that welcoming pair of pants drying on the radiator, That halfmouldy, but perfectly ginandtonicworthy lemon

on display in the fruit bowl, That tin of plum tomatoes in the cupboard with a sellby date of, It's never dusting higher than your tallest friend's line of sight,

But Shabby is more than just an attitude it's a quintessentially British way of life, tried and tested for generations, and founded on the Four Central Pillars of Shabbism, Messiness, Dilapidation, Clutter and Bodged Works.


Being Shabby is about spending less time fussing and clearing up and getting stressed out about stuff that doesn't really matter anyway, And more time hanging out with your family and friends, It's a celebration of a life that is neither tidy nor empty, but rather one that is splendidly cluttered and full,

Shabby because life's just too bloody short to waste time striving for perfection, or caring too much about what other people think about you and yours.
Instead of worrying about what could be, it's time to start celebrating what actually is,


Praise for The Very Hungover Caterpillar

'Hilarious and painfully accurate, The Very Hungover Caterpillar is liable to be one of those parodies that becomes more famous than the original' Independent


Praise for We're Going on a Bar Hunt

'.
. . a parody that will draw a smile from any parent' Guardian


Praise for The Teenager Who Came to Tea

'A hilarious parody of a muchloved children's book and a perfect read for anyone who remembers the original, or has ever been a teenager or is the parent / grandparent of a teenager today' gransnet.
com.