The Beautiful Things I’m Using This Winter

I keep my perfume samples in a bowl. They are small enough to travel, to tuck into a bag and to try without committing to a full bottle.

That makes them useful things to enjoy, rather than merely evidence that I once placed a beauty order.

Choose one you are curious about and give it an ordinary day. If you like it, remember the exact name. If you do not, keep the honest impression.

The Perfume Sample Tracker can hold that part. There is no obligation for every interesting sample to become a purchase.

A coffee corner only earns its place if making coffee there is a pleasure.

Use the cup that is comfortable to hold. Keep the equipment you reach for accessible. Let the pretty tray help carry things instead of requiring everything on it to be rearranged first.

My daily coffee and my slower Chemex moments have different places in my life. Both are worth enjoying. An elaborate version is lovely when there is time; an ordinary good cup still counts on a busy day.

If your own setup needs a little attention, How to Create a Coffee Corner starts with how you use it.

You do not have to reorganise the whole house.

Choose one item you already own and make it easier to enjoy. Put the blanket where someone sits. Bring out the serving bowl. Place the book near the chair where you want to read.

A beautiful thing can become oddly unavailable when using it means retrieving, unwrapping and carefully restoring five other things first.

There are sensible exceptions. Follow care instructions. Keep precious objects where they are safe. You can look after something and still allow it to have a working life.

Enjoying what you own does not require becoming uninterested in anything else.

I like perfume. I am happy to spend on something I love. The useful question is whether the next purchase offers something I actually want, or whether I have briefly forgotten the pleasures already waiting at home.

Before buying another version, use the one you have. Notice what is missing, if anything. A specific answer is more helpful than a vague wish for the room, the routine or the season to feel different.

Sometimes you will still want the new thing. At least you will know what job it is coming to do.

Choose three things: one to wear, one to use around the house and one to make time for.

That could be a fragrance, a favourite plate and a book. Keep the selection personal. There is no impressive final photograph required.

You can change it as the season changes. You can put something back if you realise you do not like using it. The aim is to find out what gives you pleasure in practice.

Beautiful things do quite enough waiting in shops.

The ones already in my house are welcome to join in.