August 2024 blog ideas: seclusion, focus, transitions & tech
August is the sultry, late-summer month with plenty to inspire blog posts for your garden or home website: long, hazy days with the warmth of summer and flower scent heavy in the air; lush greenery pressing in; and summer’s golden hour as the season changes to rich golden Autumn light. It’s often hot and humid, so carries a sense of passion and the ability to excite strong feelings. Equally, people often want to treat from the heat into a cooler area of their garden or home. August is replete with inspirations for your blog content if you’re a home or garden brand: the golden wheat of the late summer landscape; deep green with its nods to lush garden growth; or rustic touches mirroring the ripening harvests.
If you’re new to this series, every month we take inspiration from Pinterest’s hot trends for the upcoming month. The trends for August 2024 are: Personal Space, Study Guide, Rush Hour, Nerding Out & Routine Check. We use these as a springboard for blog post ideas for businesses like garden designers and interior designers. Why? These ideas are seasonal and viral moments that are likely to drive Google searches, so you can use them as inspiration for your content and harness search traffic for your website.
In this article:
Personal space: Secluded retreats for relaxation & reflection in your home or garden
Study guide: Creating a study haven perfect for focus and inspiration in your home or garden
Rush hour: Transitional spaces: maximising high-traffic entrances and hallways in your home or garden
Nerding out: Geek chic: integrating tech elegantly into your home or garden
Wildings is a website designer for small businesses. Our studio is based in Torquay, Devon, and we provide small business website design for creative, hospitality & lifestyle businesses across the UK (like garden designers, interior designers, architects, floral designers and more!). In this series for garden, home and interiors brands, we’re looking at how to get inspiration for writing content on your website blog to attract potential clients and boost your SEO presence in organic Google results. Explore the series on blog post ideas for garden & interiors websites →
Image judyscottagegarden.blogspot.com: My Enchanting Cottage Garden
Image Lauren Starkey: Container garden perfection
Image boligmagasinet.dk: Livsnyderhaven
Without further ado, these are your August blog post ideas to use to help you write interesting and engaging blog posts on your website, if you’re a garden or interior brand.
1. Personal space: Secluded retreats for relaxation & reflection in your home or garden
Modern living is busier and faster than ever, and for many, August comes at the end of a hectic summer school term. Carving out space in your home or garden to relax and reflect is the perfect antidote, especially when the weather is hot (although not always guaranteed in August!).
Mental health and sustainability are important, current topics, so a quiet nook in a home or a tranquil corner in a garden provide excellent opportunities to recharge mentally. It’s also quite a realistic proposition for many, as it can be slotted into a small area and not requiring much money or materials. These ‘mini-retreats’ are ideal spaces for homeowners to unwind or take a moment before launching back into the demands of home life or work. When done well, a nice, secluded space can provide an attractive area to read, meditate, or simply enjoy a moment of peace.
For garden brands, a relaxation space is the perfect addition to the garden, as August is when leaves, foliage and flowers are at their maximum. This is a great subject in which you can talk about the power of nature in personal relaxation. Aim to paint a picture of a tranquil garden oasis - an enticing outdoor extension of the indoor space. There’s also room to talk about all the details like choosing indigenous, pollinator-friendly plants (early August is butterfly season!) or water features which are vital for wildlife in late summer.
For home and interior brands, the certain parts of the home can often be the coolest place in August; or customer may simply want an alternative to escape the heat outside; so talking about an indoor personal sanctuary is a great topic for your blog. Use your August blogs to shape advice around light and airy colours; lightweight fabrics to help with sleeping at nighttime; layers of textures not only for interest but a sensual aesthetic; plus arrangements of cut flowers and floral patterns to bring a sense of synergy with the outdoor season.
Secluded retreat suggestions for garden brands:
How do I make my garden a sanctuary?
How to create a reflection garden?
How to create a relaxing garden?
What is a garden sanctuary and how do you make one?
What calming colours can I use in my garden?
Example from RHS: How to create a cool and calm sanctuary
Secluded retreat suggestions for interior brands:
How to create a refuge or sanctuary in your home?
How to create a relaxing space at home?
How do I make my living room a sanctuary?
How do I make my bedroom a sanctuary?
Example from Nicola Holden Designs: Seven Ways to Transform your House into your own Personal Sanctuary
2. Study guide: Creating a study haven perfect for focus and inspiration in your home or garden
Homeowners use their homes and gardens in many different ways these days, but a common need is a place for maintaining focus and getting inspiration. A study haven can serve a number of purposes and different members of a family, such for preparing for exams, working on a DIY project or setting up a side hustle alongside a day job. August is often a time when people contempt or actively prepare for a change of circumstances before Autumn kicks off, so this a great topic for gardens and home brands. Turning a part of a home or garden into a dedicated study space can literally be life-transforming!
For garden brands, a blogging about study havens is a great way to show expertise on all the details that make for a space that actually works in practice. Consider talking about some of the design principles, plant selections or layout considerations that can help clients focus in seclusion. You can also talk about accessories for those who may already have a nook: for example, choosing the right garden furniture can mean the difference between a simple garden corner and an idyllic study retreat. There’s much you can do here with your blogs, such as featuring case studies of successful garden nooks you’ve done or step-by-step guides for DIYers. (The aim is to attract traffic and not everyone will want or be prepared to do it themself.)
For home and interior brands, your expertise and advice is equally valid in helping homeowners get that perfect balance of the functional and aesthetics in a design for an indoor study area. Consider using your blog to offer study haven-specific advice on selecting the right furniture, lighting and decor that enhance focus and comfort in the home. Creating a study haven is a skill, so you can show thought leadership and expertise through highlighting principles of colour psychology, space optimisation and organisational strategies. Think about how you can solve clients’ problems: how do I create a study environment that minimises distractions and maximises efficiency? Other ideas for your August blogs can include DIY tips or before-and-after transformations
Study haven suggestions for garden brands:
What to put in a garden nook?
How do I turn my garden into a secret garden?
How do you make a Zen garden?
How do I plan a small garden design?
Example from Bridge Timber Garden Rooms: Back to School: Creating the Perfect Study Space in a Garden
Study haven suggestions for interior brands:
How to make a study space at home?
How can I turn my room into a study room?
How do I plan a home study?
How do you organise your home study?
Example from Houzz: 9 Neat Study Spaces That Will Fit Seamlessly Into Your Home
Image emmamilne.co.uk: Hove project hall
Image alifesdesign.blogspot.com: Nantucket Cottage
Image houseandgarden.co.uk: Lucy Williams West London house
3. Rush hour: Transitional spaces: maximising high-traffic entrances and hallways in your home or garden
Transitions can be some of the most challenging areas of our lives, whether changing job, moving house or moving from one point to another in a public speech. The same is true for the garden and home. Transitional spaces like entrances and hallways perform an important task of channeling people from one space to another, but can become bland and neglected, as their true importance is lost. Ironically, these areas are often receive the highest footfall - we see and experience them a great deal in our lives - and yet they don’t get the attention they deserve. It makes sense to consider them carefully from a design perspective to ensure that their function and potential beauty go hand in hand. In your August blog posts consider how you can guide clients in this journey of transformation of these often-overlooked areas.
For garden brands, garden entrances and pathways are the doorways to the natural world. This marks a special experience, as we enter into a new world or dimension in nature. The transitional space in a garden is therefore incredibly important, as it sets the tenor for what follows and can significantly enhance someone’s engagement in a garden. In your August blogs, consider writing about some of the practicalities such as selecting durable materials that withstand heavy footfall or archways and climbing specimens that will create that exciting sense of transition from inside to out (and vice versa). A good step-by-step guide could look at what goes into designing a journey for a client through their garden and how to achieve a change in mood or experience in the garden.
For home and interior brands, many of the same principles from the garden apply to the home. Hallways and the entrance to the kitchen are some of the hardest working areas of the house, so we should give them the care and attention they deserve! In your August blogs, consider topics such as choosing hard-wearing flooring (and yet beautiful, such as Minton or quality tiles); how to organise storage and hanging space around the front door to reduce clutter; plus decorating tips to make a hallway appear larger and more inviting (statement wallpapers are great for the wow-factor). If you’re an interior designer, this is a good chance to share curated lists of recommended products or before-and-after transformations.
Transitional space blog post suggestions for garden brands:
What is the toughest ground cover for foot traffic?
What is the fastest spreading ground cover?
What is the best ground cover to choke out weeds?
Can you walk over creeping thyme?
What is the best non invasive ground cover?
Example from The Middle-sized Garden: Garden path materials – the good, the bad and the beautiful
Transitional space blog post suggestions for interior brands:
How to maximise hallway space?
How can I make my hallway more welcoming?
How to make hall stairs and landing look bigger?
What is the most welcoming colour for a hallway?
How do you make a hallway stand out?
Example from The Design Sheppard: Welcome Home: How to Transform Your Hallway into a Stylish and Inviting Space
4. Nerding out: Geek chic: integrating tech elegantly into your home or garden
There’s no escaping digital, social media and electronic gadgets these days, as technology has done much to advance convenience and connectivity. However, the challenge remains, when tech permeates every aspect of our lives, how can we seamlessly integrate it into our living spaces? This is a great topic for home and garden brands to guide homeowners on how to blend gadgets with aesthetically pleasing design, thinking about how to enhance rather than disrupt our homes or gardens.
For garden brands, embracing geek chic is quite a careful line to walk, as tech can often be seen as working against nature or incompatible with it. Consider using your blog to highlight how technology can help advance the move to sustainability and efficiency without detracting from the inherent beauty of nature. Some interesting topics include the benefits of automated irrigation systems (as water can be sparse in August); or solar-powered lighting for energy-saving (plus talk about how to reduce light pollution and encourage nocturnal visitors).
For home and interior brands, the options for incorporating tech into interiors is dizzying. Lighting is a key component, as light dramatically affects mood and the impact of a space. Given the range of tech gadgets, the options for August blog posts is huge, such as smart lighting; controls for central heating; and of course TV and entertainment systems. This is a great topic where you can temper homeowner’s enthusiasm for tech by giving guidance to ensure the living space still works and has a character of its own, rather than a distracted space with clunky, awkward items.
Geek chic blog post suggestions for garden brands:
Smart gardens: How to integrate technology into your green space
How smart garden technology can improve your home
Tech, tools and gadgets to make gardening easy
Clever technology for your garden, balcony and terrace
Example from Houzz: Lifestyle: How to Integrate Technology Invisibly Into a Minimalist Home
Geek chic blog post suggestions for interior brands:
How to stylishly incorporate tech into your home
Integrate tech seamlessly into your home's interior design
How to integrate technology with interior design
Example from Oraanj Interior Design: Integrating Technology Seamlessly into Your Interior Design
