sophie bell peppa hart interior blanca

There's no denying that Sophie Bell is an expert when it comes to interior styling and delivering soothing aesthetics. Her feed is a relaxing space of warm tones, pared-back whites and the most vibrant bursts of bold colour. On our bucket list is to become absolute tablescaping goddesses, so we turned to the expert.

How do you like to style your table settings? Do you have a guiding philosophy and any tips?

I love layers galore using pattern, colour, texture... If you aren't a huge fan of colour, you can still use the same philosophy, but just layer with textures and shapes [and] stick to a neutral tone.

I always start with a theme, and then I build everything around that. The food, the styling, the music - it all comes from the theme. An Italian soiree, for example, usually starts with a beautiful recipe I have spotted and then evolves from there. I love a table setting to be a feast for all your senses... It's got to look good, of course, but smell good, taste good, feel good and sound good!

Where do you find inspiration?

If you feel stuck for ideas, I love Googling 70s dinner parties. Also all the glamorous Slim Aarons photos are such great inspo as well. I have a million books and love looking back at 60s and 70s dinner parties where people would host the most incredible events with beautiful layered tables.

The love for throwing an epic dinner party for your loved ones lost its way for a while there, but I feel like it's coming back now. I love nothing more than going all out for a dinner party - little place cards, menus, clashing prints, beautiful plates, flowers galore - it's my kind of heaven.

Instagram is of course a great place to find inspo as well, [there are] so many incredible weddings that you can draw inspo from. I always get little ideas for flower combos or cute place cards from weddings I see on social media. Sometimes a print on clothing will inspire my table settings, it really can be anything that sets the vibe for styling.

What is your favourite spread to put on when entertaining a crowd? And what are you drinking?

I think Italian is always a great one for a crowd - it's easy to cook in large quantities, visually it's so stunning, and everyone always loves pasta, and burrata is the best thing in the world, so every Italian dinner party needs burrata!

The Italian theme is also a favourite for styling...lemons, oranges and clashing prints that you would find in an old villa in Capri. Don't forget the drinks...drinks are all in theme as well. For Italian, it would be aperol, limoncello and amaretto sours AND do not forget an Italian playlist - so many good ones on Spotify!

I always like to mix in real fruit and vegetables into the table styling as well as fresh blooms. For example, I use tomatoes on the vine, zucchini flowers, grapefruits - all makes for beautiful, bold colours. If you are not confident at styling flowers, I love the look of a single type of flower in each vase and then putting them all in a group. My go-to flowers are usually tulips, roses and orchids.

Tell us about your ideal look for entertaining.

I love layering up the Aeyre glasses, coasters and candles on my tablescapes! The glasses are on high rotation. I am a big believer in using the pretty things all the time, don't save everything for a special occasion. Burn the good candle, drink out of your pretty glasses. Enjoy everything always. I know it sounds silly but enjoying my lemon water in the morning out of a stunning glass puts me in a good mood.

When you are styling for a dinner party, always include more than just the table itself, I usually have some of the theme on the kitchen island and around the house as well. The last time we did an Italian soiree theme, I had lemons on the branch styled in massive pots all around the house. It was actually so pretty and was so cheap, I asked a neighbour if we could cut some branches from their tree! And if you are completely committed to the theme, you can set it as the dress code for the night as well, which is fun for special occasions.

What are the major tablescaping and interior trends we should keep an eye on this year?

It's all about the layered clashing ceramics, so plates, side plates, napkins all in varied shapes and patterns but tied together with colour/tone. Everyone is being braver with their tablecloths and napkins as well, which I love. Wavy everything is having such a huge moment, and that will continue on - all the gorgeous linen in wavy edges with place cards, and calligraphy in matching colours on the place cards and menus.

My tip for trend based styling is to head to Spotlight and grab some fun clashing fabrics for the tablecloth and napkins to mix in with your existing plates, glasses and cutlery. Allows you to have different themes without buying a bunch of new things, and as the trends change, you are only replacing your linens on the table instead of everything.

I also love anything handmade - so beautiful handmade ceramics on the table that you can use for flowers are so special because you can use them around the house as decor items when you are not entertaining.