Welcome

A newsletter for homelovers...

Welcome to Home Lover, my new newsletter.

I have been writing, styling and designing for over 35 years now and many of you have probably followed my career since my early days on Homes & Gardens, Red Magazine and maybe bought my first book The Relaxed Home that was published in 2000. For those of you that have stayed with me all these years thank you so much and for any new followers a huge welcome.

Why Substack?

I will be honest and confess that it took me a long time to succumb to Instagram and even now I haven’t embraced TikTok, Pintrest or any of the other social media platforms, but this is mainly because I find it hard to spread myself too thinly and I always want any content I produce to be of a high quality that actually engages with my followers and be relevant and interesting. Life is a juggling act and as many of you know it can be hard to balance work, family life, self care and then social media on top and finding the time to write across too many platforms has the potential become a stressful chore rather than an enjoyment and I have always wanted to avoid that. So I when I heard about Substack I was intrigued, here is a forum with a strong emphasis on supporting writers, encouraging real engagement with a community that grows from genuine mutual interest, with no advertisements, sponsored posts or paid product endorsements. Substack feels like an online magazine, the kind of print magazine of days gone by but with all the technology, ease and immediacy of modern social media- I for one am sold on the idea and I really hope you are too. I can’t wait to build a a community together of like-minded design enthusiasts.

What to expect

As self-confessed home body and it will come as no surprise here that my posts on here will focus of all things home. Design, products that I like (not paid to like), gardening, recipes, flower design, exhibition and book reviews, musings, hint and tips for stying your home…this is a newsletter for home lovers, like me!

As I get to grips with the forum I will also be adding a paid subscription option which will include extra content like videos, guided house tours, interviews with my other designer friends, personal stories, a discount on my up-coming online interior design course and books as well as some exclusive courses just for my paid Substack subscribers.

Really- Paid Subscriptions?

In a world full of free content this might seem a strange concept as we have all got so used to accessing free writing, images, videos, how to’s and music that we might bulk at being asked to pay for it. But is it really free as all that content comes with the price of watching adverts, paid product placements and brand affiliations that is can be difficult to know what to believe and what to take seriously. Here on Substack there are no ads, no PR gifts, no paid posts, just people who believe passionately in their subject and want to share quality, unbiased content and enjoy the engagement of like minded followers.

This is where you’ll find me- in my Little writing cabin at home

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