Design Stories: One year on

It's my first birthday. A year ago, on February 1st 2021, I pressed publish on A Story of Home.

I have spent over a decade dreaming of working as an interior designer. I completed my diploma in 2009 but an unhealthy dose of self-doubt and procrastination weighed heavy on me. Over the thirteen years since I graduated, I reshaped my working life, skirting around interior design but kept edging myself ever closer to the creative life I really wanted. If one good thing has come from living through the last couple of years, it's that life is just too short and unpredictable to give into that little voice in your head- you may know the one, the one that tells you, " you are not good enough".

At the back end of 2020 I wanted to kick start my ideas. I took a course, Bland to Brand with Lily Sawyer aka Layered Home and it changed everything for me. Working my way through the course with Lily's guidance and mentorship, I gained confidence in my business idea and uncovered my niche. For years I had always thought being too niche in interior design would be a negative and this thought had been holding me back. Turns out having a niche was a huge positive. It meant I could take my passion for interiors, biophilia and connecting to nature to support wellbeing and turn it into an actual business.

I had no idea what to expect in my first year and no clue just how much Brexit and world events would impact my tiny start-up in Cumbria. My first year has had some major challenges, as all start-ups do. The three big projects I started in 2021 are still on-going. Issues such as changes in contractors, limited trades availability and price increases decimating original budgets. Add to that every raw material or item of furniture being unavailable or waiting on delayed deliveries meant pushing timelines even further. It has certainly taught me to be flexible, to find quick solutions and how changing one, seemingly small element to a design led to a domino effect of changes. And lets never forget that pipework is ALWAYS positioned somewhere you do not want it to be. To say it has been a steep learning curve is an understatement.

All that said, one part of a project was completed. Stage 1 of a 1960's townhouse in Cheshire was to to convert an integrated garage, knock through to the playroom next door and create an open plan kitchen/diner that felt connected to the garden.

Stage 2 is to remodel the old first floor kitchen/diner into a new flexible, multi-functional home office space and occasional guest room, then revamp the adjoining living room. Work on this part of the project is scheduled to begin later this month.

Stage 1: Garage & playroom conversion

Before

The idea I presented to the client based on her wish list below:

The Results

There is a dedicated post coming for this project so if you are interested to hear the story of the inspiration behind it and design choices made, sign up for my newsletter.

So onwards and upwards now for 2022, with refreshed new year vigour (and newly appointed contractors) and a big push to complete these projects. Coming up next is a biophilic bedroom makeover in Cheshire inspired by the clients love of Anglesey, see the inspiration below:

Next work will be restarting soon on a Cumbrian farmhouse holiday home getting it ready for visitors in late Spring. This is a dream project for me, not only a beautiful and quirky period property but a dream (green loving) client who wants to smash the old tradition for bland holiday homes and entice a design loving tribe of holidaymakers who just won't compromise on stylish surroundings.

Farmhouse Design Concept

Thanks for reading, I always love to hear your thoughts so please do leave a comment. If you don't want to miss any future posts just head over to the home page and sign up for my newsletter.

Bye for now

Sharon