5 Simple Reasons To Watch & Read The Home Genie

Procrastinating property

I managed to just put off writing my first blog for another five minutes by reading ‘The Professional Painter & Decorator’ magazine (which is amazing in a raw, not a ridiculous amount of adverts kind of way), which I got free from my beloved local Brewers. I think it was meant to be free. Well I didn’t pay for it so it was free for me.

Anyway, my point is that I have thought about this blog, lost sleep thinking about it, written endless lists of what I could write about for it, talked to anyone who will listen to me about it and bugged any celebrity friends I have to let me film in their houses for it.

The one thing I haven’t done is actually sit down and write it or talk in front of the camera for it – the vlog bit. Well there’s a time when too much planning spills over into procrastination territory and as a home & life coach it’s exactly what I challenge my clients about, so I figured I should just sit down and do it.

The 5 reasons

So here I am, and who are you? Well I’m going to hazard a guess as to who you are and at the same time give you five reasons to read, and hopefully subscribe to (so I’m not just another blogger sitting at a laptop in a bedroom – albeit a beautifully decorated one in dove grey with white and cream accents) The Home Genie:

1. You are nosey like me. You have a weekly if not daily appointment to view Rightmove and Zoopla and just about any other source you can find to look at other people’s houses. You cannot walk past an estate agent’s window without stopping. By the way, some of you aren’t necessarily looking to buy or sell, and with the crazy house prices these days you may believe you will be renting forever. So none of this can even be passed off as productive snooping, but is awesomely satisfying nonetheless.
2. You may be doing up your place, be it owned or rented and you’re looking for inspiration that doesn’t make you shout at the TV and say “who would ever decorate their house like that?!”. Or maybe you work so don’t get to watch daytime TV and want something a little more interactive anyway. I love to put together mood boards and am very happy to do one for you if you tell me the colour(s) you want me to include.
3. You like the idea of having celebrity style décor, but don’t have a starry budget. Consider me your ‘Angel of Thrifty Interiors’.
4. You can’t get enough of before and afters. I’ll be reviving rooms, fixing-up furniture and buffing bits of bobs, so fill your boots.
5. Maybe you can’t be bothered to do it yourself, but like watching other people do stuff because it makes you happy… and means you don’t have to look at your magnolia walls for five minutes. Warning: I am hoping to inspire you to get up off your bottom and actually do stuff too.

My past in property

So who am I? Some people know me as their local BBC weather girl – that’s the non-PC title by the way, but everyone still uses it. A lot of people tell me they still follow me from my old shopping channel days many years ago.

What many people don’t know is that I started my working life as an off-plan estate agent. The title given to me was ‘property advisor’, but that’s like calling a bartender a ‘drinks bottle extraction executive’, so let’s stick with estate agent.

That came to an end as the bright lights of TV pulled me away. Those lights flickered and dimmed a little over the years – or maybe there was an eco bulb involved as it seems to have warmed up over the years.

Anyway back then I decided I wanted to add another element to my career and trained as a life coach, which I’ve been doing for 10 years now. My love for property has never waned though.

My passion for interior design

If I can just rewind a second. I still get excited by the smell of fresh paint from when I was allowed to have an entirely pink room (and I mean everything was pink) at the age of five…and there my love for interior design started.

Before I lose you, I will not be telling you how to create pink bedrooms. I’ve evolved and would now go for… fuschia.

Over the years I decorated both my and my brothers’ rooms – yes I’m a little surprised they let me too, looking back.

In my teens I dragged a sanding machine home and proceeded to remove the carpet and strip the floorboards – without my parents’ permission. I went to great lengths to keep them out of my room for weeks as I knew they’d be mad with me. In the end they grew suspicious that their darling little girl was hiding something sinister and decided to check it out. I think they were so relieved that I was merely a renovation rebel and actually quite liked the new look, I managed to get away scot-free. It was a different story when I pierced my belly button a year later though…

I stayed awake for 52 hours decorating my first house-share room at university. We then moved two months later because it was a squelchingly damp house. I used to have a half pint collection of slugs to peel off the carpets every morning. It’s not always a good thing to have a glass half full – even as a life coach I find that phrase annoying by the way.

I rented flats in London for eight years and moved 12 times, and each time decorated my room with care. Not always with the landord’s permission – which is maybe why I had to move so many times…
Anyway all that fruitless fluffing and buffing was clearly good practice as I moved on to renovating my own properties some years ago and have climbed the ladder quickly to my latest project, a 7-bed house in Sevenoaks.

The mummy pit

I will document this rollercoaster ride separately, and I will be sharing stories of blood, sweat and tears…and that is not just the having the baby in the middle of it bit. Don’t worry this is not a mummy blog, but I’m sure there will be many of you who agree that babies and builders don’t always go together well, and quite often the latter cause more sleepless nights…but at least don’t give you leaky nipples. I really do promise this isn’t a mummy blog. That’s it I’m done with those kinds of comments.

Now I need to rewind just once more – sorry this is starting to feel like one of those annoying films where you try to resist, but in the end have to say to your partner “do you know what the hell is going on?”. To which he/she replies “yes”, but refuses to explain because he/she doesn’t have a ruddy clue. I promise this will all tie in together seamlessly in the end…

Home & Life Coach

Back to slight rewind. Partly because I am nosey and mainly because I realised it could help, I started visiting some of my life coaching clients in their homes. Although it was only for one session I came to realise that the home environment has a huge impact on energy levels, motivation and to put it less delicately, the ability to get off your arse and actually achieve what you want in life.

What to expect

So now you know my background this is what you can expect from our future together: me to be highlighting particularly sexy properties for us to drool over together and showing you how to get the look of a celebrity’s room without breaking the bank. I’ll give you DIY guides on decorating and upcycling and I’ll even throw in a simple home coaching tip to give your place a smile. I pledge here and now to always indulge your passion for property.

Oh and I really want your feedback, and if there are ever any rooms you find that you’d like me to show you how to replicate send photos into me and I’ll do my best. If you have any ‘before and afters’ you’re bursting to share with me wing them over too.

So there you have it. We know each other now, so long may this beautiful refurbishing relationship last.

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