Happy Birthday to me (and you)

It's been my first full year on Substack. Here's a preview of what's coming up in 2025. Plus, how to subscribe so you don't miss any of it (and lock in this year's price forever).

Well Happy Birthday to us! It’s been a year since I joined Substack. My assumption is that readers are here for insights on interior design rather than the mechanics of writing and publishing newsletters, so I’m not going to write a long post reviewing what has and hasn’t worked for me as a writer, since every Substacker’s audience and experience will almost certainly be different from my own.

However… a few birthday presents from me to you. I have made these three popular posts free to read for a week:

I also want to tell you that I’m giving things a little shake-up and that the price for subscriptions will be increasing from Friday 1 November onwards – so if you have been hesitating about signing up to a paid membership, now is the time. Anyone who renews or signs up before that date will be able to do so for the original price of £6 a month or £65 a year, forever. That is to say that if you subscribe now (or are due to renew an existing subscription) your price of £65 a year will not change. After 1 November the price will increase to £7 a month or £75 for the year for all new subscribers. In return there will be more to read, so it will still work out at a little over £1 a post.

What do you get for your membership? Well, you will receive at least four subscribers-only posts a month. One thing I have learned this past year is that I need to be less rigid and timetabled about everything. I originally set myself a strict publication schedule – partly so you would know what you could expect and when, and partly to allow me to plan my content in advance. But what I discovered is that there are times when inspiration strikes and you just want to be able to share it. So I’m going to be more spontaneous in 2025. Having said that, your favourite posts will remain as they are.

Design Decoded (formerly known as Househunter), where we take a virtual stroll around a house that’s on the market to learn what works and discover the decorating tricks that have been used to disguise or enhance its features.

Staying too is Eye on Design – shopping recommendations and styling advice, from buying sofas and beds to smaller accessories that might have caught my eye during the month. My monthly Drop-In Design Clinic will remain as well, since it’s lovely to hang out and chat together. (The session is always recorded for those who can’t make the live but might want the design advice.)

In addition, there will always be at least one more post that might vary from a How To or an essay, to more thematic discussions on design – like the two below.

So that’s the framework, but I will also throw in few other nuggets as and when I find them, such as table styling tips from Skye McAlpine, for example, which is coming up next week. I will be designating the more personal aspects of my monthly House Notes – what I am reading, watching, wearing and eating – for paid subscribers only.

Essentially the feel will be that, rather than a fixed magazine, I will be dropping into your inbox throughout the month in a friendly ‘Got time for a coffee?’ sort of way – and you can save up the posts to read all at once, or dive in when you see them. There will always be the familiar posts, but with the addition of a couple of other treats as a happy surprise. Think of it as always having a packet of Digestives in the cupboard, but every now and then you pull out one with chocolate on. It always amazes me that something that takes ages to write and feels really long is billed as a seven-minute read – that’s a short bus ride, or these days, a bus stop wait, so hopefully it won’t feel overwhelming.

For those of you who prefer to remain as free subscribers (come on and join the party!) there will still be posts for you to read. I plan to keep the interview part of House Notes open for everyone. So far in My Interior Life we have featured India Knight and Lucinda Chambers. Coming up on Wednesday we have the designer JJ Martin of La DoubleJ, cook and homewares creator Skye McAlpine and fashion insider Lucy Williams. I have requests in for some other really interesting interviewees as well. You will also get my occasional Design Postcards, which might be news-related, or simply about something that caught my eye. These will be sent once or twice a month depending on, well, the news or what catches said eye. And, of course, you will always be able to see at least part of a paid post.

So there we have it. If you want to renew at current prices, now’s the time as it will increase from this Friday. But if you want to join us behind the paywall later, I hope you will agree that there’s lots to dig into including pieces with a more lifestyle slant. Don’t forget that huge archive of material – over a decade’s work – that’s open to you, too.

It remains only for me to say thank you. Thank you to everyone both paid and free who has joined me over on this new platform that is still unfamiliar to many. I love writing here and I hope you are enjoying it too. Tell your friends, give them a present and let’s expand this community.

Finally, finally! I have always shied away from asking readers to tell me what they want to see from me as it feels like saying that I don’t know that to write and I want you to give me the content. But Substack is different. If you are subscribing to receive design advice, it seems only reasonable that you can ask me to write about certain subjects. There is, of course, the live clinic, but you can simply jot your queries below and that will give me some starting points for topics to include in the future.