You may be able to tell that I’m a virgin blogger: I decided to start writing in order to give myself a creative outlet, and to stop myself from boring my family to death with talk of paint colours and soft furnishings. Since making that decision I’ve had, and still have, a great deal to learn about the art of blogging: How to write in the first place (a pretty important place to start), tags, categories, Facebook, Instagram, images, links, titles. The list goes on…

It was a priority for me to write the About page, as that’s the place where people learn who you are and what you are really writing about, so I called on my friend Holly Marsh to take some pictures of me for my profile. Holly took possibly my favourite photo of me ever on our wedding day: A relaxed, unposed photo. Six years on it is still my Facebook profile picture and I’m not planning on removing it any day soon. I challenge myself to beat the wedding day me – let’s see how the new gym membership works out!

Holly lives in Stroud so we decided to meet halfway at the Malt House Emporium, partly because they have a Tea Room where we could have lunch and a slice of cake (try the lemon sponge), and also because we both wanted an excuse to have a look around. Luckily, Holly shares my affection for all things interior.

From the road The Malt House (Ashchurch, junction 9 off the M5) is a pretty uninspiring modern warehouse style building, but inside you’ll find an amazing collection from over 70 unique antiques and interiors dealers. We didn’t have time to explore all of the stalls (school run at 3.15, life goes on!) but I really could have stayed there all day. The items on sale range from Cornishware and antique toys to concrete planters and quirky prints. There really is something for everyone and it is the perfect place to find that little, or big, something to make your home unique.

As is usually the case I dragged our youngest, Charlotte, along with me. Holly also had baby in tow. I envied Charlotte’s unashamed posing. Her ability to relax and just be in front of the camera. I, on the other hand, found myself to be incredibly awkward and embarrassed when confronted with a big fat lens to smile at. Somehow, Holly managed to coax the 3 year old out of me and got some good shots. (I have removed the ones that my Husband said made me look like a smug author).

I’d like to say thank you to the Malt House for allowing us to take our photos there. I look forward to my return, when hopefully I’ll have the time to truly enjoy all it has to offer, and maybe even buy something!