Blog

When I was part of a session at the Grand Designs Live 2025, I looked out at a room full of people who - just like me - want to live more sustainably, but aren’t sure where to start when it comes to their own homes. That’s exactly why I was there: to show you that retrofit doesn’t have to be scary, expensive, or reserved for TV makeover shows. Over the course of my “Eco Renovations and Retrofitting Top Tips” talk, I shared the lessons I’ve learned from transforming our draugh

I love the idea of a whole house retrofit plan. It’s perfect: someone visiting your home to assess energy efficiency, tell you what you...

Being an eco advocate has many challenges, but I didn’t expect the biggest one to be technology! “YouTube is perfect for you”. So many...

I’ve been a veggie for 50 years, so shifting to being a vegan wasn’t a huge jump. Mind you, I really did like my cheese. I’m also a...

I’ve been working on a green life for the past 50 years. I’ve just always wanted to save the earth. As a young adult, I was already...

I had a brilliant mentor when writing Beginner’s Guide to Eco Renovation and an early eye opener for me was the day she told me: ‘If you...

I’ve seen numerous renovations on Instagram. They look amazing in the ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots. But then I saw a post recently: the most amazing and sensitive renovation of an old property with all the original features lovingly restored. An excellent job, EXCEPT that as winters approaches, we see posts about the challenge of heating the home. Heavy curtains to cover draughty windows, endless logs carried to the wood burner, thick jumpers to keep the cold out. A perfect cas

I love that feeling of new clothes and the novelty of wearing something different. BUT – and it’s a big but – I hate shopping! I’m no...

Are you planning to renovate your home? Are you on a limited budget? Then you have choices to make – loads of them. What type of kitchen...

It’s great to use recycled materials – cost wise and for the environment. We done it as often as we could during the build of our garden...

Did you know that 40,000 tons of our old clothes have been dumped in the Atacama desert in a heap so large that it can be seen from...

We wanted to build our garden office/barn with everything sustainable , so I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting materials....