Lydia Millen reveals the clever sofa hack that saved her thousands
As part of our interview series, My Happy Home, Lydia Millen tells us about the sofa hack that saved her thousands, taking inspiration from nature, and antique shopping.
Lydia is an author and fashion, lifestyle, and travel influencer best known for her YouTube channel and blog. In 2021, Lydia was named one of The Times' top 30 UK influencers and has gained a combined following of over three million. She has worked with a plethora of brands including Karen Millen, Dior, Cult Beauty, GHD, Farfetch, and more.
Most recently, Lydia has released her first book, Evergreen: Discover the Joy in Every Season. Inspired by the natural world, Evergreen offers practical advice and ideas that inspire readers to reconnect with nature.
Lydia lives in the Buckinghamshire countryside with her husband, Ali Gordon, and three pets, Lumi, Porter and Berkeley.
What makes you happiest at home?
LM: That's such a good question, how do I even pinpoint that? I would probably say a day just like today — being at home around Christmastime. I like to cocoon under a blanket, read a book, light the fire, and snuggle with my two sausage dogs. I can't bring the chickens inside. That honestly makes me the happiest. I've spent the last two weekends doing that and should probably make plans to do it more.
Tell us about your childhood home
LM: It feels like a magical place to me because I was only there until I was about five. I grew up in a lovely home in Chorleywood. It's funny when I think about it because it's not too dissimilar in its location to where my house is now. It was nestled on this quiet cul-de-sac road, with probably 15 houses in total. It was in the middle of a woodland which made me feel like I was in a cocoon. It had a lovely kitchen and dining area. I always remember my mum poking her head through the bar area. My mum is such an amazing pianist and would always play the baby grand piano in the living room.
I'm pretty certain that my grandma decorated the entire home. She decorated a lot for the family, including my dad's flat after my parents separated. My grandma's interior design is impeccable. She makes curtains even now in her 80s. I bought her a nice Bertioli tablecloth last year and she loved it so much, that she used it to reupholster a bed frame. Everything she did was so homely; it always felt lived-in and never stuffy.
When you get home, what is the first thing you like to do?
LM: Other than take my bra off...I would say the first thing I do is kiss my sausage dogs. They demand it because they're sausage dogs. The moment the key goes in the door, there is carnage. I tend to my animals and cosy down on the sofa.
My house is such a sanctuary. I don't think I'd experienced that feeling for a while before we lived here. We outgrew our old house quite quickly. It was very hectic when we were both trying to run our businesses. I'm always looking for an excuse to be home. People will ask to have a meeting and I say 'Can we do it on Zoom' so that I can stay home.
Which room do you spend most of your time in? How did you decorate this space?
LM: I spend most of my time in my kitchen. It's funny because before I moved to this house, I didn't cook. It is the beating heart of a home. There's such an energy in a kitchen — people are just drawn to it. Even if we're entertaining in the living room, people just gravitate towards the kitchen.
The whole back side of the house is glass that overlooks a woodland. It's been my eternal mission to bring that woodland into the house and make it feel like the two just fade into one another. I wanted a lot of natural tones, especially calming greens. It makes you feel more connected to nature. We've got a pitched roof in the kitchen. Before we redecorated, the windows were painted white. We have since painted it a green-grey colour and you almost don't see the separation between the windows – it blends beautifully into the trees when the canopies are full.
It's so interesting when you take inspiration from nature because it just always works beautifully together. It never goes out of style. I want to get the most longevity out of my interiors. Even if it's just changing the fabric or changing the picture hanging in my frame, it instantly gives a room that new lease of life.
Describe the view outside your bedroom window
LM: Our bedroom is actually on the ground floor. It overlooks a rose garden, an old iron arched gate, and a 500-year-old wall, which is quite possibly the cherry on the cake of this house. The wall looks different in every season. We get the moss and flowers growing through the wall — it is just so beautiful. Every time you look out the window, it looks different. We sometimes spot pheasants on top or squirrels running across it.
What would we find in your bedside table?
LM: I've never been asked that before! You would find pillow mist, a magazine, magnesium body butter and lip balm, face mist, and a book of some sort. Potentially my diary as well.
What is the best decorating advice you have ever received?
LM: Take your time and live in the space for as long as you can. When we first moved in, it was very empty and felt quite cold. I rushed some of the rooms, so if I could go back I would just take my time. There's no rush. We had our kitchen decorated about two or three years ago. I'm always changing out the artwork or adding things that instantly make me feel like I've got a new kitchen.
One of the decorating mistakes I made was putting carpet in the living room. I love it, but it's not particularly practical. We've got stone flooring from Ca'Pietra in the hallway and kitchen, so I would put that in the living room too for a seamless feel. For such small dogs, they really do make a mess. Sometimes we've got five dogs in the house when friends bring theirs over, so that's a lot of muddy paws.
What is the best home bargain you've ever snapped up?
LM: My sofas are one of my best home bargains. They are from IKEA, but I covered them with a really stunning Designer's Guild linen fabric. You just buy the covers, put them on, take them off. They're completely washable, which is great when you have dogs. Nobody ever knows they're IKEA sofas. They look like Neptune sofas, but I didn't have to spend an extortionate amount on them. I never feel bad when one of the animals is covered in mud and jumps onto the sofa.
One of my favourite things is going antique shopping because it feels like guilt-free shopping. You're giving something old — something that somebody else doesn't want — a new lease of life. We found an old writing desk for one of the guest bedrooms and it was just the perfect piece. It had already been loved and worn. I didn't have to give it a worn effect like so many things have to have these days. Whether it's a bowl or a chair, an antique will introduce something new to the space instantly. It makes you feel like you've redecorated.
I love to buy antique artwork because original artwork is very expensive. I try to work with as many emerging artists as possible, like working with Diane Sutherland for my book. Antique artwork is really special to find. It's been around for so many years, but it also works in your modern home.
What is your most treasured possession at home? Why is it so special?
LM: It would have to be my dad's trunk from when he went to Felsted boarding school, which is probably about 60 years old. I have a thing about trunks. I love old trunks. It has traditional metal clasps, engraved with his name and student number. It was just gathering dust in his office so I asked him if I could bring it home. So it now sits by one of the sofas in our living room.
We keep all of our board games in the trunk. It's a great place to hide all of those things, but get them out easily when we've got people over. Wherever I can, I want to take the things that my parents and grandparents had and bring them into my home. For example, I've got the bedside tables from my childhood home in our guest bedroom.
What would top your list for the worst decor trend?
LM: I think I can appreciate everything, it just doesn't necessarily mean that I would have it in my home. I don't really like shiny finishes, mainly because they're so difficult to keep shiny. We end up changing a lot of those finishes for things that already look a bit more battered up.
Are you green-fingered?
LM: I would say I'm green-fingered, but I'm probably more time poor. I wouldn't have said that four years ago, but I'm also not perfect at gardening. But then, nobody is perfect when you watch people like Monty Don. I love it when he is honest about things not working in his garden — it gives me a bit of hope. If I just gave my plants a little bit more love, more of them would probably still be alive. I love spending time in the garden and in my greenhouse. Growing vegetables is my happy place.
We've almost finished the garden. There are just two flowerbeds towards the front of the house that we will complete next year. We finished the outdoor kitchen towards the end of the summer, but still got lots of use out of it. The summer was strange, as we didn't have any real prolonged periods of sunshine. We would usually have a summer garden party, but I didn't feel confident about the weather.
If you could have a snoop around anyone's house, whose would it be and why
LM: I recently went to Highgrove House. We got to have a snoop around the gardens, but I'd love to have a look around the inside. All the blinds are closed so you can't see anything! The bits we could see were very homely, rather than lavish like we see in the palaces. It felt like a home with family pictures, books, fireplaces and lots of artwork. That was the one place I'd love to have a look around.
Evergreen: Discover the Joy in Every Season is available to buy now from Amazon and Waterstones.
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