HELLO! I’M MELANIE!

Welcome to Melanie Jade Design

Hello and welcome to my little corner of the internet. You are probably here because you want to know more about me and what my blog is all about.

You’ve probably already guessed that I am interior obsessed and this blog reflects that. I love to talk about all things home decor, interior trends, colour and biophilic design. My favourite colours are pink and green and this reflects in my interior designs, with plenty of plants, wood, vintage pieces, rattan and upcycled projects. I try to keep my interiors accessible for all no matter what your budget with easy DIY projects, wallpapering and painting tips and garden ideas.

We completely revamped our garden back in 2020 (what else was there to do during a pandemic?) and this produced some of my most popular blog posts.

About Me

I am originally from Cornwall. I remember when we moved into a bigger house when I was a teenager and I finally got a bedroom to myself. I went about designing the layout and coming up with colour schemes for the room and this is where my obsession for interior design began.

It would be many years before I finally pursued my passion for interiors however. I joined the RAF just after my 21st birthday and after 8 years of military life, I left and continued with my career in IT in London. Fast forward a few more years and I found myself married with 2 children and buying a house just outside Brighton that needed to be completely renovated.

about our kitchen diner — My favourite renovated part of our house. Our large kitchen diner

One day, once the kitchen renovations had finished, I took a picture of our new sofa with some cushions and posted it on my Instagram feed. It got about 10 times my average likes and this is when I realised there was a whole interiors community on Instagram, one of which I love being part of and have made some genuine friends. After reading lots of renovation and interiors blogs, I decided to give it a go myself and now thoroughly enjoy writing content on all things interior design, trends, DIY, travel and lifestyle.

So, what do you expect to find and read about in my blog?

Interiors

Of course! My first love and showing no signs of waning. I cover a large number of subjects from using colour in your home, how to wallpaper a room to add personality, upcycling furniture, future trends and biophilic design

Renovations

We are about to embark on our 4th renovation project. Follow along for design ideas and plans, mood boards, DIY, building work and decorating

Garden

Something I never really saw myself talking a great deal about. The lockdown in 2020 forced us to redesign our garden so that we could maximise the space to use as a family. My gardening blogs have become some of my most read and I hope to create more fabulous garden spaces in the future.

We created an outdoor cinema space in 2020 which was a huge hit with the family

Product Reviews

I have been lucky enough to work with some incredible brands including sofa.com, Dulux, HomeSense, AO.com, West Elm, Graham & Brown, made.com and LGUK to name but a few. All my opinions are my own and I hope you find them useful.

Social Media Advice

One thing that has surprised me throughout this journey is my fascination with social media. When I first started my Instagram account and blog, I found it very difficult to get help and the whole blogging community was quite secretive about how they made a living from it. I want to change that!

I have always been asked how I make a living from social media and blogging and I have a website dedicated to helping you do the same – besocialwithmedia.com

I set up Be Social With Media to help people achieve their blogging dreams, learn SEO, Email Marketing and Pinterest and how to work with brands. There is also a wealth of information on how to grow on social media and leave the 9 to 5 behind.

Travel & Interiors

Another one of my passions, as a family we absolutely love to travel (don’t we all?) But my real passion has to be hotel and restaurant interior design and I hope to write more blog posts on this in the future.

I also have another blog – The Lazy Travel Guide – which is a collaboration with my husband! He’s the talented writer between us two, so he writes and I take the photos. Pop over to www.lazytravelguide.com to find out more.

We have been lucky enough to stay in the Pickwell Manor Treehouses in North Devon

Social Media Feeds

If you would like to know more about my interiors, style and family life, please follow me on Instagram, facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Awards

Amara Interior Blog Awards 2021 – Best Home Styling Blog

I have been nominated for –

UK Interior Awards 2019 – Best Eye for Interiors

Amara Interior Blog Awards 2019 – Best Interior Designer Blog

Amara Interior Blog Awards 2020 – Best Home Styling Blog

Sweetpea & Willow Home Influencer Awards 2021 – Longlist

So welcome to my blog! I hope you found what you were looking for and if you didn’t, I hope you enjoyed reading it anyway! 🙂 I have worked extremely hard on our home and garden over the years and have thoroughly enjoyed documenting it on this little blog.

We are about to start another huge project and I will be writing numerous blog posts on our renovation journey at our new home on the beach in Shoreham-By-Sea, Sussex.

I hope you come along for the ride! If you would like to contact me for any reason, please fill out the contact form below.