Hello, it’s nice to meet you!
Who am I
My Name is Marlène Fao. A little bit about me, I’ve lived in London since 2010 and I’m a new homeowner in South West London after years of happy-ish renting. I grew up and lived in Paris Region, and I moved to the UK in my early 20s for two reasons, because I was attracted by the English speaking world: the culture, the music, the arts which is widely exported to France and because of work opportunities as more multinational employers looking for multilingual staff are located in UK than Paris in my sector which originally was Technology. To be honest I was young and probably didn’t think too much of it. I had a diploma and thought, let’s go better my English and hope for the best, I am only one Eurostar Ticket away from home. But I found a good job and fell in love with the city, its architecture, its people, its young mind in an old body (ok in an ever-evolving body). As a result, I extended my initial 2-year plan stay by quite a bit, Le Travail, c’est la Santé (Working keeps you fit).
By day, I have successfully held key positions in different corporations in IT and Luxury Interiors sectors as Product or Marketing Manager. It has been rather a lot of fun, but did involve high stress at times, practising mindfulness, yoga and adopting a slow life when I am home has really helped me cope with a busy city life. I did felt a lot of time like the odd one out due to my natural sensitivity and my rebel nature (great conflicting combo I know) and maybe one day I’ll talk about that.
The idea of this blog came to be when we were in the process of buying and planning our new period home makeover: Because the home-owners generations of our families do not live in the same city, and we had limited knowledge of UK period homes, I turned to the internet for a lot of information. It was a struggle to find local information for new homeowners which would mix DIY, Online Project Planning, Honest product review and wouldn’t ruin us; needless to say, Social Media has been a lot of help.
I have been obsessed by design, and simplicity and with sharing my tips to help you on how to create a calm and relaxed space at home. Thinking about all aspect of space design, and focusing on well-being at home.
I post comprehensive blog posts every week, and you can find me on instagram as well.
LOVE –
For the objects, colours, shapes, including Art for me is important,
SMELL –
A perfume, candlelight or warmth of a wood fire,
FEEL –
The touch of a soft blanket, the crisp of a clean towel, a warm or cold shower
TASTE –
Food for me is a ritual and the most important thing in life
SOUNDS –
Good Laughs, heated debate (remember I am French), quietness, classical or jazz music, and the odd audiobook
This is why mindfulness is something I deeply care about, the here and now to help us unwind and be happy at home, stressfree.
Therefore I brushed up on my writing which I have practised indirectly through the years to create this blog in the hope that others like-minded people, millennial like me or not will find it interesting.
I share tips about my own experiences home from creating a back garden design, designing your own kitchen, or a minimalist bathroom, or designing your own catio (it’s a thing look it up!). Additionally, I am combining my natural geeky disposition with computers and 3D design by proposing to support my readers more directly during the planning stage of their redecoration with an online Interior Planning Service read more here
And I couldn’t finish this intro without mentioning my partner, his superior carpentry skills, and our two cute male Bengal cats who make photobombing an art.
I hope you like your visit.
Bon surfing!
Marlène
