“I ONLY SELL PRODUCTS I LIKE AND USE. IT’S ALL ABOUT BUYING LESS BUT BETTER”
It’s a familiar story: a creative couple, who have forged their careers in London, look beyond the city’s boundaries for a larger home to raise their children. “I had to be dragged away from Brixton,” says Emily Mathieson who moved to St Albans with her husband Jon and their two children Lola (9), and Otis (6) in 2015. “But, although it took a while to adjust to living here, life gets better the longer we stay.”
Like many other decisions Emily has made, the move was carefully considered. She and Jon looked along the Thameslink route until their eyes alighted on the cathedral city. “It’s on the north side of London, so the commute is quick and easy for Jon, and I can hop back into town to see my sister in under an hour.”
The family lived in rental accommodation at first, but when an Edwardian terrace house came up for sale on the same street, they jumped at the chance. “The old woman selling liked the idea of a young family moving in, so she sold it to us,” says Emily. “We wanted to do a renovation project so we could manage costs and tailor it to our taste and environmental concerns, and everyone in the street was really friendly, so it ticked our boxes.” The couple set about totally renovating the house, with Jon designing much of the building work, including the smart Scandi-style kitchen extension (“He even designed a window nook so I can sunbathe naked,” says Emily), and reintroducing period details that had been lost.
The move from London also gave Emily the impetus to start a new business. “I had reached the pinnacle of my career as a travel editor at »