Hello and welcome!

Author of Resourceful Living. Notes about my obsession with all things home, vintage trawling, recipes I love and as much travel as I can cram in. All the things and EVERYTHING that makes me happy.

First of all, HELLO. I’m Lisa Dawson and whether you have come here from my blog, Instagram or by recommendation, I’m very happy that you’re here and I hope that you’ll want to stay.

Eight years ago, we moved from leafy Caversham in Berkshire to the glorious City Of York and bought (entirely thanks to the North/South house price divide) the house of our dreams. Always a fan of a good photo, I started documenting my often dubious decorating attempts on my Instagram account and received such a good response that I started writing a blog focused on how to create a home that you love without spending shed loads of cash. In 2021 I published my first book, Resourceful Living and now I am lucky enough to work full time on Instagram, creating content and editorial for some excellent brands.

I’m hoping that these notes here on Substack will give me the opportunity to expand what I write about to incorporate everyday things that I enjoy, in shorter form than my original blog and with a more varied focus. . I am a big fan of pursuing things in life that make you happy - in fact, I am so committed that I have the phrase ‘joie de vivre’ tattooed on my forearm. True story.

Regular followers will know of my obsession with food (a prolific amount of canapes and mostly involving cheese - who doesn’t love a baked camembert?) and also that I love to travel, almost always to places where it’s warm and almost never to anywhere under 18 degrees due to my aversion to being chilly. My favourite pastime is vintage trawling - give me a spare couple of hours and I’ll be straight to the second hand and charity shops to see what treasure (not what my family call it but we don’t listen to them) I can find to add to my already crammed shelves. If the thrill of the chase is real for you too, then you’re in the right place.

SO, LOVELY READERS - whether you’re a blog subscriber or a new friend, join me here. Interior ideas, vintage finds, travel, recipes, outfit ideas, family conundrums and general thoughts on things that interest me - I’m going to be writing regularly about the things that make me happy. These notes will replace my blog which has worked hard for me over the years, but you will still be able to find all of my old posts there should you need them. So SUBSCRIBE below and I promise to do my best to bring some joie de vivre to your mailbox.

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