Designer, illustrator and author Emily Coxhead is best known as the creator of The Happy Newspaper, a platform that shares positive stories from around the world and celebrates the best in people. She’s also written a children’s book called ‘Find Your Happy’ and her newest book, available from September, is a joyful collection of happy facts, wholesome true stories and uplifting statistics for young readers; ‘Happy Days: 365 Facts to Brighten Every Day of the Year’.
It comes as little surprise then, that Emily’s first home should reflect her signature style – a joyful mix of friendly colours and eclectic design.
Emily currently lives in a cottage near Chorley with husband Niall, 18-month-old son Alfie, and Winnie the cocker spaniel. The family are about to make the move to a new home nearby. ‘It’s the right decision for us because there’ll be more outdoor space’ says Emily ‘but I still feel slightly overwhelmed by the idea!
‘This was our first home together. It’s not only special because we put so much work into it, but also because this is where we were living when we got married, when we got Winnie, and then when we had Alfie. It’s where we spent the pandemic and where Niall took the scary step of leaving his job and joining me in working on The Happy News full time. There are a lot of memories here and I feel quite emotional to be leaving.’
Emily and Niall first got the keys to Ladybird Cottage in 2018 and moved in during the turbulent spring/summer of 2020. ‘For most people there would’ve been absolutely nothing attractive about our house when we first viewed it, apart from maybe the rose bush in the back garden. The house had barely been touched for about 50 years, there was a thick, wood effect textured wallpaper on some of the walls and the only thing we could keep was the boiler. Everything else needed removing, including stripping all the walls back to bare brick for new plaster, electrics and plumbing, as well as a kitchen extension. It didn’t even officially have a kitchen when we got the keys.
‘Despite all that, as soon as we both walked in, we knew it was the perfect house for us. We could see the potential even though neither of us had ever done any renovating - or even any major decorating!
‘We picked up lots of skills during the renovation. I didn’t realise how much we were learning while we were in the midst of it all, but it’s something we can appreciate in hindsight. It was really rewarding and all that DIY experience probably means we’ll have more confidence in tackling any jobs that may need doing at the new house.’
Perhaps ‘new house’ isn’t exactly the right phrase as the family are moving into another old property with a number of period features. ‘We love the character and uniqueness of older houses, I somehow couldn’t imagine us in a new build. We didn’t want to take on a full renovation project again, but there are definitely things we’ll be able to do to improve it for our family over time.
‘One of the things I’ll miss most about our house is the pantry. I wholeheartedly believe that everyone should have a pantry in their kitchen. We put a lot of thought into planning and designing our kitchen and we opted not to have any top wall-hung units, but instead have a corner pantry where all food items would be stored.
‘It quickly became my favourite part of the house (as well as our nieces’ and son’s favourite place too).’
Along with the pantry, some of Emily’s favourite design decisions in the house were the pink star floor tiles in the bathroom, the porch door with sunburst stained glass, and the huge neon sign in the kitchen. ‘It was ironic really that a massive neon sign that reads ‘nothing ever goes wrong’ in my handwriting was one of the biggest challenges we faced. We wanted it on the old chimney breast and getting it on there proved to be one of the hardest, most ridiculous jobs throughout the whole renovation.’
Emily and Niall obviously have mixed emotions about leaving a home that has seen them through so many life changes. ‘It feels very bittersweet. The only house I’ve lived in other than this one was my childhood family home.
‘We expected to stay a few more years, but since we got our crazy cocker spaniel who needs to run off A LOT of energy, and then our little boy, the house and outdoor space suddenly felt ten times smaller than it had before.
‘We outgrew the house quicker than we were expecting. I don’t think you ever know when the right time is to move, and I really would have like to be able to enjoy the ‘finished’ version of our beautiful home for longer. We put so much time and love into it. But, in return, it’s given us so much more than we could’ve imagined - in both the renovating memories and it being the place we started our family.’
There’s lots for the family to look forward about the new house, with more space, more storage and a garden. ‘We knew we needed some more outdoor space for Alfie and Winnie to play, so I’m really looking forward to that.’
No doubt Emily’s 169,000 Instagram followers will also be looking forward to seeing how the house takes on the couple's bright and fun style in the years to come.
‘We’re not in a rush, but we’re excited to put our stamp on it and bring in some of our colourful style and personality. We’re a good team when it comes to interiors decisions because Niall tends to let me come up with ‘the vision’ and then he somehow manages to make it happen.
‘In fact, I’m already wondering if there’s a way we can add a pantry in somewhere…’
Thehappynewspaper.com
