Hello, my name is Nicola Broughton

a mum to two boys Alfie and Jack and wife to a long suffering husband Sam. We live in a Victorian house in Yorkshire where I juggle my love of interiors, Instagram and Pinterest “addiction” and family, alongside my full time job growing and investing in high tech businesses. Interior design and blogging are my hobbies, a much needed stress relief in a very full life.

My interiors hobby started when I was studying. I got into furniture renovation while studying for an MBA having, much to my parents disgust, moved home at 30 to study full time. I could be regularly found in my dad's freezing cold garage stripping paint off furniture and painting and waxing it back to life. I still have every piece of furniture now, having moved them around the country for years.

When we bought this house, I was thrilled to get my hands on some real decorating, knocking down of walls and generally creating a family home. When the kids came along, we considered creating a more practical environment, but I'd rather live in a home with personality where nothing is precious than a bland beige box. Most importantly, my kids have not broken a single thing, despite being two boisterous boys, confirming that you can live with the home you want even with very small children.

In 2016, I made two decisions that changed my hobby and created another side to my life, I bought a green velvet sofa from MADE and started posting on instagram. The green sofa in my living room was an instant success generating thousands of followers every time it is posted and this created a platform for me to start sharing my home. It is the inspiration behind the name of this blog, along with "the girl in the green scarf" from Confessions of a Shopaholic......about which I make no further comment other than to say I like to shop.

So welcome, this blog is intended to share ideas, inspiration and to encourage others to show off their design skills. I will be sharing ideas on how I've created rooms in my home, new decorating projects as well as sharing some of my favourite suppliers and some guest homes that have inspired me, and mostly trying to encourage those of you with kids that you can have the home that you want, chocolate finger printed velvet couch and all.

A second part of this blog plays on my background in business. I want to do a spotlight on small interiors businesses, to ask them why they started, what help they had, what help they most need, how do they reach the people that buy their products?. how do they fund their business?. Most importantly, what do they wish they had done differently or better, what went wrong and what advice they have for others, beginning their journey. I may even throw in some business ideas too. This marries my day job with my hobby and allows me to give a unique perspective to this blog.  If this blog creates a repository of useful information and examples of how to start a creative business and if I can help them get in front of more people, to get their product noticed then I will have achieved something.