Hello & welcome to cushion fort

I'm Lucianne, a first time buyer in Surrey. By day, I am a graphic designer, by night I renovate the 1870's gardener's cottage loving named, "Number One" I bought with my partner-in-crime, Steve.

From being tiny, I loved building cushion forts and acting out adventures from my base camp. I grew up around my parents renovating a house, and I fell in love with interiors and beautiful design from walking around antiques shows around the country to furnish our newly decorated home.

I love reading blogs, and when it came to buying my first house I wanted to read about someone who had 'been there, done that'. There wasn't much around apart from estate agents corporate chat or bank's trying get me to use their mortgage calculator. I think there are others like me, so I set up Cushion Fort as a way to document the buying and renovating process without any scary bits missed out.

Alongside the nitty gritty of mortgages, solicitors and how to deal with estate agents expect honest renovation advice, inspirational interiors I've seen and DIY's that I have tried out.

I'm excited to meet others like me to exchange ideas, share mood boards and generally get advice on creating a first home. Particularly anyone who has 'been there and made that mistake'...that advice is priceless so please share!