Inside Lydia Millen's 'very secluded' Northamptonshire cottage - with grandmother-inspired office

Starting married life

The couple married in 2017 and moved in the following year. Since then, Lydia has focused on ''blending'' the house with its surroundings, using heritage textiles and soft paints. ''Our living room has been three colours: blue, black and now green,'' she says. ''You realise that you want to blur the line between the view of the woodland and the inside.'' Now, she loves watching the seasons change from her kitchen window. ''It's as if I'm sitting in the front row at the best show.'' These surroundings have inspired her, she says.

''I never realised this was my dream. I imagine myself [before the Covid-19 pandemic] and I think: 'You just never lifted your head up from your phone, Lydia.' I don't think I appreciated fully what we had here.'' Her flock of 11 chickens brings her joy, too.

''My husband said no for so long, and then he got me a chicken coop for my birthday, so I figured that was a yes,'' she laughs, recounting the joy of being able to collect her own eggs. ''I'm a lot more grateful for what they produce.'' Her favourite chicken is Pavlova, a buff cochin. ''She just runs around the garden like an absolute basket case,'' Lydia says.

Country love

Ali, 37, has embraced beekeeping, having trained with a beekeepers' association during the pandemic. ''What's lovely is that all of our neighbours' gardens go into making that honey, so every year, we give them a pot. You can taste the difference in what foliage was available,'' Lydia says. 

The couple met online around 14 years ago, when they were in the early days of their fashion blogs; Ali was working as an electrician and Lydia at the head office of a fashion brand.

''He found me on Instagram,'' she says. “I met him a week later and it was a car crash – he might have had a few too many drinks before coming to meet me! But I could see the potential. Sometimes, the greatest love stories begin unconventionally.''

Now, Lydia says they love strolling with their dachshunds, Porter and Berkeley – ''just walking around in the garden and seeing what's changing and what's happening'', she says. Life is ''very secluded'', she adds. ''I get overwhelmed in big cities. It makes sense because I can spend a whole long weekend in my garden and not speak to anyone, and not worry about anything.''

Lydia, who has built a career based on fashion since she began blogging in 2011, has pivoted into content that celebrates country life. Her garden has frequently been a focus since she learnt about growing vegetables during the Covid-19 lockdowns. 

Last year, she sold her 75-strong luxury bag collection, which included a vintage Hermès Kelly bag listed for nearly £18,000. This year, her videos have included a tour of the gardens at the King's private residence, Highgrove, where she hosted an event with The King's Foundation charity, as well as a tour of her spring garden.

Getting back to nature

''This whole weekend, other than three hours when I went to the stables, I've been in my greenhouse and my kitchen garden,'' she says; the latter is a space where she grows vegetables and fruit. ''What's lovely is that we've made use of a part of the garden that we didn’t really know what to do with.''

Previously, she says, there was ''just a bit of lawn and some trees''. The goodies currently growing include radishes, raspberries, beetroot and rhubarb. ''It feels like a simpler life when you can pick something and use it in your kitchen.''

The kitchen is one of her favourite places. ''I'd felt quite out of sorts growing up; I didn't really have a solid base. A kitchen island that everyone congregates around feels like the beating heart of the home. It's just lovely.''

Lydia's parents divorced when she was young, and she says that she was ''sort of between the two of them'' as she grew up in Hertfordshire. Eventually, after attending university in Northampton, she went to live with her grandmother for two years.

''She is the best woman on earth,'' she says. “It was just us in her cottage [near] Oxfordshire. She let me save until I could buy my first home with my boyfriend, who is now my husband.''

It's clear that her grandmother, who is 92, has had a strong influence on Lydia's aesthetics. "I get a lot of my style from her. I look back at her outfits and think: 'I would wear that now," she says. 

''My office feels most like my grandmother.'' Her office is home to the doll's house that her grandfather built her as a Christmas gift, with interiors designed by her grandmother. For its walls, Lydia chose hessian fabric in homage to her grandmother's love of decorating with textiles.

The office took two years to complete. ''I constantly second-guess myself,'' she says. ''Now, as I move towards my forties, I feel like I'm more confident and I'm like: 'Yes, we'll go for red!''' Children aren't on the cards for the couple. ''I feel so grateful for everything I have that I can't imagine more,'' Lydia says.

''For a long time, I was like: 'Why don't I want this?' I love my life the way it is. I've got six nieces and nephews, we've got godchildren, and I'm so lucky. And then I get to spend the whole weekend in my greenhouse.''

New beginnings

Life has been nothing short of busy for her, however. Last week, she made her Buckingham Palace debut at a garden party celebrating the 50th anniversary of The King's Trust, for which she is a digital ambassador.

''I'm trying to rewear as much as possible, but there are certain events that I like to be a fashion moment, and this was definitely one of them.'' The couple have just bought their first holiday home on the Norfolk coast, and there's a lot to do. ''It hasn't been touched for 50 years,'' she says.

There, Lydia should be able to channel her new passion: antiquing. ''It's almost like the excitement of the Hermès bags, but without all the faff. That's what antiques have given me. It's great when you find the perfect item.''

And as she's become more confident in her interior-design choices, she's also developed a new career goal. ''I would love to do something with cushions. I just love the impact they make – I think they change up a whole space.''