I was a London-based graphic designer and now I’m learning DIY while restoring a stone cottage in the Forest of Dean!

Armed with basic tools, questionable confidence, and far too many YouTube tutorials, I’m tackling the renovation one job at a time.

After 15 years behind a desk, I realised I missed making physical things. When redundancy gave me the push (well… more of a shove), I swapped the keyboard for power tools and started learning how to renovate a house...mostly by doing it the hard way.

'Hen-House' is about the real process of restoring my cottage from the ground up: the mistakes, the skills I’m figuring out as I go, and the occasional moment where something actually works.

Expect start-to-finish renovation projects, restorations, repairs, budget-friendly upgrades and the inevitable “this didn’t go to plan” moments.

If you enjoy old houses and learning DIY from scratch, grab a brew and subscribe — and let’s see if we can pull this off without the cottage falling down!