What is your life well lived?
For me, it’s about appreciating renting a home somewhere so unique (we live in the love-it-or-hate-it Barbican Estate), because it’s incredibly special but we could never actually afford to buy here, so I know our time in the estate is limited, and that makes me treasure it even more.
I spend a lot of time appreciating the little things – whether that’s doing laps of the ‘high walk’ as a faux-commute before starting my working day at the dining table, having the pleasure of going to the cinema in my slippers because it’s literally next door, or just popping my head around the glass balcony screen to say hello to our neighbour. The people who live here will (mostly) go out of their way to contribute to the sense of community and help a fellow resident in need. On Sundays, I love sitting with a coffee by our huge glass doors and having lots of candles lit, or playing some jazz and reading a magazine.
It’s quite tricky balancing work and pleasure now, as home feels much less like a sanctuary when it’s also a workspace, but I always feel like I’m somewhere really peaceful and in a city as loud and busy as London, that’s never to be taken for granted!
What is your favourite thing about where you live right now?
Even after seven years here, I look out at the lake and waterfall from my bedroom window and it still feels like I’m at a holiday camp. Above all though, living in the Barbican Estate is just so easy. We have 24/7 car park porters who sign for our parcels (amongst many other things) and they’re such a comforting and helpful presence. Thick concrete walls mean you rarely hear your neighbours, your rubbish is collected daily from a cupboard beside your front door and we also have big residents-only gardens that are total bliss in summer for a morning coffee under the trees before work. Sometimes you feel so far from central London, yet within 30 mins in any direction, you can walk to Soho, King’s Cross, Borough, Hackney. The location is a huge plus for someone like me who prefers to get around on foot!
“I have a preference for cosiness over a polished look. I like warm tones and having lots of meaningful, comfortable things around me, many of which I’ve collected on our travels.”