Lock.downhouse, Glasgow (2026)

✨Colourful Home Makeovers
🌼 Flower, Cushion & Candles obsessed
👩‍💻Interiors Writer with Glasgow
🪑Home Styling + Decor ideas
🎥 Content creator ✨

01/09/2026

As I approached my 50s - I hadn't given retirement a thought. Not a thought!
I was a bit of a workaholic. I would have imagined myself definitely still working at 60.
I certainly would not have dreamt I would be a published writer in a magazine

In my early 20s though I did actually dream of writing a novel. Though I never knew what it would have been about. I even sent away for a correspondence course (yes, I am that old 😂).
I never did write the novel though.
I didn't even finish the course!

Instead, for 35 years I worked hard in the legal sector and I suppose I imagined I’d carry on working in an office until I was well into my 60s.

Then life had other ideas.

Cancer. 2 surgeries. Recovery. COVID.
A year later I went back to work.
I didn't like work at all when I went back after illness. (Understatement of the century)
Then I made the surprise decision to retire at 55. I felt I was done!

Except, as it turns out, I wasn’t done at all.

My instagram account let my interest in Homes and Interiors flourish. In 2023 I started writing for - a Homes and Interiors column ! (A big shout out has to go to Suzanne the owner and editor of for taking a chance on me! )

And this is now my 22nd edition. The latest is a whopping 100 pages and I am exceptionally proud to be part of it.

So as I hurtle towards 60, I am busier than ever but much more importantly- happier than ever and I’ve been thinking about all the things I’m doing now that I simply never anticipated when I was turning 50.

So this is Part 1.

And perhaps that wee 20-something who fancied herself as a writer got there eventually after all. ( and maybe there is still a book in me too!)

So my thoughts today . . .
Always keep your mind open to new things- big or small. Don't let yourself got stuck in a rut!

And never ever let anyone make you think you are too old. ❤️

31/08/2026

Do bold colours have to clash?

I’ve used seven different deep colours throughout our home — from Brinjal and Green Smoke to Hague Blue, Off Black and Etruscan Red — and somehow they all seem to work together.

There was no grand colour plan. I just chose colours I loved, kept them rich and deep, and let the rooms evolve.

Flowers, plants, art and all the little bits of colour dotted around the house seem to pull it all together.

It’s dark, colourful, cosy and very definitely us.

Could you live with this much colour in your home? And which room would you choose?

30/08/2026

So, as many of you will know, this is my daughter Katie Hillan . Swipe and you’ll find her again, just a few weeks old, in my arms.

This is the wee girl who made me a mum. And now look at her, all grown up and gorgeous, raising money for Maggie's Glasgow the charity that helped me so much when I had bowel cancer in 2020. How amazing is she?

Being diagnosed and starting treatment just as the world shut down for Covid was absolutely traumatic. I can admit now that I was terrified of Covid, cancer and chemo all at the same time. I genuinely didn’t know which scared me most.

Maggie’s Glasgow was the only support open to me in those early months. Everywhere else was closed. And oh my goodness, I made use of it.
Kerry, the Centre Manager, spoke to me in person for hours at a time, every few weeks, for maybe a year and a half. I have cried more to Kerry than to any other person in my life.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that she and Maggie’s got me through my cancer treatment and saved my sanity. Along with my amazing family, their support played such a huge part in how I recovered from that traumatic year and moved on with my life.

And Katie has been such a huge part of supporting the new life that came for me afterwards. She gets patiently excited with me about lampshades, colours and coat racks. She listens to all my Anne Marie- I organise Mingle & Home Events across the UK plans, helps with the tech and timings, is there with me, keeps me calm, looks after me and always, always makes me laugh.

She’s fundraised for Maggie’s with me before — we even did a Sober October — but this time she’s doing the ultimate. Katie is running the London Marathon for Maggie’s Glasgow in 2027 and the training is starting now.

I should say that I am totally better now, cancer free, and there is never a day I don’t appreciate that. But so many families face cancer and I cannot recommend Maggie’s highly enough.

So please sponsor Katie if you can. No amount is too small. And if you can’t, please share this post. Someone who sees it might need Maggie’s themselves. You just walk in. No referral is necessary and whatever you are facing- they will help.

And Katie I am beyond proud of you for doing this.
Thank you x

24/08/2026

How many lamps is too many lamps? 😂💡

I have to say, the approaching cosy season is absolutely my season. My dark colourful rooms, with lamps on and candles lit — I love it all. ❤️

So when I heard this audio telling me the secret to making your home look more expensive is “lamps everywhere… just an insane amount of lamps” I did feel rather validated 😂

These are just 10 of mine — in my dark rooms- and I admit to 6 of them being in my living room.

There are actually 11 lamps in my living room alone. Yes. ELEVEN. 😂 And there are plenty more dotted around the rest of Lockdown House.

Old lamps, new lamps, colourful lamps, secondhand lamps, fancy lamps… apparently I don’t discriminate when it comes to lamps. I have so many more to show you.

I have said where lamp is from but I mix and match a lot and switch shades. I know thats no surprise !

But now we’re heading towards proper lamp-and-candle season, I’m very much in my element. 💕 I do have a few light fittings I want to change! So I am totally on the hunt for new lights and lamps. I will keep you all posted with that! 🤣

Meanwhile please tell me I’m not the only one with a slightly ridiculous number of lamps? 😂
More importantly please reassure Mr LDH that this is not just me!!! 🙏🏼

21/08/2026

So here is a wee bit of my Hague Blue living room for the weekend 💕

I took these photos yesterday because the light was lovely and the room was looking particularly cosy. (I have been on a bit of a cleaning, tidying and rearranging spree this week!)

Looking at these, it turns out my signature style definitely seems to be dark walls, colourful cushions, old things, new things, books, art, lamps and lots of things I’ve collected along the way. Basically everything that makes this room feel like home to me.

And then I found the last photo… 😂

Same room. Same sofas. Same Jack Vettriano on the wall. But definitely not the same me when it came to interiors!

I think my house has got braver as I’ve got braver. And given that I started transforming this room without a mood board or much of a plan at all, I think I’ve done okay 😂

So I hope you enjoy my living room as it is now.

And swipe to the end for my Lockdown House before it really became Anne Marie- inspiring you with colourful home decor + styling ❤️

19/08/2026

Sometimes one photo is enough. And sometimes one photo is about all I can manage! 😂 Today is one of those days!

It was a dark, and very rainy Glasgow day, so the lamps and candles are on and the dining kitchen is feeling particularly warm and cosy.

I still absolutely love the greens in this room. Green Smoke on the ceiling and woodwork, Lichen on the walls, then all my pinks, reds and slightly random colourful bits layered on top.

It’s probably one of the calmer colour schemes in my Lock.downhouse… although admittedly my idea of calm might be slightly different from everyone else’s. 😂

Anyway, one photo. My house. Tidy. Today.
And I rather like it. 💚

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