014. Norfolk Natural Living
Combining nature & craftsmanship to bring joy to our daily rituals.
From a sleepy Northamptonshire village, there’s a busy cottage industry on the go, creating timeless soft furnishings for discerning local customers and now online too.
Here is the founder story of Jasmine Jade Brooker of Alterme Home – now celebrating its 4th birthday!
A new direction
I began this journey after very quickly having to stop my new wedding dress alteration business due to the pandemic.
I had already paid for the garage to be converted into a fitting / sewing room and have always had a passion for home décor and interiors.
It was actually my fiancé Jack who suggested selling my cushions on Instagram and it grew from there!
Working solo
My official team is just me, myself and I. However my partner Jack and little spaniel Buddy are always here to help with taking photos, moving fetching and carrying and Buddy being the most wonderful model.
My parents are also super supportive and occasionally my mum will help me with curtains and blinds when things are a bit hectic!
I work in my little converted studio which is at our home, based in a small Northamptonshire village.
I’ll often be listening to podcasts at full blast (my sewing machines are noisy things! ) and I will take time out to go across the fields with Jack during the day to walk our energetic cocker spaniel Buddy.
I also head inside for a few caffeine breaks during the day and look out into our garden – a place that I have enjoyed making our own and beautiful over the last 7 years of living here.
Local inspiration
My products are inspired by the great British countryside – we spend an awful lot of time in the Cotswolds as a lot of our customer base is there and I am always getting inspiration from the scenery there.
I started creating cushions originally as I could not find anything that I liked for the quality and the price point that I required.
This was a skill I learned at school / university and then this has evolved into all homewares including curtains and blinds (a skill that my Mum passed onto me!).
My creations
My products are unique as I use some of my own exclusive fabric designs.
I am always mixing and matching patterned and plain fabrics with different trims to come up with truly unique designs that stand the test of time and all work harmoniously together so that customer’s can build on their collection year after year.
My pieces are not trend driven and all very natural and traditional to give them longevity.
I also create a lot of little décor pieces using scraps to reduce waste, such as my little fabric pumpkins or lately my fabric carrots!
The highs & lows
A memorable moment was Lifestyle Blogger Josie Fear featuring one of my table runners on her YouTube channel and highlighting my brand, moments like this really help little businesses like mine!
I was also completely taken aback by the amount of customers who came to say hello to me when I had a stand at The Country Brocante last year.
I’ve also had the pleasure of a recent magazine feature for a country brand and launching my own collection of tableware and dresses.
There have been some super testing times and I have had to make a lot of personal sacrifices whilst I grow the business, some months can be quite stressful especially when sales are low but I always have Jack and Buddy to support me and lift my spirits!
What drives me
I’m big on being more sustainable and making sure that my pieces are handmade to last as well as using British fabrics and making sure that products have longevity rather than ‘fast fashion / homewares’ to encourage people to invest in quality over quantity.
I even try to keep and reuse packaging to help with waste so there is no fancy packaging however there is less waste because of this!
The drive for this business is that I hope to educate and share with everyone and anyone that it pays to invest in beautiful handcrafted pieces – whether from my business or other small businesses, as these pieces not only help make a house a beautiful home but they will stand the test of time.
I think that my love of interiors and styling and wanting to help people with their own homes and styling is what really drives me to keep going.
When I introduce a new product or style and my customers and followers love it it really makes my day!
My dream business
Id love to one day open a stand alone store as I know that people love to touch and feel fabrics, but this is a long way off yet.
For now I am focusing on full room transformation, with the offering of curtains, blinds and interior styling the focus for this year and going forward will be a more holistic approach and offering for customers to simplify the decorating process for them!
It’s a delight to read stories of brands in their early days and how, with Founder led brands especially, you can confidently gather lessons and experiences from one project and swiftly move them onto another.
I’m sure we’ll be sharing another Journal entry when you have your beautiful store Jasmine. Thank you for sharing this pivotal moment in your story and happy 4th birthday to Alterme Home!
-Lyndsey
Combining nature & craftsmanship to bring joy to our daily rituals.
The joys of growing slowly and enjoying the view.
and then