Interview: Rosalind Sack, co-founder of The Home page
Realising that there was more to say about homes and interiors than simply selling an unrelatable lifestyle, Cookham Mum Rosalind Sack and her business partner Jessica Jonzen launched The Home Page; an online magazine celebrating what truly makes a house a home. Here, Rosalind explains why we should all be proud homebodies
What’s The Home Page all about?
Written with warmth and wit, The Home Page centres around everything to do with home and how we really live. So it features lots of beautiful interiors, of course, as well as delicious recipes; the latest books, TV, music and podcasts; and the best beauty and wellbeing. It is a real celebration of the best things about being at home - we look beyond the trends to dig deeper into the true stories of the people and things that make a house a home.
What inspired you to set up the site?
My co-founder Jessica Jonzen and I met three years ago while working together on a glossy lifestyle magazine and bonded over our shared love of a beautiful home and a toffee yoghurt. As time went by, we released that we both felt that there was more to say about homes and interiors than just trends and selling an unrelatable lifestyle. Of course, we love the pretty stuff (and you’ll find plenty of that on the site) but, as journalists, we are also fascinated by people and their stories and believe that many of life’s most memorable moments happen at home. That, to us, is far more interesting than the quest for the ‘perfect’ home.
What’s your background?
I’ve been a journalist and editor for 15 years, starting out as a news reporter on local papers, then a national press agency, before moving to London where I was a showbiz editor for several years before shifting into lifestyle journalism. I’ve always had a keen interest in interiors – the first magazine shoot I ever worked on was for BBC Good Homes with Sophie Robinson, who now stars on BBC2’s The Great Interior Design Challenge, and I’ve had interior design training at the KLC School of Design in Chelsea Harbour.
What’s been the best thing about running your own business?
It’s been wonderful to see what started as a ‘what if’ conversation in a supermarket car park become a fully-fledged online magazine that people seem to really love. We’ve been bowled over by the positive response we’ve had and the incredible people who have contributed and agreed to be interviewed – there are some great names coming up! It’s been a very steep learning curve and incredibly hard work, but it’s been hugely thrilling and rewarding and we’re really proud of what we’ve achieved so far.
How long have you lived in Cookham?
I moved from East Dulwich in South East London to Cookham in 2014. Just a couple of months later, the floods hit and I have to admit to fearing we may have made a huge mistake! But I’m delighted to say that it was a brief wobble and, five years later, my partner and I are still here. We now have a one-year-old daughter and I’m delighted she gets to grow up in such a beautiful place.
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Photo credit: Wendy Aldiss Photography
What are you favourite homes shops in the area?
For beautiful, vintage homeware then you can’t beat Home Barn in Little Marlow, which is a real treasure trove. Windsor Farm Shop is great for snuggly sheep skin rugs from the sheep on the royal estate, while ceramicist Emma Alington makes the most beautiful tableware in her studio in Maidenhead. The girls at Foxglove Studio in Marlow are lovely; it’s a great place for some really rustic arrangements of blooms for the dining table. And just up the road in Marlow, Sarah Hughes is another lovely independent interiors shop; she handmakes fabulous, bold print lampshades, which I particularly love.
Visit www.thehomepage.co.uk and subscribe free to receive the best of The Home Page direct to your inbox every fortnight. You can also follow The Home Page on Facebook and Instagram at @thehomepageuk