My partner and I always knew we were buying a fixer-upper, but heck did we imagine we’d get the keys to our first home at the beginning of a global pandemic. In April 2020 we started work on our small Victorian terrace absolutely delighted, but a tad confused. How to go about your first ever renovation when hardware shops and builders merchants are closed, and your local Sainsbury’s can’t even get hold of some dried pasta? Planning our dream home was going to be a digital affair.
The thing people really underestimate with a renovation is just how many decisions you’re making at once, especially when every single room needs TLC. So I naturally did what any sane Millennial would do. I spent every waking moment of my furlough on Instagram and Pinterest trying to figure this thing out. While I found so many beautiful homes on social media, something struck me as ‘off.’ Nearly everyone was white?
I knew what interior vibe I was going for, but I was desperate for visual representation of how our Afrocentric ‘stuff’ - art, books, records - would look in the setting I was drawn to. With renovating being such a labour of love and a creative effort, naturally I was yearning to see how renovators with a similar cultural blueprint to me were interpreting contemporary home design. It’s hard to explain, but I wanted our home to feel... well, black?
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As I continued to trawl the ‘gram, turns out our silly account @rona_renovation was becoming popular. Our audience seemed to find our experiences hilarious, and more importantly, relatable. So many of our followers got in touch to let us know that we were providing some much-needed representation within the home renovation scene. Of course, huge numbers of black people are homeowners, and carry out extensive renovations, but for some bizarre reason black-owned home renovation social media accounts weren’t very visible.
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One day an Instagram pal of mine Michelle aka. @blackfamilyvictorianrenovation got in touch with similar feelings and told me she was going to do something about it. She invited me to a group chat called ‘Melanated Renovators’ and quite frankly I couldn’t believe it. There we were, a proper group of us - together at last! All black, UK-based renovators documenting our journeys online. This was the beginning of the ‘Black Homes UK’ story.
The group became bigger and we became a little family, sharing renovation advice and trying to figure out how to navigate this IG thing ‘properly’. World-class bants contrasted with deep discussions about community-building. How can we use our collective power to carve out our own path rather than waiting for the gatekeepers of this community to let us in?
Then in June 2020, George Floyd was tragically murdered, and suddenly it was okay to openly talk about race. A smaller group from the group chat split off to run @BlackHomesUK with a mission to make a positive impact in a space in which we were very underrepresented.
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I felt liberated being part of so many exciting and poignant conversations on, and offline. It felt like Black Homes UK was doing something so simple but yet so powerful. It became a symbol of black joy, black families and black normalcy! Paint swatches, the excitement of a new kitchen, upcycling a cabinet - this is our lives, and it always has been. Having this visibility means that brands and changemakers in the world of home and interiors can see us, consider us when developing new designs, and consider us for marketing and advertising. However more importantly, this space allows us to create our own table rather than needing to seek validity at someone else’s. And that’s why Black Homes UK means so much to me, and why I’m thankful to the amazing people who are committed to its success. It means that everyday Instagram users like me can be part of a network where they are valued and empowered. As the community continues to grow, so will this quiet revolution within the home and interiors space - and it’s about time.
Follow @rona_renovation and @blackhomesuk on Instagram
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