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hi, i'm ash!
Creator of the New Travel & Design Series, 'OTHER PEOPLE'S HOUSES.'
Travel writer & host, cultural explorer, and architecture & interiors freak.
Meet ash >
I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β
I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β I THINK YOU'RE REALLY GREAT β
The Newsletter
Every week, we're exploring global culture through the lens of the home. From floorplans to fixtures, we examine how houses are built, designed, and decorated around the world (with a side of sass, of course!)
The Podcast
The only podcast where we pass on the pyramids and poke around in the plumbing. Iβm Ash, and I'm, exploring the strange, smart, and wonderful ways houses are built, designed, and decorated around the world.
The Books
A new series of OTHER PEOPLE'S HOUSES books designed to help you try on a new life in different places around the worldβby getting to "go behind closed doors" inside local homes to discover what it's really like to live there.
Loved this, Ash. Especially the part about sharing. I’ve encountered (from a distance on social media) professionals in interior design who are complete gatekeepers. So much so that they regularly have to review their “rules of engagement” for new followers and boy do they come off as complete assholes. I realize that they have to make a living but, perhaps, being more generous will encourage people to engage with them as clients. I laughed when I found out two big name, very successful interior designers have been sharing their sources for YEARS. Didn’t seem to hold them back!
Generosity breeds generosity! It’s not a cliche for nothing, right?! The interior design world does seem a bit gatekeep-ey – it’s also interesting how everything’s marked up and/or affiliate linked. I get it, but that would never fly in my world without disclosure, LOL.
My favorite post of yours maybe ever. <3 Loved the tone of gratitude, loved that you are coming to understand the local language of connection and community in your new home, loved that you are seeing the gifts of living in the country (amidst the challenges), loved the discussion about contribution and bringing value to your community members, and I sincerely appreciated the list of how you were helping the stone mason--including his adorable responses. That list is gold. Happy Spring, Ash!
Thank you, Lara, for taking the time to leave me this awesome comment and brighten my day! YAY TO ALL OF THIS, AND ALL OF US, AND ALL OF THE CONNECTION, AMEN.
This was totally inspiring and uplifting. Share something everyday and you are an evolution. Good stuff.
You do belong there – y’all are falling in love with each other.
Who would have thought I’d love my own hometown so much? Ha!
Ash, the last time a nerve was touched this much, I’d been supine in a chair for an hour, had a numb lip for what seemed like an eon, and my kids made fun of my slurred speech and drooling. Yet still, your pronunciation quandry is still more painful.
Let me just leave this question here… is there a ‘t’ in the word that eclipses nails on a chalkboard for #1 aural pain inducr? No. No, there is not.
P.S. I see what you did there. Including a topic many would be suckered into commenting on. May I just say, screw you π I hate when I’m played like a well tuned Stradivarius.
P.P.S. I’m obviously going to need to find my dictionary and research the correct pronunciation of niche. If I’m wrong about, I apologise for my self indulgent rant. I’m not going to change how I pronounce it though. In stubborn like that.
HAD TO LOOK IT UP! You’re not gonna like this, D. π€£
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There is a debate about how you are supposed to pronounce niche. There are two common pronunciation variants, both of which are currently considered correct: \NEESH\ (rhymes with sheesh) and \NICH\ (rhymes with pitch). \NICH\ is the more common one and the older of the two pronunciations. It is the only pronunciation given for the word in all English dictionaries until the 20th century, when \NEESH\ was first listed as a pronunciation variant in Daniel Jones’s English Pronouncing Dictionary (1917). \NEESH\ wasnβt listed as a pronunciation in our dictionaries until our 1961 Websterβs Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, and it wasnβt entered into our smaller Merriam-Websterβs Collegiate Dictionary until 1993. Even then, it was marked in the Collegiate as a pronunciation that was in educated use but not considered acceptable until 2003.
All this is to say that the historical pronunciation has been \NICH\, and that \NEESH\ is a relative newcomer that came about likely under influence from French pronunciation conventions. At this point in time in the U.S., \NICH\ is still the more common pronunciation, but \NEESH\ is gaining ground. Our evidence suggests that in British English, \NEESH\ is now the more common pronunciation.
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Well, don’t I feel like a twat π
Now the conundrum. I’m absolutely one for proper pronunciation…but I’m not sure I can cope with \NICH\ as opposed to \NEESH\….ASH, MY BRAIN IS GOING INTO MELTDOWN π€―π€ππ±
P.S. Having just read Dawn French’s The Twat Files, I’m embracing it…and in the spirit of your new peogramme, perhaps it’s even a newsletter story I can weave in somehow π π
I do love hearing about the neighbors and all the little details about the stone mason and his business and just all of it. It’s like reading a Jane Austen novel with all the quirky details of the characters in a small town.
I COMPLETELY forgot to tell you about the neighbor and the microwave and the firearm. That was in my plans for this one! Until next week, I suppose. π
BwaaaHahahaha! Microwaves and firearms go so delightfully together.
Loved this one! It describes where I live to a T and why I love rural living and small communities so much. The muck boots in Alaska are a thing. We all have them, wear them everywhere, even to a restaurant and the local artists even have them in their stickers and art. What you need is a stylish pair of Alaskan Xtratuf boots (as seen in all the art)! You can go to the airport and yep there you will see Alaskans in mucking boots and PJS getting ready to take that red eye flight. What’s funny is to say that won’t be me, but a year later living here and yep we wear them everywhere. Not that I haven’t always worn them as I have horses but I didn’t wear them outside of the barn till now. The 200.00 was a favorite tho. I find it’s very hard to do that and have folks keep it. I had to get creative in my repayment of help. Pizza was a great idea. I do gift cards at Christmas with a note as who can give those back??? Love seeing the new side of you that rural living in a small community has brought out. Keep enjoying it, it only gets better. Oh and very excited about the upcoming masterclass!
ART ON MY BOOTS! WHY AM I NOT ALREADY CREATING A LINE OF SUPER STYLISH MUCKS?!?!?! Going to have to check out your rec, 10,000%. I gotta say, the more clunky and big around the calf, the more I like ’em. Ha!!!!
I love these. I agree with Lara Hutchin. This is an awesome post. Bring those boots on out to Colorado, Iβll show you some horses!