Linda Barker - Designs on Life

TV's hugely popular and successful series, Changing Rooms, made interior designer Linda Barker a household name. Her career has never faltered, and apart from her TV work she also finds times to write books, run her own mail-order company and design a wallpaper range. Lynda Clark met up with her to find out how it all began

Linda Barker had been doing a series of seminars at the Ideal Home show in London's Earls Court when I managed to catch up with her. Talking to a live audience and offering her expert advice on all things 'homey' several times a day certainly didn't seem to faze her. In fact, she was so enthusiastic and interested in just about everything we talked about I felt I had known her all my life.

"I was brought up on a farm in a village called Shelf, between Bradford and Halifax in West Yorkshire," says Linda, "and was the middle child of five - I have four sisters and one brother. It was an amazing outdoor lifestyle where we were always climbing trees and running around. My father was a farmer and wholesale butcher, and my mother looked after the family. She was very good at crafty things and made all our clothes so there was always a sewing machine at the ready and lots of fabric, buttons and trimmings lying around. She taught us to sew, and I was always making something. I loved messing around with the fabrics and experimenting, and when I look back, I had a really wonderful childhood."
Linda went to the local primary school and then on to a girls' grammar school where she did well. She was always very creative so it was no surprise that she decided to do a foundation year in Halifax before going to the Surrey Institute of Art and Design in Farnham to study fine art. "I was so happy to be at art school and I suppose, looking back, it had always been what I wanted to do. I really didn't look forward to what I would do once I left, though, apart from be an artist. My family are very artistic - my younger sister is an artist and my elder sister is a ceramicist, so it must be in the genes!"

After leaving art school Linda managed to get a summer job as cabin crew for an airline working from Manchester and Gatwick. "It was great fun, and I really enjoyed it. Eventually, I was offered a full-time job and so as I was having such a good time I decided to stay. I did it for a few years and saw some of the world into the bargain. I then thought that I had better get back and start doing what I really wanted to do. I had saved up and decided to buy my first home. I bought a cottage in Yorkshire for £14,000, which was really tiny but very cute, but eventually I had to move to London for work."

It was around this time that Linda met up with the man who is now her husband, Chris Short. "We had met at art college but basically lost track of each other. When I moved down to London, I thought it was time I look him up and see if he wanted to meet up for a drink. We met and that was it - we ended up getting married. Now Chris is managing director of my mail-order business, reallylindabarker.co.uk."

Linda then did a variety of different jobs, working as a stylist for magazines and designing and decorating party venues. "I had to do the venue for one of Madonna's parties and hired huge wooden Corinthian columns for it - it was pretty stressful, but it worked really well. I was a freelance so it was all very much a mixed bag and I never knew what was coming next, but I enjoyed the variety of everything I've ever worked on."

Linda did up her house in Battersea, which was featured in House Beautiful magazine, and it was the start of her new career. "I love decorating and creating lovely spaces, and I was approached by Bazal TV who had seen my work and were looking for real designers. They had an idea for an interiors programme called Changing Rooms, and I was called in for an interview and then shortlisted for a screen test."

It went well, and she and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen were then asked to make the pilot show, which was very successful and carried on for another nine years. "It was very hard work but a good time. We had to come up with the ideas and room schemes and only had two days to do the entire project. We made everything and did all the work ourselves. I have also worked for 60-minute Makeover where you have to do everything in an hour so I suppose looking back we had loads of time!"

During this time Linda also co-presented House Invaders and a three-part special called Planet Christmas in 2001. She then moved over to ITV and presented With A Little Help From My Friends, Building The Dream and a daytime lifestyle series, Under Construction.
"In 2003 I decided to launch my own interiors catalogue, and it has gone from strength to strength. I source everything myself so I am completely happy and assured it is perfect. I also design a range of wallpapers for Graham & Brown and obviously have to constantly keep up with trends and the colours of the season."

Linda is very aware how tough it is for anyone trying to get on the property ladder. "Once you have managed it, it's a fantastic first step, but the only way to make it happen is to save. It may mean going without some things, but by budgeting hard and saving hard it will make all the difference between owning your first home or not. Once you do buy, though, I would advise anyone not to rush in and start decorating too quickly as mistakes can be made. A building dictates what's happening in it, and only by living in the space will you know what is best. Ask questions like what is the natural light like and where is it coming from. What mood does the room have? Look carefully at the colour palette, and test it out first before painting an entire wall and finding out it isn't anything like you imagined it would look like. It's easy to make costly and time-consuming mistakes. Most first time buyers are bound to be on a budget, and there are some simple and cost effective ways of furnishing a home cheaply. Go to charity and junk shops and car boot sales, and you will usually find amazing things. Don't always go for the cheapest as it won't last, but think how great a Victorian sideboard might look when it's been renovated and pieces like that are always out there. It's also very trendy nowadays to mix and match old and new, and there is a vogue to handcraft things and create a real bohemian look. But the best piece of advice is to enjoy it and have fun."

With such a full and diverse life and career it's not really surprising that Linda was invited to go into the jungle in the second series of I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here. Never faint-hearted, she thoroughly enjoyed her time even with the thought of doing those rather nasty bushtucker trials. "I never had to eat any creepy-crawlies, thank goodness, but it was tough going in the jungle and pretty much a life-changing experience." Linda did very well and was down to the final three. She also appeared on a celebrity edition of the cult series Come Dine With Me alongside Peter Stringfellow and Michelle Heaton. It proves that Linda is an excellent cook as she finished in first place with Lee Ryan.

Linda's first love, though, is for her home. "I've bought and sold wrecks and done them up and made money over the years. It's been lots of hard work but lots of fun, too. I love where I live, and it is hugely important to me - it feeds the soul of the family."

reallylindabarker.co.uk
Or follow Linda on Twitter - @ReallyLinda

Linda Barker is the ambassador for Ideal Interiors, sponsored by Dulux, at this year's Ideal Home Show Scotland 2011, which returns to the SECC Glasgow from 27-30 May. Linda will be at the show in person presenting a series of seminars offering expert advice on home and garden innovation and the latest ideas for outdoor living. Book tickets now on 0844 894 2010, or visit idealhomeshowscotland.co.uk.