Author

Danielle Proud grew up in the 1970s and 1980s in America where her craft-obsessed mother taught her patchwork, needlework and stencilling - basically anything that would keep her out of trouble. Her mother was a big fan of the midwest craft aesthetic; she stencilled pineapples everywhere and would create the most amazing patchwork quilts using old shirts, mixed with scraps of folky fabrics. Danielle's father worked in marketing by day and restored antique furniture in his spare time. He taught her how to repair furniture, french polish and stain wood.

Homecraft remained a hobby for Danielle until she started writing a 'how to' column for the Guardian Weekend Magazine. These were fantastically seventies style pages, where she would practise age-old Women's Institute skills, but rather than making corn dollies or stringy owl wall hangings, would update the look to create the kind of things you might see in Elle Deco: old Chanel scarves fashioned into cushion covers or comic books decoupaged onto dressing tables. The results were hip, looked very 'designer' yet cost next to nothing.

Danielle's work started to create ripples in the design world - and has been been featured in Vogue, Sunday Times, Style Magazine, Dazed & Confused, Marie Claire, In Style, Living Etc and the Guardian.

She is the first interior designer to be supported by Topshop, who commissioned her to design a range of craft kits for making lampshades, cushion covers and racy cross stitch samplers to launch Topshop Home.

Danielle's first book, House Proud: Hip Craft for the Modern Homemaker is available from Bloomsbury now. House Proud redefines craft and arms modern homemakers with the skills to create their own sassy designer furnishing. Every project involves recycling existing furniture,  favourite old clothes or bits and bobs from around the house.