Celebrating Five Years Of Alterme Home
A L T E R M E H O M E A N E C D O T E S -
A N O T E F R O M J A S M I N E
It’s Alterme Home’s Fifth Birthday
Leaving my buying job back in 2020 seems like a distant memory, despite being nervous about how the future would pan out, the support around me.
From such a young age I had always had this sense of entrepreneurship and desire to work for myself which has propelled me into the unexpected.
This is the driving force that has kept me going five years on!
I had made several cushions for our home and that was when my fiancé said… why don’t you sell your cushions? To which I said ‘No one will buy my cushions’
Alterme is now FIVE!
How it all started…
For those of you that don’t already know - I studied fashion design at university and then went on to intern at Monsoon in the design and buying departments - I then landed a job working for a brand agency for a small business OUT&ABOUT with the lovely Sarah, Phil, Laura, Erika & Lisette. I used to think - one day I want to have something like this - something that is my own…
I’ve always had that little spark within me to create and trial businesses, so alongside my buying career there was a business selling retro clothes with my brother, an illustration business ‘jasmillustrations’ haha… I even had an Instagram to resell my clothes at university (should have ran with this one… hindsight and all that..!) then there has been website design and creation with logos… but the one constant ‘side hustle’ since leaving university was Alterations -
Alterme Alterations!
Several buying jobs later.. the last being for Harrods - I took the plunge to go full time with wedding dress alterations as this side hustle had some legs and was growing at a rate that warranted a little more attention.
Three weeks later (que national lockdown) after paying to renovate our garage into a beautiful fitting and sewing room & building strong relationships with local Bridal stores, 6 appointments in, Alterme Alterations was closed - I was utterly heartbroken!I’d made several cushions for our home and enjoyed sewing… that’s when my fiancé Jack planted the seed to start selling my cushions on Instagram and it has grown from there!
Face behind the brand; Jasmine and resident dog model and beloved pet spaniel Buddy!
The Inspiration
“I love earthy natural colour palettes and fabrics, as well as nature which inspires the prints I have created and selected. I always struggled with high street cushions and decided to sew my own - which is why I created Alterme Home, each item has been hand made & fabric hand picked to achieve a wonderful collection of soft furnishings to suit any home ”
So Far…
It’s amazing to see how far I’ve come; building my own website (I still edit update and manage this now..alongside emails, social media, marketing ect ect ect…).
I style, take and edit all of the photos myself, working with wonderful airbnb owners, other companies or places to achieve beautiful new images for each new launch or campaign!
Alterme Home has been featured in several publications over the years, including: ‘The World of Interiors’, ‘Femme Country’, ‘All things Country’, ‘Seasons Stories’, ‘Preloved Magazine’, ‘Sunday Times magazine’ and has won several awards in ‘Luxe Life magazine’!
Last year I had the most incredible opportunity to interview a lady who’s work I have always admired; Emma Sims Hilditch, along side interviewing lots of the ‘Alterme Community’ and wonderful influencers too!
Two years ago a dream came true launching Alterme Clothing which, as part of a more focussed approach has now moved to a new platform ByJasmine (we’ll come on to that…)
I’ve made curtains, blinds and bench seat cushions including some for the wonderful Chloe Rose, it was incredible to see my products featured on her YouTube channel along with the lovely Josie & Charlie featuring a selection of my Christmas pieces on their channels. It is a pleasure to also see Alterme Home on Lauren Grace’s youtube as she often shares the cushions from us and gives us shout outs on her channel too!
In recent years, I have launched a range of my own fabrics - including the latest Dainty Daisy range and have made wonderful friends in the industry through collaborations, such as Alitex - styling Alitex’s greenhouse at the Game Fair was a such a highlight last year as well as collaborating with Mulberry Homes on adding finishing touches and the wonderful show homes, and working with Finestock home on collaborative content!
The end of last year I even hosted my first ever PR event ‘Christmas in the Cotswolds’.
The Present Day - Our 5th Birthday!
First and foremost, this year has been so incredibly positive - the support and community and customers that I interact with daily and who cheerlead Alterme Home every step of the way really is a dream come true!
It has already been such an exciting year with fabulous photoshoots at wonderful locations, collaborating with Mulberry Homes, focusing on the true brand of Alterme Home and launching a second business ByJasmine - a space dedicated to our dresses which are now no longer available on Alterme Home you can now shop our dresses including two beautiful new styles here; www.by-jasmine.co.uk.THEN there was another exciting announcement that myself and Jack (who needs his very own blog section as he has literally kept me going from day one in every way possible and I can not thank him enough for his daily support, pep talks, and even reading every email and blog I write despite being incredibly busy with his own business so - hi Jack & thank you so much!!) launched Barkford Barn at the beginning of March, which was born out of our love for Buddy our cocker spaniel and the desire to curate the most beautiful online ‘country dog store’ which features handmade beds in beautiful (you guessed it ) Alterme Home fabric and the most stunning selection of aesthetically pleasing toys, collars, leads and other accessories - if you have a four legged friend then head over to here;
www.barkfordbarn.co.uk
FINALLY after much waffle and hopefully some interesting insight… we are here on the 25th of March celebrating five years of Alterme Home at the most stunning holiday home @thecotswoldretreat with a wonderful group of ladies and gentlemen and having typed the first part of this blog 12 days ago at silly o clock in the morning, it will now go live this morning, I will be taking you along via Instagram so make sure you take a peak on our stories! Then I will fill you all in after today!
So without further a do, thank you for making my dreams come true, for supporting me - for getting this far down on this blog post and for every purchase, like, share, comment and message, you will never know how truly happy each of those things make me, to this day I still get excited when new orders pop up!
Here’s to the next five years & lots of exciting things to come !!
P.S we will also be ending the month at Alitex HQ with a pop up shop - details are here, so if you can we would love for you to join us there & come and see our collections in real life!
I wanted to end this post with a special thank you to my family; Mama, Daddy’o, Nectar and my late Nanny, along with my closest cheerleading friends and relatives for sticking with me, lifting me up, supporting me and believing in me.I have a glass of fizz in hand and encourage you to grab one too - Cheers to Five years!
Thank you all so much, Lots of Love Jasmine xxx