The Bramwell Brown Blog

Meet the Content Creator and their Weather Clock - Dan

This week we are meeting content creator Dan from lookweboughtahouse

Can you tell us about yourself?

I’m Dan, I am 29 and although born and bred in Manchester, I live in a Georgian home in Darlington which I have been renovating since I fell in love with it 3 years ago. I am a visual merchandiser, stylist, DIYer & designer. I am obsessed with all things design and particularly with the process of design, I love to see how things are made.

What's your favourite room in your house and why?

My favourite room in the house is actually the newly decorated office which is at the back of the house. When I viewed the house the owner who was showing me around left me for a little while and I just gravitated to it. The ceiling was bowing, it had a huge damp problem, it hadn’t been updated in 45+ years,  but there was this energy and sense of calm that I felt.

Where do you hang your Bramwell Brown Weather Clock and why?

The new clock has taken pride of place in the new office above the desk and it fits in perfectly. As I am juggling a few things currently, time is precious and when sat at the desk it means I can have my phone in a separate room and get to work. I can look up to make sure that I am on schedule, and also look up and work out if I can go outside to do an hour of DIY before it’s about to lash it down. It’s absolutely genius

Can you sum your Bramwell Brown Weather Clock up in three words?

Whimsical, innovative, perfectly engineered (sorry I had to use four...)

At the start of lockdown you launched a three-hour-do-it-yourself challenge , can you tell us a bit more about that?

When lockdown happened and even before it did, there was a shift happening in the world and a panic setting in which I felt was incredibly unsettling. We had no other choice other than to stay at home and whilst some people could continue their work, I was in the other camp of losing work which was tough. Setting up the challenge was a way for me to get thinking more creatively, repurposing things already in my house and keeping me occupied. Once I put it on instagram to my followers it just flew! People shared incredibly creative ideas, which then inspired more people to try something, and it was just incredible. It was featured in newspapers, blogs, my MP wrote to me, I did not expect the reaction it received!

In the current climate we're going to be spending even more time at home, which room in your house is next on your refurb list?

Now the office is very nearly finished, next on the list is the kitchen. I installed the kitchen in a rush for Christmas early on in the renovation, on the tightest of budgets, but unfortunately it has just never sat right with me and after spending a lot more time at home this has just confirmed it. It’s not a total refurb, but repurposing what I have with a few new additions which I know will elevate the kitchen and how I use it. Watch this space!

Finally, we love mechanical/analogue objects (as you can probably tell) what mechanical/analogue items (record plays, analogue cameras etc) do you have in your home or remember from your childhood that you love(d)?

I remember every time my Nan went on holiday, she would bring back either a fridge magnet or a ceramic clock from where she visited and hang it up in her kitchen. Everywhere was full of painted scenes from Mexico or Spain, and all of these small ceramic clocks would be ticking away in the background while I rearranged the fridge magnets in size and colour order. She still has them all today.

Thank you to Dan for speaking with us.