Those who aim to do just that this year might be delighted to discover Create Academy’s subscription, which gives rolling access to all fifty-plus of their courses covering a range of disciplines from interior design to food and nutrition, gardening to decorative arts and crafts. Led by forerunners in their field, they come with downloadable workbooks, supplier information, and, rewatchable as many times as desired, have the potential not only to inspire and encourage, but to improve how we live.
In only an hour a week we could conceivably cover 12 entire courses in that number of months – or mix and match modules for more – and by this time next year, be surrounded by baskets of paperwhites in rooms that we’ve rearranged for better flow, ornamented with lampshades of our own making, and have a freezer full of healthy, batch-cooked meals. We might have gone further: coming at the end of January is a course from Emma Sims-Hilditch that offers candid advice for aspiring interior designers, including finding clients and building a brand. Or we may simply, via Alidad’s gentle erudition, have gained new appreciation for the minutiae involved in decorating a house as grand as Buscot Park – and, from Troy Scott Smith, developed intimate knowledge of Sissinghurst’s famous garden through the seasons.
Let’s map a possible plan for this year. The winter months are the ideal time to assess our living spaces, and confirm, with ourselves, that they’re bringing us joy. Rita Konig’s captivating courses offer practical advice on everything from budget to installation and are invaluable resources for those with a move or project on the horizon, while yet containing compelling (and improving) ideas for a long-term residence. The same goes for Nina Campbell’s, which introduced me to the vital necessity of a baffle in the bedroom - while Miles Redd’s has forever changed my ideas about room layout (who knew an existing fireplace didn’t have to be the focal point?) and a new course from Maria Speake of Retrouvious, arriving at the end of March, promises to help us with finding sustainable solutions to design issues. With all of them, allure also comes with the insight we’re given into designers’ own homes, and anyone craving sun might like to know that Veere Grenney’s course is coupled with a heady dose of escapism via the modules shot at his enchanting house in Tangier.
By spring the ground will have started to thaw, which is when we can find our preoccupations pivoting to the outside. I can’t pretend to have any real desire to pick up a shovel and yet was transfixed by Dan Pearson on naturalistic gardening. Happily, my teenage daughter does have horticultural aspirations, and we watched Claire Ratinon’s cleverly scalable course on growing your own food together. Beds have been measured out, a plan drawn up for where peas, tomatoes, and spring onions will go, and we’re now turning to The Land Gardeners to find out how to maximise the health of our soil. But I haven’t given over the whole garden to kitchen produce, for I’m aware of the imminent arrival of Isabel and Julian Bannerman’s course on creating a romantic English country garden, and I’m quite keen on flowers – thus I’ll also be encouraging the watching of Clare Foster on growing them from seed, and Sarah Raven on magnificent pots, which has the potential to enhance our terrace.
And then, roll on the summer! I intend to put into practice the ideas I’ve gleaned from Willow Crossley’s floristry masterclass, knowing I can augment what we’ve grown by ordering from her recommended sources. For anyone hoping to achieve floral design on a larger scale (such as for a significant party, or a wedding) know that her advanced course offers beautiful and attainable ideas ranging from a bouquet to a Gypsophilia flower cloud so exquisite I’m considering making one ‘just because’. As for the glut of vegetables that will doubtlessly be coming my way, Amelia Freer’s wonderfully positive and reassuring course on nutrition, which felt akin to a one-on-one appointment, contains a series of delicious-looking recipes - I know exactly which ones I’ll be re-watching.
Autumn is when some of us re-turn our gazes inwards. Interiors need to evolve to stay alive, and one of the easiest means to affect change can be in the styling of our belongings and our soft furnishings. Gabby Deeming’s course on combining colour and pattern is full of motivating ideas, as well as helpful rules of thumb regarding scale, balance, and the power of repetition. It makes it a good precursor to some other courses, including the earlier mentioned how to make handsewn lampshades with Chloe Jonason, Molly Mahon’s block printing lessons, Tess Newall’s introduction to decorative painting, and Micaela Sharp’s guide to modern upholstery - which, given the state of some of my dining room chairs, is high on my watchlist. Then there are a couple I intend to again watch with my daughter: JamJar Edit's flower pressing, which extends to making decorative artworks from the results, and Jess Wheeler’s course on making metal flowers. I fear our attempts might not be as beautiful as theirs, but I’d like to try – and if we are successful, they could make wonderful Christmas presents. So, incidentally, would a year’s subscription to Create Academy.
By Fiona McKenzie Johnston
Besides being a Create Academy devotee, Fiona McKenzie Johnston is a contributing editor to House & Garden, and author of Roger Fry: Bloomsbury and the Invention of Modern Art (Triglyph Books, published May 2026). Roger, she feels, would also have been a Create Academy fan; an influential artist, writer and curator, he was always keen to experiment with new disciplines, and in the early 20th century radicalised interiors with the Omega Workshops.
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Creations from our community
Here are some of the joyful, extraordinary creations our community have fashioned over the past year.
A room transformation by Alice Roberton
Decorative painting by Rosie Steer
An upholstered headboard by Daniel
A painted wall mural by Anna Neima
Dried flower wreath by Flos and Frons
A cafe curtain by Fiona Humberstone
Decorative painting experimentations by Beth Cole
