{"id":77327,"date":"2023-09-04T09:07:30","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T09:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/?p=77327"},"modified":"2023-09-04T09:07:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T09:07:30","slug":"stacey-solomon-at-home-in-pickle-cottage-having-five-kids-and-two-dogs-is-relentless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/posterboyedit.com\/celebrities\/stacey-solomon-at-home-in-pickle-cottage-having-five-kids-and-two-dogs-is-relentless\/","title":{"rendered":"Stacey Solomon at home in Pickle Cottage: Having five kids and two dogs is relentless"},"content":{"rendered":"

As famous for being a domestic goddess as for her X Factor days, super-mum Stacey Solomon regularly impresses her 5.7 million Instagram followers with her decorating hacks and clever storage solutions. <\/p>\n

Getting a closer look at her Essex home, Pickle Cottage, which she shares with her actor and presenter husband Joe Swash, 41, is a rare treat \u2013 and as our pictures show, the TV presenter\u2019s love of cosy interiors, comforting colours and gorgeous, quirky ornaments shines through. Although, with three children aged four and under, it\u2019s amazing how orderly the place looks. <\/p>\n

As the 33-year-old settles down for an exclusive interview with OK!<\/b>, the star, who is mum to Zachary, 15, Leighton, 10, Rex, four, 23-month-old Rose and six-month-old Belle, confesses she hasn\u2019t always had a talent for tidying.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and my mum laugh about this now, because before I had Zachary I was all over the place,\u201d she admits. \u201cI was such an unorganised mess. I was so scatty and would forget my instruments for school and all my homework and stuff and I just lived this really ridiculously awkward life of losing stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

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When she unexpectedly became a mum at the age of 17, Stacey realised that if she didn\u2019t overhaul her chaotic lifestyle, she wouldn\u2019t be able to cope. It turned out to be a valuable lesson that still stands her in good stead today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly put it down to having Zach at a really young age and having so many commitments,\u201d says Stacey, who gave birth to her latest addition to the family, daughter Belle, in February.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was still at college doing my A levels, as well as working on the side. As soon as I had Zachary, I realised I couldn\u2019t live my life in a scatty way any more. I had a human to look after, I had to work out where my milk vouchers were and how I would keep them going for the whole week. How would I get him into nursery then get to college, then get to work, and who was going to do childcare?<\/p>\n

"Everything became like a military operation and if I wasn\u2019t organised, I would not have got through the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, with so many demands on her, both at home and at work, we wonder how she finds any time to herself. Surely she must crave a few seconds of me-time each day?<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s one space in my house that no one goes into and it\u2019s where my clothes are \u2013 like my walk-in wardrobe,\u201d she reveals. \u201cIt\u2019s not massive, but it\u2019s big enough for me to sit on a chair and no one, not even the dogs, are allowed in there.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if I ever need to hide away, I go in there and I just shut the door and then no one comes in.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what about romance?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think me and Joe are in our non-romantic era,\u201d she laughs. \u201cIt is important just to get time for us, but we\u2019re at that stage in our life where that\u2019s not really possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recently went to a friend\u2019s wedding and had a night together, which was really lovely, but outside of that it\u2019s once or twice a year that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Needless to say, expanding her brood is not on the cards. \u201cWe don\u2019t want any more \u2013 we cannot cope with it,\u201d she says, matter-of-factly.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, we wanted all these kids and we\u2019re so grateful to have them. So we will get romantic\u2026 but in 20 years\u2019 time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s clear that Stacey\u2019s priority is spending as much time with her family as possible, including Joe\u2019s son Harry, 15, from a previous relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love congregating on the sofa,\u201d she smiles. \u201cWe\u2019ve got one big long sofa that we all squeeze onto. And mealtimes are my favourite, because we all try to be together for at least one meal of the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s where we really get to sit and talk to each other and it\u2019s where our best stories come from. I would get really upset if we didn\u2019t sit around the table. Life is so busy and there are loads of us and sometimes everyone can get lost, you know? Having a bit of time where everyone gets to say what\u2019s going on in their life is really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Away from home, Stacey\u2019s life is equally full-on. The third series of her hit BBC makeover show, Sort Your Life Out With Stacey Solomon, is back on our screens this week and she\u2019s also been busy working on a homeware range for ASDA \u2013 something she describes as \u201can absolute dream\u201d.<\/p>\n

After living on a tight budget herself as a single mum and with the current cost-of-living crisis in mind, Stacey says she wanted to make sure her collection, which features more than 200 pieces, is affordable to all.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy biggest bugbear is that sometimes, when you are really struggling and have to make ends meet, you feel that you have to get the worst version of everything because that\u2019s the cheapest option. It just shouldn\u2019t be like that,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are ways of making things that are still responsibly made, that are still beautiful, that still have good materials and are good quality, but are at a decent price.\u201d<\/p>\n

The star has also ensured there are pops of colour across the range for those who like to make more of a statement. \u201cI wanted something that wasn\u2019t just beige,\u201d she stresses. \u201cI mean, I do love beige, but there\u2019s got to be something with a bit of a pop. I have always loved bright and fresh colours.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Stacey says her tastes haven\u2019t really changed much since she was a little girl.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I think back to when I was a kid, I wanted a bright pink bedroom \u2013 and that didn\u2019t change,\u201d she explains. \u201cMy utility in my first house we got together was bright pink, because I still wanted it. And then I got to relive my childhood dreams when I decorated my girls\u2019 bedrooms.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think I\u2019ve always liked what I liked. I still love glitter and I love pink. I love a bit of everything. I never want to just stick to one style. I know that there are lots of people who love just to have the same theme throughout, but I feel like I\u2019m missing out a little bit if I do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite her reputation as a crafting queen and interiors guru, the former I\u2019m A Celebrity winner confesses she doesn\u2019t always get things exactly right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do stuff wrong all the time,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI put doors on backwards and have to start again. And the other day I was making a neon sign on top of a flower wall frame. So I\u2019ve got this frame, got my flower wall, got my staple gun and was stapling all the flowers to this frame. When I went to pick it up, I\u2019d stapled it to the table!\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite her sunny outlook on life, Stacey admits that keeping her home in order can be challenging. Top of her list of pet hates is the daily mountain of laundry she has to do for her big blended family.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving five kids and two dogs, I get through so much,\u201d she sighs. \u201cSometimes it makes me want to cry. Hanging washing on the line would be OK if it was just mine and Joe\u2019s, but when you\u2019ve got a big family, it\u2019s relentless and the minute you empty that washing basket, it\u2019s full up again.\u201d<\/p>\n

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With so much on her plate at home, it\u2019s a miracle the star found the time to front the latest series of Sort Your Life Out \u2013 especially as it takes several weeks to film and can be both physically and mentally demanding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one that\u2019s about to come out was the hardest, because we actually did it over the winter months,\u201d she tells us. \u201cSo it was dark and freezing and we were literally packing up people\u2019s houses and rummaging through stuff in freezing cold warehouses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first five days are the absolute hardest. They are brutal and not just brutal physically, because you\u2019re lugging stuff around. It\u2019s the emotional side of it. The warehouse is so emotional for these families who put themselves forward \u2013 it\u2019s such a massive deal for them. We get so invested in the families and we care so much, and it\u2019s a huge, huge sense of pride when we get to the end of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time round, Stacey also got a helping hand from her best friend, Mrs Hinch. The cleaning guru \u2013 real name Sophie Hinchliffe \u2013 stepped in after series regular Dilly Carter had to take time off.<\/p>\n

\u201cDilly had other commitments and so we had to find somebody just for one of the episodes to fill in,\u201d says Stacey. \u201cThe closest I could think of was Mrs Hinch, because she\u2019s amazing. So it was nice to work with her as well as have your mate on set.\u201d<\/p>\n

So would Stacey ever subject herself and her family to the Sort Your Life Out treatment?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes! I\u2019ve been asking for four series now! I absolutely would,\u201d she laughs. \u201cWe wanted to do a celeb special for Comic Relief, so maybe that\u2019ll be me? I\u2019ll have to put myself forward!\u201d<\/p>\n

At Home with Stacey Solomon is available online at george.com and in store from 7 September with prices starting from \u00a31.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n