An experienced writer on interiors and gardens, Karen Darlow is houses editor for homesandgardens.com, and homes editor for the brand’s sister titles, Period Living and Country Homes & Interiors. She loves visiting historic houses for Period Living and writing about rural properties for Country Homes & Interiors and says by the time she’s finished an interview with a homeowner she’s always got a handful of new ideas to try in her own house, as well as plenty of good stories for the magazine. She began her career as a sub editor at Hi-Fi News and Record Review magazine, starting to write album reviews just as they switched from vinyl to CD releases. Her move to women’s magazines came soon after, in the shape of Living magazine, a forerunner of the supermarkets’ own magazines, which covered cookery, fashion, beauty, homes and gardening. The standout moment was meeting the Body Shop’s founder, the late Anita Roddick, who Karen says was every bit as dynamic – and fun – as you’d expect. 

From Living Karen moved to Ideal Home magazine, where as deputy chief sub, then chief sub, she started to really take an interest in properties, architecture, interior design and gardening. 

After a career break to raise a family of three boys, she freelanced as a writer and book editor – on topics as diverse as gardening, cookery, art, education, health and beauty – before returning to work full time as homes editor for Period Living magazine. 

Karen is a real Francophile and adores France, (French wine and cheese!) and French country style interiors. She likes featuring rustic Scandi homes, and is now fast becoming an expert on US home style reference points. She enjoys talking to interior designers and homeowners from all over the world and hearing about the choices they make and the challenges they face in putting together some of the beautiful interiors we feature in the world’s best homes here at homesandgardens.com