'I'm the only person doing it' - Tooting historian and illustrator discusses how she came up with her unique product

"My only hope is that most people who are good at drawing or graphic design don't really like history, and most people who love history don't have a skill for drawing".

These are the words of Danielle Wilde, a former marketing worker and Tooting resident who has recently started a business called 'History of my Home' , which if you hadn't heard of yet, is essentially the best idea for Grandma's Christmas present that you could ever come up with.

In short, Danielle has mixed her love for history, research and illustration to provide clients with a bespoke artwork piece that brings the history of your - or a special somebody's - home to life. It's a package that includes research going back to the time the home was built and even includes the artwork framed.

She only started doing them for her close family and friends towards the end of last year, and by January, she was doing it full-time.

The 33-year-old says "the response has been crazy" since word has gotten out about her service, and she is so inundated with work she is all booked up until the end of October. But don't worry, all you need to do is make contact with her through her website and she will get back to you with a quote.

Nub News spoke to Danielle to find out a bit more about her service and how she came up with the idea.

What the product is?

Danielle offers two services: the 'collaboration' or the 'full package', which is pretty much exactly how it sounds.

If you have started researching your home already and have lots of information and data available, Danielle can then help turn that into a beautiful illustration that can hang in your home. This is the 'collaboration' service.

The 'full package' includes all of the history and the research. By using a number of sources such as the National Archives, Ancestry, Findmypast and The Newspaper Archive, History of my Home will then help you find out who used to live in your house, what was there before and the history of the local area.

The illustration will include a drawing of your home, hand-illustrated maps and a timeline based on the research.

How she came up with it?

This was never quite Danielle's plan, who did a marketing and graphic design degree, before moving into the advertising and marketing world, where she worked for 12 years.

However, it was a move into her new home in Furzedown which gave her the true inspiration, as she explains.

She said: "Through the renovation process I wanted to restore as many of the old features as possible.

"I got obsessed with the history of the house and starting researching it as I was interested.

"I found I really liked doing it. I've always found history fascinating. And I thought when I pulled together all of this history: wouldn't it be cool if I could do this as a job?

"I was on maternity leave and I looked into it. I found lots of people were doing history kind of things, but more so like family trees.

"The interest in the history of houses is rising, and in most instances, all you can get from researching it is a PDF or a printed Word document that you either shove in a drawer or store in a file.

"And I thought, wouldn't it be cool if you could bring it to life; half the point of doing the research is being able to tell others about it.

"I've done illustration for a long time: illustrated maps, wedding stations etc. Then one of my friends said why don't you illustrate your research? And the rest is history - it came together so easily really."

Another amazing thing about this service is that there isn't anyone else doing it. In fact, her friends loved the product so much that they even suggested that she tried to trademark the idea, which, unfortunately for her, isn't possible.

How to get your hands on the product?

To enquire about Danielle's service, you need to go to her website, History of my Home , click on the 'Get in touch' tab and explain what your needs are.

While the price of the product depends on the age of the home (the older the more expensive, in most cases), a rough figure for most of the houses around Tooting which are Edwardian and Victorian would be about £600/£650.

How long does it take?

It certainly won't be a last-minute present for Grandma, as the entire process is not a quick one as she gathers the appropriate information and data.

She said: "I say it's about six to eight weeks for the whole process.

"This involves all of the research, illustration, the framing and sending it to people. But at the moment I'm so inundated I'm working until the end of October.

"There is so much in the pipeline which is so exciting. When I've done greeting cards and wedding stationery in the past I spent so much time marketing them I never got to do the fun bit, which is the illustration."

While it isn't going to be the cheapest gift, there is no doubt about the product's originality and sentimental value. Perhaps the best example of this would be what Danielle had to say about the one she made especially for her inlaws.

"My inlaws are the hardest people to buy for. I did one for them and they love it so much that I don't have to buy them presents for ages!"

You see - It might even save you in the long run.

If you want to see more of Danielle and History of my Home, you can follow her Instagram or go to the website.

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