When you’re best known for speedy sittingroom makeovers on TV, perhaps it’s not surprising that the first question strangers always want to ask Linda Barker is, “What’s your own home like?” Luckily, Linda takes this curiosity in her stride and has a stock answer: “It’s lovely, relaxing and a real home.”

Making a house a home is something Linda, 48, feels strongly about. “Now that times are difficult, we should all be changing the way we think about our homes. It’s your sanctuary, not a property investment. Enjoy the space and take risks. Forget cream walls and try wallpaper and colour, because it’s time to have fun with our homes again,” she advises.

In her London home, where she’s a wife, mother of a teenage daughter and businesswoman with a home office, Linda is more focused on housework than decorating. “I’m not constantly changing the decor in my home, but I am a neat freak,” she admits.

“I’m always cleaning and tidying, picking up things and putting them away. I’m not crazy about doing it – I’m not an Anthea Turner ‘Perfect Housewife’ type! – but I do like my house to be lovely and as neat as possible because it affects my mood when it’s untidy.

“But I have an office at home so when I’m cleaning the kitchen, I’m thinking I should be in that office working.” It’s all about restoring calm, she says: “If your home is chaotic, your head is too.”

Innovative TV

It’s now five years since Changing Rooms broadcast its last episode, and Linda is still proud of how innovative the programme was. “It was just an amazing break for me and such good fun. I’m proud I was a part of it because everybody watched it. I think Changing Rooms captured the zeitgeist in the 1990s. It changed people’s perception of their homes and led the way for any number of programmes that followed. We sparked an interest in DIY and home improvement that hadn’t really been there to the same extent before.”

For eight years the programme dominated Linda’s life. “It was only when it finished that Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen, Anna Ryder- Richardson, the rest of the team and I all sat back and realised what an intense time it had been. I didn’t mourn its passing because it was so nice to stop and be at home more.”

Being part of a high-profile TV show gave Linda a glimpse into the world of celebrity and although she can see its advantages, she says now that she’s learned how empty that life can be. “Fame doesn’t really interest me these days,” she confesses. “I like to keep my home life quite private. I don’t like to put my head too high above the parapet. I’d rather go for a walk with the dogs than walk the red carpet. It’s hard work, I would just worry about it, so I don’t do it.”

Though she’s a calm and confident woman, some negative comments in the press have inevitably hurt. “I’m only human, and if the media are horrid to me, it bothers me. My skin isn’t as thick as it should be,” Linda says.

“Recently I took my young nieces and nephews to the launch of a cartoon network. We ended up sitting behind David Cameron. It was all pretty low-key, or so I thought. The next day, though, there were comments in the papers about the trainers he’d worn. They picked apart his choice of footwear and all he’d done was take his family to see some cartoons!”

Jungle reflections

Linda also has mixed feelings now about her decision to take part in the 2002 series of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, staying in the Australian rainforest with Anthony Worrall-Thompson, Phil Tufnell and a host of other wellknown names.

“Though I enjoyed it at the time and made some good friends, I wouldn’t go on that show as it is now,” Linda says. “Today the stakes are much higher – the series is used to make or break careers and that’s a lot of pressure. There was no big ‘fame’ agenda with Changing Rooms: we were the first to do that kind of programme, we were just giving it a go.”

Linda realised she had to be her normal self in the jungle in order to keep her sanity. “I take things in my stride, but it was a scary programme – going to the other side of the world to spend weeks with complete strangers who happened to be celebrities, with egos, was daunting. For me, that was a scarier prospect than the jungle itself.”

Linda diversified from TV into business, launching a mail order homewares company under her own name. That she enjoyed the new direction so much took even Linda by surprise. “It’s been a shock to me that I’ve turned out to be entrepreneurial,” she says, “but the business has become the biggest thing I’ve ever done. What’s key is having the right people working with me. It was a huge learning curve and quite frightening at times.”

One of those people is Linda’s husband, Chris Short, a former TV executive, who now helps run the company as MD.

Having studied fine arts at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, Yorkshire-born Linda always knew she’d work in a creative industry. “I never had an idea that I’d go into TV though, or write books: all that’s been a natural progression,” she admits.

“It’s often about getting the right opportunity and working hard at it. They say that you’re either a creative or a logical, business-minded person, but I think that these days you have to be both, especially now that times are tough.”

Jessica, Linda’s only daughter, is now 18 and headed on a path to university. “The parenting role is very important at this age, I think, even though they think they’re very independent,” Linda reflects.

“It’s an exciting time for her and I want to equip her in the best way I can: I’m aware we only have a short amount of this intense time together, that we don’t own our children and all we can do is steer them in the right direction.”

Weekends away are usually spent at the couple’s second home in North Yorkshire. “My two sisters and brother live there and lots of other family too, so it’s great for us to spend time up there. I like to be out in the wilds and I miss it when I’m in London. I love to be physically active, and the mountains there are perfect for hiking.”

Yoga devotee

Walking is only a part of Linda’s exercise routine: “I like running and the gym, but yoga is my passion. If I haven’t done it for a while I miss it. I go to a fantastic power yoga class – I’m a bit of an old-fashioned kind of exerciser who likes to break a sweat. I still find it challenging even after years of practising.

The mental side of yoga appeals to her, too. “I’m not a hugely spiritual person, but I love the concentration involved in yoga, the deep breathing and the meditative aspect – everything that involves taking yourself into another space.”

Linda’s latest project is a new holiday home in the mountains above St Tropez. She has spent the last year renovating it. “We bought the house with friends of ours, planning to run it as a business. We’re going to do yoga holidays there, and market it as a holiday house, as it sleeps up to 20 people. Can I see myself moving there permanently? No, I love Britain too much to ever do that. I even love the rain!”

With new business ventures, a cherished daughter about to spread her wings, and her 50th birthday just two years away, Linda has a vague plan to move back to North Yorkshire, to maybe open a store in Harrogate, perhaps with a teashop as part of it.

“It’s interesting how one changes over the years. I never thought I’d want to move back to Yorkshire, but I’m definitely coming round to the idea.”

Really Linda Barker – tel: 0845 330 2880

www.reallylindabarker.co.uk