Hannah Brown could easily get the rose for being the face of modern romance. Her season of The Bachelorette took the franchise in a new, refreshing direction—she stood by her decisions with confidence, brought authenticity to her relationships, and ultimately walked away single (something that takes strength, considering the point of the show is to leave engaged). Her “journey,” as participants love to say, was the ultimate dating experience, marked by ups and downs—which is why her newest endeavor of publishing a romance novel makes so much sense. Brown has truly been through it all, and she knows it.
Calling in on Zoom from her new home in Nashville, Brown sits in front of a wooden bookshelf full of colorful reads that automatically capture her love for the literary world. When you think of an office, you may imagine a formal desk with a leather chair and serious portraits on the walls—but not in Brown’s house. Hers features a tufted blanket laid across a gray couch (which she says she loves napping on when she needs a break) and a vase of arranged flowers sitting on a coffee table. It’s warm and inviting—an energy she channels throughout her home, especially when it comes to hosting.
As soon as you step inside, Brown wants you to feel like you belong. In a chat with Better Homes and Gardens, she offered up all the tips on cultivating this welcoming environment, how she creates a space that helps her get into writing mode, and why she plans to start keeping slippers by her front door.
Hannah’s House Rules
If you were to hang a list of rules in your home, what would they be?
- Be present. That’s really important for me when somebody is with me. I want to be with them, and I want that back. I’m not the best at communicating on the phone, but my personal favorite thing ever is to be able to be with a friend and be able to jump on the couch, have some type of warm tea beverage of some sort, and you just get to be with them and catch up.
- Take off your shoes. I don’t like to make everyone take their shoes off, but I try to be like, “All of our shoes are by the door.” I’m always wearing socks in the house. I just feel like it’s cozier. Maybe I should start putting socks or cozy slippers by the door that people can put on instead. Maybe that would be a little bit more subtle, because I want people to feel comfortable, but preferably, take your shoes off.
- Have fun. I want people to, when they’re here, to be able to be, like I said, fully present, and be able to let loose, relax, be comfortable. I want my home to always be one that people feel like is beautiful but also people could feel like they can kick off their shoes and really just relax.
Like literally, kick off your shoes. The slipper idea is great—that’s the epitome of a cozy environment.
Please kick off your shoes. And that’s just being a great host, you know, [providing] little housewarming gifts for people—and it’s actually a housewarming gift for myself.
I want my home to always be one that people feel like is beautiful but also people could feel like they can kick off their shoes and really just relax.
What house rules do you have that were passed down from your parents?
Whenever I know that people are coming over, or just really every week, I have fresh flowers. My mom always had fresh flowers and was making her own arrangements from grocery store flowers, getting a bunch of bundles and putting them together. It just freshens the home up. That is something that I have definitely taken on and I’ve really enjoyed—I’ll find myself when I’m making my own arrangements just smiling, like, what’s going on? Because it suits me; it’s fun. It’s another creative outlet.
And also just making sure that the house is one that you can have people over, and it’s for entertaining. We always had a variety of food in our home.
What are you typically serving when you have guests over?
[Having different options] is something that I definitely try to make sure to do but in my own way—I would not say I’m the best chef, but I will always make sure that there is something that everyone can love. So for me, partnering with McAlister’s Deli* is such a great partnership because I can always order something, pick up something that I know that people will love because there are so many different combinations. And so I really am great about making sure somebody else makes some delicious food for my people to enjoy, and it’s spread out in a nice way. But that’s always been something—like if I go to my mom’s house, I know there’s going to be some type of treat for us to nibble on. And I make sure of that as well.
MCALISTER'S DELI/DANIELLE DEL VALLE PHOTOGRAPHY
*Note: Brown has partnered with McAlister’s Deli to promote the launch of their Book Club approved menu in celebration of National Reading Month.
What’s the one thing that makes your house feel like home?
I think it’s the little personal touches. I love to travel, and I love being able to pick up little things that I know I can display in my home. I want them to be beautiful, but like, “How can I bring those memories and have them around me?”
Even in my bookcase back there, there are so many books that I picked up from different experiences, different places that we travel, you know—Paris, London. There’s all these little things mixed in there. There are some little knick knacks from Mexico.
Trust me, I want my house to look beautiful, but I also want it to feel lived in, and I think the only way to make things feel lived in is bringing your lived experiences into your home. So that’s very important to me.
I think it’s the little personal touches. I love to travel, and I love being able to pick up little things that I know I can display in my home.
Is there a special place in your home where you like to read and write? How do you set the mood when you sit down to create?
The room that we’re in right now is my office, and this is where a lot of my work and things happen because it’s just my own space. You know, if I need to take a little nap, I can take it on the couch. But around my desk on this back wall as you can see, there’s this big pinboard of all these different quotes and things that I’ve heard that I’ve written down or different pictures and vision board type things all surrounding me. So that really helps me stay in a creative mindset, to focus on my goals and dreams. Anytime something really resonates with me, I make sure it’s something I see every day. And so this room is really special to me, and it can be a lot—especially when there are different types of projects going on. But to be able to have certain spaces that have things that are really important to me is optimal to be able to really get creative, get work done, and feel inspired.
And manifesting works.
It does! I mean, we’ve got a cut out of Mistakes We Never Made [the title of Brown’s forthcoming novel] with the New York Times Bestseller emblem right here. We’re gonna see it every day, so we are manifesting.
AMAZON
How did the idea of Mistakes We Never Made come to you?
I’ve always been an avid reader. I love getting lost in a book and the characters’ stories. And I love variety in reading, too—I like thrillers. I like comedy. I like romance, self help, all the things. But I thought it was a cool opportunity to be able to take what people know me from [The Bachelor and The Bachelorette franchise]—which people have always been, you know, rooting for me and my romance and my dating and love life—and be able to match that with something that I’ve always been super passionate about, which was reading and writing, and bring something together that I knew people would enjoy and create these wonderful characters and the story: this epic road trip with the possibility of enemies turned to lovers. So it was really fun to be able to bring those two parts of myself together and to really be able to work that creative part of my brain in a new way, to pull inspiration from different feelings and places that I’ve been in my past and different relationships and bring that into the character and also create a new world of its own.
It was really fun to be able to bring those two parts of myself together and to really be able to work that creative part of my brain in a new way.
What are your hosting must-dos?
In our home right now we have our guest rooms upstairs, and I have these baskets that whenever somebody new comes out, I’ll put some special things in there. I always make sure the towels are prepped and there’s a new candle, but I like to have goodie bags for them to be able to enjoy their stay that are really intentional—if I know that they love a certain type of treat I make sure to put it in the basket. I always write a handwritten card thanking people for staying. That’s super important to me and something that’s also been passed down—just knowing the importance of writing a few words and thanking people for wanting to spend time with me, wanting to make sure they feel comfortable. You know, giving them a few little reminders of where everything is so they feel comfortable and can relax and feel really taken care of. I always make sure there are glasses in the room so that they can get some water and always have fresh flowers when somebody comes and stays. The past few times I have put in some cozy socks…
I was gonna say, does this basket include slippers?
There have been slippers! I didn’t put that together until now. But yeah, I just think it’s important to do a few little extra things for people—it can feel really easy to feel like you’re invading somebody’s home and privacy. It’s like, no. I want people to feel like this is their home and to do those little extra touches that I think can really make people feel comfortable.
What’s your favorite kind of gathering to throw? Do you prefer more of a casual or formal feel?
I definitely like cozy, relaxed vibes. I want all the different game nights, but I want it to feel fun and special and in the same vein. I want people to see that I’ve taken time and care, and I want to make sure there are different snacks and goodies for people to have and maybe there’s a specialty drink that I’ve made. I like it to be comfortable, but do something a little extra for people to really enjoy their time here.
Obviously reading is super important to me and having different small groups together where we’re talking about different books is really important. So I love groups being able to get together and have great conversations—I want a home that invites in more connection or conversation in a really comfortable environment.
That’s my favorite thing people say when they come to our home. It’s tough because I’m in a rental, so I’m like, “Oh I want to change that and do this and that." But people will come in and just be like, “Your house is so cozy.” That is the best compliment ever because it’s styled, and I feel like I’ve taken time to make sure that it looks pretty, but it’s so important that people still feel really cozy when they come in.
I was gonna ask if you had a household motto or mantra, but I think that sums it up perfectly.
Totally.
Rapid Fire with Hannah Brown
Coffee or Tea?
Tea. I love hot tea.
I just got back from London, and I feel like I’m getting into it now.
Oh, that’s what happened to me. I went to London, and I was like, “This is my way of life.” I have a whole tea party set up, and I’m working on making my own scones. But there are also some great ones at Trader Joe’s.
Eating at home or going out to eat?
Eating at home—but preferably something ordered online.
Colors or neutrals in your home decor?
Mostly neutral, little pops of color.
Faux or living plants?
I feel like I have both, but I would prefer there to be some really convincing plants that I don’t have to water that stay alive. So yeah, a little mixture of both. The smaller plants I feel like I can really take care of, but I’ve had some casualties—I’ve gotta get better.