Illustrating The 5 Minute Clean Routine by Anna Louisa
4th March 2025
AS AN ILLUSTRATOR, ILLUSTRATING A BOOK HAS BEEN ON MY VISION BOARD FOR YEARS. SO WHEN I RECEIVED A SURPRISE EMAIL LAST JULY, IT QUICKLY LED TO A PINCH-ME MOMENT AND MADE MY DREAM COME TRUE. THIS IS THE STORY OF HOW I HAD THE PLEASURE OF ILLUSTRATING CLEANING SENSATION AND INFLUENCER ANNA LOUISA’S NEW BEST-SELLING BOOK.
A Dream Opportunity Arrives
It’s not often an email lands in your inbox that makes you jump for joy. Last July, I was doing what I normally do, working through my emails, when one particular message caught my eye. It was from Century an imprint of Penguin Random House.
It was a simple email asking if I’d be interested in illustrating a new cleaning book and if I could give them a call as soon as possible. After excitedly ringing my husband—who was convinced it was a scam—I plucked up the courage to call Jessie at Penguin, who soon became one of my favourite people to work with.
Penguin was in the process of creating a Tips and Tricks cleaning book for Instagram cleaning sensation @Anna_Louisa_at_home. They asked if I’d be interested in illustrating it. I don’t think I’ve ever said yes to a project so fast!
Dream Come True: Illustrating a Book
If you know me, you’ll know that illustrating a book has been a long-time dream of mine. My shelves creak under the weight of all the beautifully illustrated books I’ve collected, and I often find myself daydreaming over the artwork. So when this opportunity came along, I wasn’t going to let anything get in my way—even with a super tight deadline of just nine days (which overlapped with my holiday!). Late nights and busy weekends? Totally worth it.
The Process of Illustrating ‘The 5 Minute Clean Routine’
Century/Penguin had already chosen the cover, but I had the opportunity to design 12 chapter starters and around 14 smaller motif illustrations to be used throughout the book. Since Anna Louisa incorporates natural products into her cleaning routines, I illustrated lemons, lavender, and containers of bicarbonate of soda, among other items—right up my street as I love illustrating flora and fauna!
Other illustrations included rooms from Anna Louisa’s own beautiful home—her stunning kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom. My years of experience illustrating wedding venues came in handy here. It was so much fun capturing the little details of her home, where all her tips and tricks come to life. (And who knew you could make your washing machine sparkle with lemon and toothpaste? I’ll be trying that out soon!)
Working with Century/Penguin Random House and Anna Louisa
Working with Century/Penguin was such a pleasure. As always, I began with paper and pen, hand-sketching all the illustrations. It was important to maintain consistent line width and scale throughout, so I created the original sketches at a larger scale to be reduced for print. I then reworked them in fine line pen, before scanning them in and digitalising them for Century/Penguin and Anna Louisa’s feedback
The response was overwhelmingly positive! Most adjustments were small—mainly simplifying details. The only major revision was the wreath illustration for Chapter 1, which needed to better reflect the dried flower wreaths in Anna Louisa’s home. Getting client feedback throughout the process is always key—small tweaks can make a big difference!
Apart from redrawing the wreath by hand, the rest of the retouching was done on my iPad using Adobe Illustrator. By that point, I was on holiday in North Wales, so while my daughters happily watched Young Sheldon in the evenings, I was on the sofa finalising illustrations. This is one of the reasons why building a flexible business has been so important to my family. The ability to balance work with family life is what drives me to make Ellie and Liv thrive, just as Anna Louisa shaped her business around her own family.
“The delicate illustrations complement the book perfectly - the simple, thoughtful lines remind me of all those little tasks and touches we make to transform a house into a home.”
The Joy of Bringing a Book to Life
Illustrating The 5 Minute Clean Routine was an absolute joy, and I would love to illustrate more books in the future (maybe a nature one next?). The hardest part? Keeping it a secret for so long! It took all my willpower not to share images of the finished book, but I was happy to wait until Anna Louisa revealed her copy first.
About The 5-Minute Clean Routine
Anna Louisa, like myself, is a bit of a home bird and sees her home as a safe haven, a place to feel calm away from the hustle and bustle of the world. Anna Louisa started her journey by posting about everything from home DIY and interior ideas to, after the birth of her son, quick cleaning hacks that fit around her busy family life. Anna Louisa’s book is a fantastic resource filled with practical cleaning tips and tricks. She’s done an incredible job passing on her knowledge, and the book even includes handy pages for checklists and templates to help you establish your own daily routines. If you’re looking for ways to make cleaning quick, easy, and even enjoyable, I highly recommend picking up a copy—I know I’ll be using it to bring some order to my often chaotic home!
“It was a pleasure having Simone work for us. Simone was brilliant at following the brief and produced excellent black and white chapter opener illustrations and motifs for the interior of the book. I would definitely recommend her for other editorial work.”
A Heartfelt Thank You
A huge thank you to Anna Louisa and Century/Penguin Random House for inviting me to be part of this project and for making one of my dreams come true. It was truly one of the highlights of my year, and I hope it’s just the beginning of my book illustration journey!
If you’d like to grab your own copy of The 5 Minute Clean Routine by Anna Louisa, you can find it here at Love Reading Books. I love this online store as you can donate money to your school of choice at checkout. A lovely way to give back to your local community and future generations of readers.
And if you’re looking for an illustrator for your own book, I’d love to hear about your project—just send me a message!
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