Craig Conover sewed his first pillow in his seventh-grade home ec class. “When I turned it right side out, I got this big rush from the act of creating something,” he says. As an adult, he’s turned that rush into a booming business, his Charleston, SC–based pillow and home goods shop, Sewing Down South. A hobbyist at heart, he balances gardening, cooking, and all manner of DIYing with filming his Bravo reality show, Southern Charm. He also just wrote his first children’s book, Patch Work: Bee Brave, Bee Kind, Bee You, which is on sale October 13.
Here are the house rules he swears by, his hosting essentials, and why every guest should feel comfortable enough to raid the fridge.
Q: If You Were to Hang a List of Rules in Your Home, What Would They Be?
Walk in and start playing music. Jump in the pool. Fire up the grill. Grab your favorite drink from one of the fridges. I built this house and backyard for two purposes—entertainment and relaxation. Be kind, be comfy, and don’t hesitate to listen to or watch what you want. Also, and this is very important, eat the blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries before the squirrels get to them.
Q: What’s the One Thing That Makes Your House Feel Like Home?
The energy. Fresh flowers from the yard. I love a house that’s just as good for a quiet Sunday morning coffee as it is for an impromptu dinner party that somehow lasts until midnight. The fact that there’s always something going on. I want people to walk in, immediately relax, and secretly hope they’re the last ones to leave.
Q: What House Rules Did You Grow Up With?
Leave your cleats in the garage. Turn the lights off when you leave a room. Make your bed. Fill up a bucket with weeds before coming in on weekends. Everyone has to be at the table for dinner. And take your hats off. I don’t think we ever came inside until the sun went down.
Q: What Are Your Hosting Must-Dos?
Music on before the first guest arrives, fresh greenery somewhere in the room, and a well-stocked bar and kitchen. If you want to drink it, I have it. I like the house to feel intentional but effortless. The guest bathroom should feel like a great hotel, and there should always be more food than people expect—and lots and lots of cheese. Blankets and comfortable seating. Every board game imaginable. And Sewing Down South candles on warmers throughout the house. Every house should have a signature scent.
Q: What House Rules (Unspoken or Not) Do You Have for Guests?
My house runs on a few simple rules: no glass bottles by the pool, be nice to the bees, and if you show up around dinner, pull up a chair because you’re eating with us. Other than that, make yourself comfortable and make sure you leave with a good story. The best compliment a guest can give me is acting like they’ve been here a hundred times. I can’t emphasize this enough.
Q: What Organizational Rules of Thumb Keep Your Life Running Smoothly?
Everything needs a home. Between running businesses, traveling, filming, and somehow keeping up with the rest of life, I’ve learned that if something doesn’t have a designated place, it’s probably going to be lost.
My executive assistant Jack and I work hard on functional systems. There are so many people and new packages in and out of the house that we try to make things easy and hard to create clutter. That’s probably why I own more baskets than any bachelor should admit. They’re the unsung heroes of a well-run house. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s creating enough order that you can spend your time enjoying life instead of managing it.
Q: Whose Design Style Do You Most Admire?
I’m drawn to people who can make a home feel elevated without making it feel off-limits. The houses I remember most aren’t the perfect ones; they’re the ones that tell a story. Collected pieces, comfortable furniture, and a sense that real life actually happens there…