Homes and Gardens – The November Issue

November! N O V E M B E R for goodness sake. How did that happen? Night’s drawing in and cold ………… the cold I don’t even want to think about it!

I see many of our suppliers are out in force in Novembers Homes and Gardens magazine which has just landed in our showroom today (Nina Campbell, William Yeoward, Osborne and Little, Roger Oates, Matthew Williamson at Osborne and Little, Vivienne Westwood at Cole and Son, Chesney’s fireplaces, Mandarin Stone, to name but a few …) ensuring that those of you ready to attack the house post Christmas have all you need at your fingertips.

It’s always a challenge to get across how many suppliers we deal with and how many items we can source for our client’s homes. Rather than take on space the size of several aircraft hangers and fill it full of all that is on offer we as Interior Designers build libraries. Libraries made up of sprawling collections of just the right; sofas, wood finishes, stone samples, floor tiles, fabrics, bath taps, lamp shades, light fittings, stair runners, footstools, wallpapers, etc etc …….. . When Mrs Smith calls up desperate for a sofa for the snug, ‘this size, this colour to fit through this door with a high back and short seat’ if a source is not in my library today, it will be by the end of the week. Having earned the extremely unfair reputation of mass hoarder (I challenge any Interior Designer to be otherwise) I am vindicated when “et voila” the answer to the problem – the perfect solution to any interior design dilemma is sat here in my Library. (Or here in my head!) I have spent the past fifteen “professional” years….. Fifteen years? (Never mind November how did that happen?!) and many many more “untrained” years absorbing and amassing all things interior design in order that our clients may call on us for things they just do not see everywhere. Every outing I go on, holiday I take, meal at a restaurant, book I read, chair I sit on, handle I touch is an opportunity to find ideas and inspirations for our clients homes. The frustration is I just cannot fit it all in the showroom! So inevitably the showroom looks like a fabric and wallpaper book shop and everything else is hidden. So please anything you need, just ask! and I will continue pondering on how best to display what’s in my head and could be in your homes.