Collecting New Ideas

Having been focusing on our commercial portfolio for much of the last few months, with the exciting launch of the Halcyon Hotel, we’re now concentrating very much more on the residential side of things again.

We secured a new client in Clifton, Bristol this week, which, like Bath, is known for its regency townhouses. Our exciting new challenge is to provide the interior for a new property, which is going to be built in regency style. So we’ll be aiming to combine the best of both worlds, with a contemporary twist on a classic style. We are still at the exciting stage of discussing with the owner exactly which direction she’d like to take so we’ve got lots of ideas buzzing around.

One place we’ll be looking for inspiration is the Collect Art Fair. On in May at the Saatchi Gallery in London, Collect is the Craft Council’s showcase of the best in contemporary crafts and artisan work. It’s a wonderland of the creativity and we can’t wait to go and take a look.

What to do on a rainy day...

Rain is forecast for this weekend so we know where we’ll be heading: www.idealhomeshow.co.uk! It’s a week’s entertainment in itself just getting around all eight shows from interiors to food, garden and gadgets. The show is over 100 years old and is set to change venue after 2012, so we wouldn’t miss it.

We’ll be hoping the weather improves next week as work continues on our projects in the Cotswolds, Surrey, Bath and Gloucestershire. We’ve a lot on at the moment, from listed Georgian buildings to modern windmill interiors, so we are having to keep thinking creatively about the right style for each property. One size very much does not suit all, so it’s important to us to listen to our clients and interpret their brief correctly. Running up sketches and sample boards is one of the many tools we use to make sure we’re on the right track. Take a look at some of the sketches we’re working to at the moment:

We’re particularly excited about one of the homes we’ve been working on, which is set to appear in an interiors magazine (all a bit hush-hush at this stage so we can’t say which one). They need good weather for the shoot, especially as they’ll want to do some exterior as well as interior shots. Fingers crossed it all happens – we’ll let you know when the magazine comes out!

New projects on the table

Following the successful launch of the Halcyon Hotel last month, we’ve been asked to quote for some work on another local Bath hotel, which is about to undergo a major refurbishment. An 18^th century mansion set in 20 acres of gardens, this would be a project on a whole different scale to the Halcyon, which was all about contemporary, budget luxury for the weekend tourist.

But it’s not all about hotels! Our residential portfolio is fit to bursting at the moment. The ink has just dried on the confirmation of an exciting job in the Cotswolds, near Stow-on-the-Wold. It’s a converted windmill, so will need interesting design ideas to fit its curved walls. Huge windows and a walnut floor are crying out for a contemporary makeover, so we will be styling along modern lines, with cool creams, warm wood, leather upholstery and iridescent splashes of green and petrol blue.

We’ve also just finished a more classic design for a Georgian house in Bath, where you’ll see the influence of French interior design legend, Christian Liaigre, in the neutral colours and elegant shapes.

And we’re busy in Bristol, where we’re in talks about designing the interior of a Clifton townhouse, which is being built from scratch, albeit in the prevailing London Regency style.

This weekend we’ll be visiting the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea to look for inspiration. There are always untold gems to be discovered there, and it’s good to see the Rostra and Rooksmoor and Bo-Lee galleries from Bath exhibiting alongside their London contemporaries. See you there!

The opening of the Halcyon!

February saw a lot of love coming our way. We don’t mean Valentine’s Day, but the opening of the Halcyon Hotel, the new boutique hotel in Bath we’ve been working on these last six months, which has received some glowing reviews.

Featured in the Independent and the Guardian newspapers – and shortly to appear in Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, the Halcyon is setting a new trend in hotel accommodation in Bath: it’s luxury on a budget. Reviewers loved our choice of colour schemes, sumptuous bedding and wet-room ensuites. Take a look at the pics and check out here what the Guardian and Independent had to say about the Halcyon Hotel.

It’s been a challenge to work on a project of this size, but a rewarding one, and it was with a view to doing more work on this scale that we visited Hotelympia at the ExCel exhibition space in London at the end of February to see who’s moving and shaking in the world of hotel interior design.

Working on the Halcyon meant we had the luxury of being just a five minute walk from the site. Now we’re working on projects from a new-build in Hertfordshire to a windmill in the Cotswolds as well as projects from as far afield as Gloucestershire to Surrey.

It’s a particularly busy time for us at the moment, which is why we’re pleased to have Sarah Payne, an interior design student from Bournemouth University, lending a hand. Welcome, Sarah!