Concept For Living

Boutique chic

Friday, October 30th, 2009

CFL favourite Black Orchid Interiors has introduced a collection of unique one-off hand painted mannequins to their range. Guaranteed to add a glamorous touch to any bedroom or dressing room, each mannequin is a faithful replica of an original 19th century model and is adorned with images inspired by well-known artists. Our favourite is this stunning Gustav Klimt inspired design, priced £629.10.

Buy online at: www.blackorchidinteriors.co.uk

Oka opens in Harrogate

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

This year Oka, the leading furniture and interiors retailer, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Established in 1999 by Annabel Astor, Sue Jones and Lucinda Waterhouse as an interiors mail order catalogue, the company now has 12 stores across the UK and has just opened its latest shop in upmarket Harrogate. Packed with their largest home collection to date, plus inspirational roomsets, you will find the new store at 8 West Park, Harrogate.

Tel: 01423 701161 or visit: www.okadirect.com.

Stonegate Expand Glass Studio

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Perfect for a late summer weekend day trip, we highly recommend a visit to the newly expanded Stonegate Glass Studio and Gallery in Low Bentham, near Lancaster, Lancashire.

The glass art studio, owned and run by glass artists Gary and Annette McMillan, now offers an attached gallery where the couple will sell their own artworks as well as paintings, ceramics, jewellery and furniture by other local and national artists and craftspeople. The studio designs and makes a wide selection of glass from stained glass windows to kiln formed splashbacks for kitchens and bathrooms, to large-scale glass artworks. So what are you waiting for? Go visit. Pictured in detail below is a coloured toughened glass splashback, prices start from £195.

Stonegate Glass Studio and Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 9am-5pm and Sunday and Monday by appointment. For further details visit: www.stonegategallery.co.uk or tel. 01524 262 266.

New Roman At Home brochure

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Shower specialists, Roman, have introduced Roman At Home a luxurious and eclectic collection of bathroom accessories, home products and everyday indulgences designed to instantly transform any bathroom into a tranquil spa-like sanctuary. Indulge in a little me-time with their comprehensive grooming collection, wrap yourself in sumptuously soft bathroom linen and complete your retreat with contemporary bathroom accessories that add glamour and style to practical products.

Visit: www.romanathome.com, tel. 08450 525 125 or email: brochures@roman-showers.com to request a brochure.

Competition:

To celebrate the launch of Roman At Home, Roman is offering two lucky CFL readers the chance to win a luxurious Tropical Breeze gift set.

This youthful and fruity tropical gift pack features grapefruit essence, perfect for hydrating thirsty skin and exfoliating, whilst a hint of just ripened papaya adds a deliciously fruity flavour. Each set includes shower gel, bubble bath, body lotion, wooden cellulite massager, bath salts and exfoliating scrunchie, presented in a stylish wooden bowl.

HOW TO ENTER

To enter simply answer the following question: What is the retail price for the Tropical Breeze Gift?

a) £8    b) £18    c) £28

eMail your answer to competitions@conceptforliving.co.uk with ‘Roman At Home’ in the subject box and state your name, address, email address and daytime telephone number. Or, post your entry to: Roman At Home Competition, Concept For Living, The Old School, Higher Kinnerton, Chester, CH4 9AJ.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Full terms and conditions apply. The prize is subject to availability, non transferable and there is no cash alternative. Closing date for all entries is midnight 17 November 2009. All entrants will receive a complimentary copy of the new Roman At Home brochure. If you do not wish to receive a copy please indicate this on your entry form.

Vintage wallpaper collection

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

A new range of elegant vintage wallpaper, Gustav, is now available from Sandberg.

The latest collection has a botanical feel and was inspired by a light, bright and airy 20th century Swedish manor house. Detailing pretty chestnut leaves, dainty oak foliage and decorative trailing honeysuckle, the beautiful designs are ideal for giving your living space a fresh new feel. Gustav offers 13 designs and over 62 colourways.

Pictured is the ‘Waldemar’ wallpaper, £56 per roll, from the Gustav collection by Sandberg, visit: www.sandbergab.se
OR tel. 0845 880 5855 for more information. Sandberg is distributed exclusively in the UK by Little Greene.

A home with a heart

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

A detached Edwardian house that sits in the quaint Cheshire village of Bramhall provided the ideal location for one couple to set up their family home.

When Caroline and Chris Fry began looking for a new, larger home for their family – son Charlie, who’s now 12 and Anna, seven – four years ago, they could think of no better place to move than the village that had been voted as having “the friendliest residents in the country” with apparently more community pride than anywhere else. “I already knew the area and had always wanted to live in Bramhall, so when this house came on the market it was ideal,” says Caroline. “We were living in a semi-detached house in Cheadle before, which was sat on a main road. Our key focus when we moved was to find a detached house on a very quiet residential road with a big garden. And that’s exactly what we got. I saw the potential in this house straight away.”

Caroline, a former top nanny, and Chris, a Manchester businessman, bought the four-bedroom Edwardian house and decided to make it their family home in 2005. The couple say their main aim was to create a lovely family space. The Frys chose to retain a lot of the home’s original features, such as its fireplaces and radiators, but added a loft conversion, conservatory and a stunning, bespoke kitchen that is huge, but cosy, and even boasts a wine chiller, which was completed last Christmas. “Our main goal was to make the place feel as family focused and inspired as possible,” says Caroline. “It’s important to have things around the place, like all the photographs, that make it obvious this is above all else a house for living in, not a show-home.”

Australian-born Caroline drew on a wide range of inspirations when it came to the interior: family, interior magazines, Spain, where the couple have a second home, plus the homes she used to work in as a nanny in London. “Working as a nanny was a fantastic experience, I got to see such a wide variety of distinguished properties. It gave me an eye for design and knowing how and where to place things,” says Caroline. “It also helped me develop a really good idea of what I liked and what I didn’t like.”

This feature can be found in CFL issue 132.

A house less ordinary

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

A unique 1960s house hidden away in the suburban streets of York has been extended in a very contemporary way, creating a dramatic mix of retro and modern.

The 1960s was a decade of change and innovation for Britain, and brought with it more than just short skirts and flower power. A cultural revolution was underfoot, and rapid progressions in design and architecture were influencing the way people lived and the furniture they bought. It was during this decade that the Macdonald family in York commissioned local architect Ron Simms to design them a house, on a site overlooking Hob Moor, in which they could entertain guests and clients of their furniture store Macdonalds, which to this day remains one of the finest of its kind in the region. The building that resulted was a modern, open-plan home that was radically different from its neighbours, and a homage to progressive architecture.

Four decades later, the Palmour family were searching for their ideal home when they chanced upon the property, which is tucked away at the end of a cul-de-sac. Simon Palmour, his wife Danielle and daughter Rowan, 11, fell in love with the house straight away, appreciating its unconventional style, sprawling layout and flat roofs. Simon’s mother was unconvinced, however. “I brought my mum to look at it from the outside,” he says. “She always thinks everything I do is marvellous, but when she saw it, she said, ‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ which is her equivalent of saying, ‘This is the worst house I’ve ever seen!’”

Nevertheless, the Palmours saw potential in the house and before long, it was theirs. “We did quite a lot of work to it, mainly installing a new central heating system, new flooring and a new roof,” says Simon. “The kitchen wasn’t open-plan, as the rest of the house was. There was a hatch and I suppose the idea in the 60s was that the wife would cook in the kitchen and then wheel the food round on a hostess trolley. So we knocked through to make it part of the living space.”

This feature can be found in CFL issue 132.

Georgian Glamour

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

A 300-year-old house in a village near Leeds has been transformed into an extravagant abode with Irish and Georgian influences.

“We were looking for an old property in North Leeds, and the criteria was that it had to have character and a separate outbuilding from which we could run our business,” says Elissa Phillips, sitting in the oak sunroom of her newly-renovated home in a village near Leeds. “We’d been looking for about a year when my son found it online. As soon as we visited it we knew this was the property for us.”

Since leaving Ireland more than 20 years ago, Elissa and her husband Rob have lived in Yorkshire and their sons, Simon, 12 and Adam, nine, grew up in England.

The house was originally built in the early 18th century and has been added to and tweaked by previous owners since then, but the kind of renovation Elissa had in mind for the property was on a much grander scale than it had seen before. “I wanted to restore it to its former glory,” she says. Enlisting the help of local building firm TJ Pybus, Elissa began redesigning the home’s interior and planning an extension to incorporate an open-plan kitchen and spacious oak sunroom. “I’d say about 80 per cent of it has been a restoration rather than anything new.”

Even so, the restoration involved much more than the Phillips had bargained for: not just new ceilings, windows and floors but a whole new roof! “The biggest surprise was having to do something with the roof,” says Elissa. “It became apparent halfway into the project that the roof wasn’t as sound as it could be. So we decided to re-do it, and that was probably the most painful time. It was during November, so the house got a bit wet – it was horrible.”

The rest of this feature can be found in CFL issue 132.

Make designs on Manchester craft event

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair at Spinningfields…

(October 22-25, 2009 – Manchester City Centre)

The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair is back! And for its second year of showcasing the most up-and-coming and leading designer makers. The event will be held in Manchester city centre.

Just off Deansgate, Spinningfields is to host this year’s Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. Set in an open space, surrounded by cafes and restaurants, the exhibitors will be housed in a large hard-sided pavilion.

The event provides a unique shopping experience where original contemporary craft can be purchased and commissioned directly from the UK’s leading and emerging designer-makers.

With more than 140 exhibitors showcasing the finest works of contemporary craft, including jewellery, interior textiles and fashion accessories, ceramics, glass, metal-work, furniture and more. Established makers and emerging talent have been selected by a panel of experts to ensure work is both innovative and of the highest quality.

The event at Spinningfields will allow visitors to spend the day in a relaxed yet inspiring atmosphere, chat to the makers and find out the story and production process behind each unique piece…

The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair will take place on Thursday, October 22 to Sunday, October 25 and promises to be a great cultural event, offering a refreshing alternative to the ubiquitous high street. The fair provides a perfect opportunity for visitors to treat themselves, buy one-off gorgeous gifts for Christmas or invest in a distinctive piece for their home.

Having moved to the city centre, this year’s event is going to be bigger and better! So come down and check it out  – CFL will be awarding the “Best Northern Maker“  Award. Whilst other exhibitor awards are being sponsored by The Co-operative Bank and Pannone LLP Solicitors.

www.greatnorthernevents.co.uk