Week one and what a baptism of fire! After finding out I had made it through to the show we had two weeks to prepare our first brief, show homes in Oxford.
This was the first room I had designed outside of my home so I felt the pressure immediately to impress Head Judge, Michelle Ogundehin and guest judge Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. I was full of excitement and ideas!
We had two and a half days to makeover the space and a very modest budget of £1500 excluding labour costs.
The Brief
These detached villas retail from £1m upwards and are ideal for professionals and families looking to move into an energy efficient, superior build quality and modern home. They will attract higher income earners with a target market age bracket of 35-60. These could include corporate business owners, professionals in the public sector, lawyers, creatives, entrepreneurs, and work-from-home professionals. A proportion of buyers are from overseas, looking for a home while they reside in the UK or look to be near the education hub of Oxford.
The clientele will expect spaces that are:
• Aspirational
• Contemporary
• Sumptuous & luxurious
• Exclusive
Budget: £1500
There were 5 show homes each with a living room and master bedroom to be redesigned. I was given the living room to overhaul.
“She’s made mixing patterns and textures look easy, where we know that that is not easy!”
My Approach
From the pictures I could see that the view over the garden and water was the real selling point to this room. The living room was up on the first floor for that main reason so I really wanted to accentuate this feature. I decided that the best way to do this was to ensure the floor plan faced the window. I also created a reading area in front of the window without blocking it.
I wanted to add panelling to the walls almost immediately upon reading the brief and seeing the pictures of the plain room. Panelling can add a real sense of grandeur and interest and of course depending on the design can give a traditional or contemporary feel.
To full-fill the ‘sumptuous’ part of the brief I added lots of textiles in various patterns on the curtains, the furniture, footstools, artwork and accessories. Adding a sense luxury also came from the gold accessories and striking lighting.
As the budget was tight I decided to keep the sofa, armchair and console table offered.
For more information about the rules of the show and how it worked click here.
Fabrics
I chose a number of fabrics for this scheme to bring hints of pattern and texture to the room. To compliment the ‘Overtly Olive’ Dulux colour, Ikea rug and gold accents I added lots of indigo.
Dalmas, by Colefax & Fowler (large footstool and scatters)
Mussa, by Clarke & Clarke (curtains)
Pemba, by Clarke & Clarke (chaise longue)
Pizarro, by Clarke & Clarke (scatter on chaise longue)
Boka, by Harlequin (small footstool, scatters on armchairs)
Mishima, by Harlequin (scatters)
Makes
I’m all about bespoke pieces and wanted to make and customise as much as possible.
My main project for this project was to reupholster a beige chaise longue. I bought the chaise from my favourite charity shop Bright Sparks.
It had a rip and someone had even drawn a smiley face on it so it was the perfect candidate for reupholstery! The foam was all fine to reuse and the frame was sound, it just needed a new cover.
I chose a beautiful embroidered fabric by Clarke & Clarke called Pemba. As it was discontinued it was really cheap via their trade portal.
I also decided to add trim to a plain pair of grey linen curtains from Ikea. The trim added interest and elevated the curtains to look more expensive. The fabric I used for this was Mussa by Clarke & Clarke.
I reupholstered two small round footstools, sewed a load of scatter cushions and even made a little fabric plant pot with the offcuts.
A less successful project was my artwork! I struggled with this aspect as we weren’t allowed to use art because of BBC rules around copyright. So we had to make our own which is not my forte! After a failed first attempt of hessian ribbons i settled on some minimalist circles sewn in a cream fabric and hessian.
To see other chaise longues reupholstered by me, click here.
Shopping List
Paint ‘Overtly Love’ by Dulux
Chaise longue, footstools, table lamps, ceramics and mirror all from Bright Sparks Charity Shop in London
Rug by Ikea
Floor Lamp by H&M
LED Pendent Light by Wayfair
Side tables from Ebay. The brass one is second hand Pols Potten.
Curtains by Ikea, embellished by me with Clarke & Clarke trim
Team
We were paired up straight after meeting and my first teammate of the series was Amy! Luckily we got on straight away (although we all got on really well as a team of 10). Our designs had a lot of similar parts: panelling, earthy tones, gold accents and circular shapes.
I felt quite nervous about styling and staging at the start of the show as some of the other designers had a lot more experience in that area. Amy is a great stylist and came into my living room to cast her expert eye and give me some tips. Thank you Amy!
We worked quite separately as we had different rooms but it was lovely having Amy by my side week one as we kept each-other calm and focused.
For more behind the scenes information and pictures, click here.