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#London #property #Fulham Client #live/work space #build-project into #2-bed #home #before

Panoramic view of the property’s 1st floor

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This client’s property is a converted industrial workspace that was used as a live/work space for many years.The brief is to turn this building into a comfortable home, utilising the space in the best possible way to create a 2 bedroom- 2 bath house, cost effectively.No rooms have right-angled corners, or are traditional shapes.

20140723_1204201st floor sitting area out on to the roof terrace.
There is a fitted storage unit before the partition wall which hides the desk, work area.

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The dining area is at the far end of the room. Either side of the staircase (opposite the structural post) are partition stud walls behind which are a shower room and galley kitchen.

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The galley kitchen houses the main boiler and has limited cooking and storage space.

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Fashion Guest blogs Interiors Lifestyle Uncategorized

Interior style v catwalk style

Should your home be flowery, just because your dress is?

It’s nearly July and dedicated fashionistas will be turning their attentions to Autumn & Winter’s styles; their Summer wardrobes picked out months ago.  But does it follow that, to be truly in vogue, what’s hot on the High Street should be reflected in your home?

Floral ‘14 – various designers interpret this year’s trend

A hallmark of Spring / Summer ’14 has been the rebirth of flower power; maybe not as brash as in its ‘60s heyday but, nevertheless, livelier than Jerry and Margot’s chaise longue! With floral patterns set to continue through Autumn & Winter, does your home décor need to echo that flowery dress?

Should interior design mimic clothing styles?

Perhaps the main difference between interiors and clothing is the fleeting nature of sartorial style. Before the High Street has a chance to catch up, leading designers have moved on to next season’s looks. We do our best to keep our wardrobes in check, but to extend that through the home would be a major undertaking – both practically and financially.

This bathroom design reflects current pastel and floral trends

Clothes and interiors do share a similar function though. We dress ourselves and our homes as an expression of our personality. We’re unlikely to wear something that feels uncomfortable, just as we might not choose to paint our walls neon yellow – even if it was the season’s colour.

Clothing designers present a collection of styles, from which we select the elements that suit us best. A three quarter length coat might drown a petite frame, but its monochrome colour scheme could be just your cup of tea.

Various uses of monochrome – it’s not all black and white!

Good design always suits its era. ‘40s and ‘50s styles were built around post-war austerity, innocence and traditionalism. Modest wooden furniture and window blinds characterised interiors, while clothes were utilitarian, simple, and chic.

Film stars, Fred MacMurray and Doris Day, demonstrate simple 1940’s elegance

Designers in the ‘60s were pushing boundaries – colours and shapes were brighter and bolder, and the materials used were at the forefront of technology. People were excited about space travel and psychedelics, and metals and plastics were used in futuristic ways. At the same time, the hippy movement took us back to the earth, with flowers and natural materials the order of the day.

1960s style experiments with colour, shape, texture, and materials. Rama CC-BY-SA-2.0-fr (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/fr/deed.en), via Wikimedia Commons

The ‘70s maintained this split personality. Experimentation was taken to overblown proportions, but equally balanced by subtle, Scandinavian minimalism.

The bold patterns worn by these models in the early 70s were at odds with the restrained minimalism of this Scandinavian interior design. Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-L0902-114 / Ulrich Häßler / CC-BY-SA 3.0-de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en), via Wikimedia Commons

The number of styles covered over these few decades show how quickly fashion develops from one trend to the next; the constantly changing seasons only helping to spur it on.

Interior design changes at a naturally slower pace. It’s like a go-to outfit that you change-up by varying its accessories. Imagine deciding on an outfit that you had to wear for the foreseeable future. The same kind of thought is involved in designing interiors but, fortunately, we can turn to stylists who are in tune with the zeitgeist!

Trends are a great thing for keeping us on our toes, but it’s what we choose to do with them that truly shows personality – and makes fashion and interiors such an exciting area of work.

With thanks to
www.interiorgoodsdirect.com
for this guest blog

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Fashion Home staging UK Interiors Lifestyle Property Uncategorized

#dressingrooms #interiors #property #styling #style #dailymail

My original replies on my thoughts on dressing rooms
some of which has appeared in the Daily Mail interiors feature on Dressing Rooms below

To me, there’s something very luxurious and glamorous about having a dressing room – do you agree? Why do you think it is? Is it our associations with showbiz etc?
Dressing rooms have an association with celebrity, glamour and 50’s style old-school Hollywood glamour in particular.

To have a dressing room also means that you are affluent or successful enough to own a large selection of clothes and accessories and also to have enough space in your home to be able to create the dressing room which is not a necessity but a luxury.

Have you worked with clients to create dressing rooms at all? Have you noticed an increase in demand?
All my female clients would like a dressing area- or a whole dressing room so that they have a separate space for their clothes to their husbands or partners. Usually I find that the man’s wardrobe space and indeed many of the wardrobes around the home have been overtaken by the wife’s clothes/shoes/coats/evening dresses etc
I created a weekly column in a magazine, quite a few years ago now, when I was regularly styling celebrities, “in the closet with….”
It was an interesting insight into the world of celebrity and how, what and where they stored their clothes….

Are dressing rooms just for very big homes/ very wealthy clients – or can they be achieved on a budget?
My whole Interior/property styling business/ethos is to create an aspirational lifestyle for my clients on the budget they can afford- however small- (cerilcampbell.com)
There are always ways of creating the look/the dressing-room/the living space you want within your budget. Its about thinking outside the box.
This is my forte.
Making the inexpensive appear expensive, and the simple look luxurious.

Have you seen or worked on any examples where space has been used creatively in this regard – for instance, a cupboard being turned into a dressing room?
yes- with clever use of room dividers, dressing areas in bathrooms, in corridors, walk-through wardrobes, walk-in wardrobes. Borrowing space from the room next door, creating a dividing area between bedroom and bathroom. Anything is possible with creativity,

What to you makes the ultimate dressing room? How can you combine practicality and luxury?
Firstly mirrors
You would be surprised how few clients have long mirrors to see how they look- (many try never to look in a mirror at all)
and mirrors to see your backview too.
Hanging space that creates logical storage and easy access to the clothes to be worn in the current weather/season.
Ie;Summer clothes in the Summer and Winter in the Winter and the rest to be stored.
rails high enough for long clothes and enough shelving for folded clothes, accessories and shoes.
My top tip is plastic or acrylic shoe boxes which can be stacked and you can see what shoes you have. I have changed many a clients life with these!
Its all about organisation

It has been said that a dressing room can add value to a property – are they quite a savvy investment in this way?
I would say that a stylish kitchen and bathroom add the most wow factor and value to a property, but I think that its often women who may help sway the decision to buy a property, so a dressing room would always be a plus point for us.Bit like Carrie in Sex and the City when she was going to get a flat with Mr Big- the flat had a walk-in closet where she could put all her shoes!

With the difficult housing market, have you noticed a trend for people making modifications to their home instead of moving/ selling – as a sort of more affordable treat?
Absolutely, especially as it is often cheaper to modify than move and also will add value.

Is it necessary to undergo serious building/ structural works to create a dressing room or can it be done more easily?
Are there any recent developments – hotels, blocks of flats, etc – which have featured dressing rooms in a way you have admired?
Dressing rooms I admire
see my board on pinterest ( ceril campbell)- “dressing room” board

Finally, any top tips for our readers looking to create a dressing room on a budget?
Find from the High st/online/charity shops/car boots etc
the following
Boxes
stack various sized attractive boxes/vintage suitcases/hatboxes for storage
arrange accessories/bags/jewellery to hang from hooks on walls
source a vintage or 2nd hand dressing table to renovate/paint/decorate to fit your dressing room theme.
find a chair or chaise longue that will make a statement in the room- maybe to re-cover with a new fabric.
A glamorous statement chandelier style light- loving the ones I have just seen at BHS press day for autumn/winter 2014
Fake or real fur cushions/rugs/throws( according to your preference)
any cushions or fabrics which are tactile and appear sexy and lush
Coloured rails for clothes

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Home staging UK Interiors Lifestyle Property Uncategorized

#interiors #styling #property #metallics #dailymail

An Interiors feature in the Daily Mail on the Metallics trend and how to work it into your own home design.
It is simple to take a fashion or interiors trend and try it out as an accent or accessory rather than full-on straight away.
Reflective metallic fabrics, wallpapers and accessories can create opulence and luxury
whilst metals such as copper used in lighting, bathrooms and kitchens can work brilliantly in urban industrial style interiors.

I personally love mixing up textures and styles- smooth with rough, shiny with matte.
It creates a more interesting style in a home.

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#propertystyling #interiorstyling #homestaging #Londonproperty

London property market is in its own little bubble, with such a demand for homes that no property stays on the market for too long, especially 1 bed and 2 bed flats.

But larger houses and properties are slower to move, especially when priced at the top end of the market with stamp duty at 7%.

Often the sellers cannot see the point of furnishing and creating a lifestyle in an empty property. Why should they pay anything from £10,000 upwards when they are trying to sell, not spend more money?
But offering a prospective buyer a visual insight into how a house could be lived in, how spaces can be used, accentuating the positives and detracting from the negatives with furnishings and accessories cleverly placed, could add at least £100,000 to a property value and also speed sales.

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#basement #teenagerooms #playroom #London #property


This is the empty basement of the large Fulham property before I styled and home staged it for sale.
When these large houses are refurbished, the basements are usually dug out to create more ceiling height, (at around a build cost of £150,000) but since the property was simply to be sold, as is,  I had to think of a way to make it more appealing to prospective purchasers.

 I wanted this space to appear friendly and relaxed, and most importantly create an illusion of a higher ceiling than actually existed.
I created a focal point with a large TV on a chest of drawers found in a charity shop and made a seating area around it. As I was on a minimal budget, I found stylish but inexpensive system seating in faux-suede shades of taupe. The covers of these individual seating blocks could unzip and become futon beds for  teens to have sleep-overs.

I bought in colour with fun items such as fake flowers, popcorn cartons from Poundstore, a bright coloured candy machine, tubs of old fashioned sweets, cushions and a large throw. The cowhide rug added more interest and texture to the flooring.
The artwork around the room was from a calender, with each month’s image cut out and framed in £2 frames from Dunelm Mills.
So a room created on a true budget!

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#styling #bathrooms #cloakrooms #ensuitebathrooms #homestaging #London

The following photos of bathroom, cloakroom, and en-suite master bathroom are all part of an empty London property that I interior styled for a client who is selling his house.
Home staging a large London house for around £20,000 that may go on the market for around £2-£3 million, can often increase the selling price by much as £100,000, as it offers prospective buyers a view of an aspirational lifestyle within the property.

The ground floor cloakroom, although the smallest room in a house, is a very important room

I added an interesting stylish mirror, and a small grey circular table on which to place hand towels and lovely smelling White Company hand lotions and soaps.

Its often the smallest details that attract interest

The view of the master en-suite bathroom into the bedroom.
His and hers luxurious chunky oversized white towelling dressing gowns add interest to the doorway into the bedroom.

The master bathroom has generously sized floor towels, piles of strategically placed and carefully folded bath towels and hand towels, fake plants and White Company soaps and lotions. These styling touches together with candles, grouped on the side of the bath suggest that the prospective buyers will have a lovely room to relax in at the end of the day.

The family bathroom has the same neutral colour scheme as the rest of the house, as this bathroom is also shared by the 2 guest bedrooms.

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#kidsrooms #property #london #interiors #styling #homestaging


I styled and home staged this empty room into a colourful and fun kids bedroom in my clients’ London house.
One of the important criteria was to show that the bedroom space could fit 2 single beds, as often prospective property buyers aren’t able to imagine an empty space and how the furniture might fit into it,

 This is an alternative view of the bedroom

This is the bedroom after styling


The red and yellow colours of the bedroom were inspired by the vintage Mickey and Minnie prints I found on Portobello Road. The pretty flower print and gingham bedsheets were from White Company. I added small touches like kids toys and books scattered on the shelving and a wooden bike and added a vintage car outside the bedroom on the landing.

 

Next to the kid bedroom was a small room which could have been transformed into a nursery with a cot or a kids study. I chose to make it into the kids study.


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#bedrooms #homestaging #property #styling

My American client’s empty Fulham house had 5 bedrooms to homestage, style, creating a lifestyle to help sell the house at its optimum price as quickly as possible. The master bedroom was on the top floor (see earlier blog posting) with 4 bedrooms of varying sized on the 1st floor.

I turned this bedroom into the main guest bedroom as it was large enough to comfortably fit a king size bed.

I called this my world traveller guest bedroom due to the Globetrotter vintage trunk and artwork.


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Home staging UK Interiors Lifestyle Uncategorized

#homestaging #interior #styling #London how I got the look

The object of home-staging an empty property to sell, is to maximise its selling price with a completed sale in the shortest possible time.
Creating an aspirational lifestyle and illusion of interior space and ceiling heights, whilst hiding any noticeable build or design flaws that may affect the buyers price offer is also important

This drawing room is long and narrow, with irregular wall alcoves.
the owners made the fireplace and TV the main feature so the room needs to be styled to address this.
the furniture I chose couldn’t be too large so that the room still appeared spacious.
A neutral colour scheme has colour from the artwork and flowers, picking up the lilacs and yellows from the coloured coffee table panels

This calm and restful drawing room feels homely and stylish, neutral but not bland, with some individuality.

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