Wednesday 27 February 2013

Retro revamp

All sewn up. A stunning pair of statement chairs totally upcycled and ready to go...

Transformed from classic 1970s vinyl to lavish luxury in vivid orange and electric blue.

Before and after pictures below:


 
 
 
 

 

Adorned with a sombrero and lilo...

We're not off on our hols until late Summer and frankly I'm fed up with doing the school run in my bobble hat, looking like the sister of Where's Wally. Okay, who I am kidding? I know I'm more like his Mother...

Anyway, in a mad moment to crank up the heat, I started to look for inspirational interiors to inject a subtle splash of tropical paradise into my own home.

And that's when the new wallpaper collection by Eijffinger caught my eye. I'm not sure I'll add a palm tree to the corner of my room or display a pair of coconuts, but these bright and innovative wallpaper designs are fresh and zingy and coupled with a calamondin give a real sense of being out in the beating sun with all the zest and fun of Summer.




I've resisted the temptation to dust down my lilo, but my Sombrero is always within grabbing distance in the depths of my wardrobe so bring on the Summer. Tequila anyone?

For more feel good wallpapers from the range check out: http://www.blendworth.co.uk/about_eijffinger.php

Friday 15 February 2013

We're in The News today!

We're featured in The News today, talking about the value of great British products. We're proud to use natural materials whenever we can, including horse hair, but I assure you, there's no horse meat in our sofas!

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/community/made-in-britain-is-a-badge-of-prestige-that-we-are-proud-of-1-4790929

Thursday 7 February 2013

And on the subject of love...

Valentine's Day is looming so we've added some non edible, sneeze-free pictures to our showroom at The Packhouse today.   A whole bunch cheaper than flowers ...



Made in Britain and proud of it!

Like many new businesses, when we initially decided to go for it, we had big dreams combined with little time and money. We worked with a friend in Scotland to design an effective website to showcase our collection and we highlighted some ‘before and after’ pictures of a sofa transformation to demonstrate the traditional methods we use. But above all, we wanted to be genuinely different. We thought long and hard about our ethos and values and made the decision to buy British fabrics wherever possible, only use traditional and ethical upholstery methods (such as our use of horsehair, rather than the typical foam) and we up-cycle as much as we can from charity furniture stores.

Here's a monster sized Union Jack collage which we created a few years ago using old denim jeans, a bedspread and some red velvet actually from my own wedding dress. It's a bit like Marmite; you either love it or hate it!



 
We encourage our customers to use luxury linens and indulgent velvets from British designers and tweed weavers, a trend that is hitting the British clothing manufacture industry too. Everyone is familiar with great British brands such as Mulberry, Barbour, John Smedley and The Savile Row Company but there is a great British revival on the High Street right now too. For instance, if you type "Made in Britain" into the search bar on the Topshop site you’ll see a new range of home-grown wardrobe essentials. The good old days where Made In Britain is a badge of prestige and heritage are back and we’re really excited about that. In fact, just today I bought myself a tiny little  t-shirt (okay, who am I kidding?...) Anyway, can't wait to geek out in this hot-to-trot number:
 
 
Make it British is a fabulous source of information on British-made brands and UK manufacturing. For more information about British craftsmanship, visit http://makeitbritish.co.uk/
 
What's your favourite British brand?
 

 

Sunday 3 February 2013

NEWS - Liberty Rose Interiors featured in new HouseBeautiful book

 
A HouseBeautiful Home Business
How to start a successful interiors, housewares or furniture business from home

By Emma Jones

Due to publish March 2013

'A HouseBeautiful Home Business' is for anyone who has a passion, skill or hobby for interiors and an interest in turning this into a business. They may be creating personalised cushions for friends and family and dreaming of doing this full time or have a way with putting a room together that could be turned into a successful business.

With clear steps, useful links and expert advice, this book is an essential guide to turn a talent into a business, and share it with friends and family who are doing the same!

Table of Contents

About the Author
Foreword by Julia Goodwin

INTRODUCTION BY EMMA JONES
Who is This Book For?
Contributors

1. MAKING THE MOVE FROM HOBBY TO BUSINESS
Coming up with an idea
Beautiful Business: Liberty Rose Interiors
Beautiful Business: Yellow Book Interiors

2. PLANNING YOUR BUSINESS
Business plan

3. THE MUST-DOS
Registering the company
Household admin

4. BUILDING AND PROTECTING YOUR BRAND
Your business's first impression
Beautiful Business: POSH
Protect the brand

5. TECH SET-UP AND THE PERFECT WORK ENVIRONMENT
Your tech set-up
Your perfect work environment

6. STARTING ON A BUDGET
Boot-strapping to begin with
Beautiful Business: Luxury Interiors & Kool Kids Rooms
Beautiful Business: The Vintage Twist Company

7. MONEY MANAGEMENT
Straightforward finance
Pricing products
Beautiful Business: Coo & Co
Sourcing supplies and equipment
Beautiful Business: Potter
Funding

8. SELL, SELL, SELL!
Offline sales
Beautiful Business: Home Restyler
Selling on platform sites
Postage and packaging
Your products in focus

9. YOUR ONLINE HOME
Building your dotcom HQ
Your web content
Making money from your site
Beautiful Business: Carola van Dyke

10. MARKETING I - PR AND TRADE SHOWS
Getting known
Beautiful Business: Kate Schuricht Ceramics
Become an expert

11. MARKETING II - ONLINE PROMOTION
SEO and online adverts
Beautiful Business: Rachael Taylor Designs
The power of social media
Measure the results
Beautiful Business: Gillies Jones Glass

12. HAPPY CUSTOMERS AND A BALANCED BUSINESS
Attract customers back
Keep the business in balance

13. GROW THE BUSINESS WITHOUT OUTGROWING THE HOME
Productising
Going global
Outsourcing
Beautiful Business: Patchwork Harmony & 91 Magazine
Help and support


About the Author
Emma Jones is a business expert and author, and founder of small business support company Enterprise Nation. Her books include 'Spare Room Start Up', 'Working 5 to 9 ', 'Go Global' and 'Turn Your Talent into a Business'. Following a five year career at an international accounting firm, Emma started her first business at 27, from a spare room in her Manchester apartment. That business was sold 18 months later, and the experience led to Emma's next venture, Enterprise Nation. Its website (www.enterprisenation.com) was launched in 2006 and became the most popular for home business owners in the UK, attracting over 100,000 visitors each month. In seven years, Enterprise Nation has grown into a community of over 75,000 homegrown businesses that find help and support on its website, in its books and at live events. In 2011, the company gave away over GBP10,000 in funding to UK start-ups, and has recently launched a premium membership scheme, which helps its members promote their businesses and take their venture to the next level. Emma is also a co-founder of StartUp Britain, a national campaign to encourage more people to start a business. In July 2012, Emma was awarded an MBE for services to enterprise. @e_nation @emmaljones @brightwordpub www.enterprisenation.com