I have been a lover of concrete forever. Selecting a poured concrete floor for my whole ground floor was the first decorating decision I made for this house. That was 18 or so years ago and I’ve loved it ever since – more so actually, as it’s aged.
Also on that concrete obsession: one of my very favourite pieces is a sculptural Willy Guhl concrete chair that I’ve had about 13 years. I remember G being furious because we were renovating the house at the time, and we had literally nowhere to sit. We had nothing else to sit on for a year, I don’t think he’ll ever let me forget it. Should maybe have bought something comfy, but instead I blew the whole budget on this one concrete chair. Whoops!
But I love it. Concrete started as a high end look often seen in upscale restaurants and hotels but now it’s trickling its way down to everything. Think furniture, accessories, walls and floors, rough and textural or polished, smooth and strokeable. I am rather (a lot) obsessed! Even more exciting is that there are now a lot of designs out there emulating concrete – I’ve seen resin furniture, plaster wall finishes, trompe l’oeil wallpapers and even textured panels. It’s a lighter, easier to transport and more affordable way to emulate the coolest material out there. The perfect tone of grey it complements any interior, plus it’s one of my favourite textures to throw into the mix. Can you imagine what happens when you plop a wooden or marble platter on that surface, or have a woolly rug underneath? Magic that’s what! A selection of my fave concrete pieces will be going into our new store space (and most probably at home, let’s be honest) I’ve just got to work out exactly where…
PS: I’m hugely excited to tell you guys some very exciting news, which is that our own-label collection is now available to buy in Selfridges! It’s been named the world’s best department store for numerous years, so obviously we feel hugely privileged to be invited to showcase our range. Up on the 4th floor (by the VIP lounge) you’ll find our sofas, lighting, accessories and botanicals with seasonal drops happening every few weeks. You can check out the Putney concrete dining set there, for one.
It’s incredibly exciting what is happening to our own label collection right now, it’s being snapped up by some seriously cool global players and we’ve got big plans to expand it even further. Gem and I are off to Asia shortly to sign off Christmas and work on Spring/Summer 2017. I’ll keep you posted on everything that’s happening – hoping for some new concrete finds too!