Abigail Ahern's 24th Anniversary

24 years of decorating differently!

From humble beginnings at our tiny store on Upper Street, Islington to achieving global recognition and a thriving retail and wholesale biz. From my own decorating dilemmmas (yes, I once had an all white house) to real pinch me moments. Thank you for being part of my journey.

❝August is our anniversary month, yayhay! I am so incredibly grateful for our amazing team stateside and in the UK, and of course, our countless incredible customers. As a brand, we are still evolving, still learning, and plan to be here for another 24 years and then some!❞

Abi x

from humble beginnings

Where It All Began

My love of interiors was ignited when I started working for Sir Terence Conran at his publishing house as a picture editor. Choosing beautiful pics of interiors to be featured in his books I now realise, sparked an obsession.

I then moved to the States, and worked for an interior design company, they were totally unaware of my lack of experience and qualifications, but I studied interior design to degree level at night and then worked on exciting projects during the day. It was a steep leaning curve, but I got through it and loved it.

With a design portfolio of properties I worked on Stateside, including the Ritz Carlton, Palm Beach, I returned home and made plans to open my own store which was in the tiniest of buildings on Upper Street, Islington.

I would stock unusual items that I had sourced and in the few years following with my sister Gem on board I would then manufacture my own faux botanicals and those famous doggie lamps.

Now fast forward a few years and we have an ever growing retail and wholesale business, manufacturing even more of our own label pieces and attending trade shows around the world.

I could not have predicted the growth and success but however bonkers and exhausting this biz is, I still love it and constantly look to improve on everything we do.

Image: Abigail Ahern Upper Street Store

over to the dark side

My Home As Featured

I painted the store Upper Street store in Farrow & Balls Downpipe, it was a magical moody colour and made the store feel chic and enchanting.

“A crepuscular cave of homeware wonders…” British Vogue

The store caught the attention of many, so much so I was asked if my home reflected the same aesthetic (it didn't) as Elle Decoration would be interested in shooting it for their magazine! I lied and days before they were due Graham and I painted the whole house in dark colours - I loved it and my obsession for the dark side was born! No going back! From then on my home has appeared in several mags and features all over the world.

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Cool Concessions & Collaborations

Over the years I have had the pleasure of working with some of the most fabulous brands and stores. From curtains to bedding, skin care and wellness, to setting up inside some of the most well loved store like Heals. It's always great to work with different teams and feed of their knowledge and energy, it totally inspires me and keeps me pushing the brand to new and different heights. Look out for some more exciting collaborations coming soon!

Some of my highlights: Hillarys, Secret Linen, Wildsmith, Big Green Egg, Donna Ida, The Nudge, The Hoxton, Gara Rock Hotel, Murmur, Debenhams, Kitchen Aid, Crate & Barrel, Ruggable, Graham & Brown, Velux, Unique Homestays, Herringbone Kitchens, Rise Art, Freemans, The Luxury Home Show and many more.

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interior books

Abigail Ahern In Print

It's been an absolute dream to have 5 books published. It's allowed me to share my tips, tricks and decorating style around the world as well as the opportunity of visiting and featuring some of the coolest homes.

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Being Social

How times have changed since our store opened it's doors in 2003! With the introduction and huge rise of social media and digital platforms, we've jumped fully on board and couldn't be more grateful for our loyal fans. With over 730k+ followers across the different platforms, the feedback and interaction is invaluable in how we run the biz and will never be taken for granted. A huge heartfelt THANK YOU!

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What's In Store

In 2016 our flagship store re-located from Upper Street Islington to it's home today on Essex Road. I remember being completely inspired on a trip to Paris, we had known that we had outgrown Upper Street for some time but that Parisian trip was a big wake up call. I wondered around that beautiful city stumbling on the coolest stores and decided we needed to make the move. I found a space within a week after that trip. 12-14 Essex Road is about three times bigger, just a few minutes down the road from our old location with the hugest windows – I was in love. It was a little depressing in its existing state with horrid wallpaper, pale colours on the wall, a yucky floor but I had a vision.

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My overall brief to myself was make the environment as cosy as humanely possible – in this digital age physical retail stores have to be inspiring and give you something you can’t get from online. They have to make you catch your breath, so it was all about providing an experience that ultimately makes you feel tantalised, relaxed, welcomed and hopefully inspired too. We set to renovating it, adding in faux wood flooring typically used for outside spaces (which still looks amazing to this day) painted it out in our signature moody paint collection, hung chandeliers, added super cool clad fireplaces and had major fun dressing the huge windows. Since then the store has continued to take on many different layouts, colours and constant VMing as my brief remains the same, I want you to enter this store and feel like you've entered another world, a magical destination that makes you want to linger, browse and be inspired to create your own cosy pad that you never want to leave. A store that you can return to time and time again and you never know how it's going to look or what you're going to find.

Why not make a day of it. Check out my guide to Islington.

Discover The Guide
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into the archive

Abigail Ahern Photo Album

I thought it would be fun to share some old pics and flick through the archives at ancient press features, old favourite products and some pics of my pad through the years.

Enjoy!

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  • Oh Wertz!

gone viral

Social Hits

In my years of creating content for my social platforms, I've learnt that you can never predict how something is going to be received, here are some of the most successful from the last few years.

Video: Location House Tour

A seriously impressive London home with such an intriguing interplay of materiality that makes you feel like you’re in Italy.

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Video: Bedroom Makeover Reveal

So excited to show you around my new bedroom. It’s made this space so cosy and so much more intimate.

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Video: 24 Hours In NYC

This is my not too touristy and much more local agenda of New York.A whistle stop 24 hours in NYC, a city I totally adore.

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Video: 3 Colour Palettes For Wellness

Discover three colour palettes to boost wellness, calm the mind and support focus.⁠

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Video: Create A Warm Welcome

I want to encourage you to create a hallway that feels magical and cosy - a warm welcome every time you turn the key.

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A Big Thank You

Turning 24 has given myself and the team a fantastic opportunity to look back at how far we have come. 

The very thing I want to say is a BIG THANK YOU for your constant support over the years, hand-in-hand we’ve brought an entire world of AA and decorating differently to life. We strive to create luxurious yet affordable pieces at the crossroads of modernity and tradition that tell a story and take interiors to a whole other level, and we couldn't be where we are now without you guys!

Here’s to the next 24 years!

Love Abi, Graham, Gem & Wertz xx

Abi Adores

There have been several products and pieces over the years that Abi has loved and featured in her own home. Discover her latest favourites from the current collection.

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