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London Interior Design News: Award Season

16/3/2021

We've won another award!
Thank you Houzz for awarding us with a Best of Houzz award for service. These awards are issued based on the amount of five star reviews we've received - haven't we done well.
We'd like to say thank you to Houzz and most importantly all of our lovely clients who have been dropping these amazing reviews - Thank you!

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Interior Designer Advice: ONLINE and Bathroom Transformations

4/6/2020

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You may have noticed that there's been a lack of posts recently but that's because we've been writing for and featured in Zoopla and The Times
You can read our handy article on How to Transform your bathroom for under £500 here
Then read all about our ONLINE service to get socially distanced, professional design and advice from colour consultations to the full design service.

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London Interior Design Trends: Kitchens at KBB 2020

9/3/2020

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Be the first to see the latest in kitchen design and technology from last week's Kitchens, Bathrooms and Bedrooms 2020. As we saw in bathrooms (see our last post) the emerging trends are more colour, matte finishes and moves to become more eco friendly with gadgets and renewable and natural materials.
We excitedly noted an increase in appliances with can be operated from your phone, extractors taken further with air purification, recycled materials in splash backs and tiles and real wood making a kitchen comeback.
Click on our highlights and we'll show you new tech, new colours and new thinking about arguably the busiest room in the house, then Get In Touch to discuss your next kitchen.

Mint green, belfast butler sink by Bocchi

Matte finish, spearmint Butler Sink? Yes please - from Bocchi

Hi tech extractor with air purifier and indoor garden growing lights by Falmec

Eco friendlier, re-circulating extractor with air purification, indoor growing system and storage all-in-one from cooker hood Dons Falmec

Yellow, indoor outdoor, metal kitchen units by Vlaze

Indoor or Outdoor enamel, freestanding kitchens in any colour or print from Vlaze

Live edge, oak, kitchen worktop with industrial stools

Live edge, rustic and renewable worktops - ditch the plastic

Pale green kitchen cabinets with marble look, composite stone worktop and splash back

Matte, spearmint for your cabinets with marble effect, composite (waste) stone worktop and backsplash

The warmth of copper in a sink by Ellsi

Wooden kitchen cupboard handles by Gamma Fittings

Retro and renewable cupboard handles by Gamma Fittings

Contemporary Kitchen cupboards built around a doorway

Where possible build your kitchen high and around a doorframe to create a Narnia-style magic cupboard

When you think they've used every colour - Metallic Lipstick Red by Smeg

Magnetic plant pots on interior exterior metal clad kitchen wall by value

Metal clad walls for a magnetic, climbing, indoor garden to help purify the air and provide food - Vlaze

Grey metal kitchen cupboard with bamboo worktops from Worktop Express

Super renewable and hard-wearing Bamboo worktops from Worktop Express

Modern, coloured kitchen sinks by Franke

For when you refuse to veer from your moodboard - Franke coloured sinks

Colourful, concept, plywood kitchen with flexible shelving system

This concept kitchen embraces flexibility and compactness for a Millenials kitchen. We love the customisable wall storage - Ecomo

Pop out steps hidden in the kitchen plinths, PLUS there's additional storage inside. At 5' 1" I'm so happy to see these - Hafele

Mint, white and yellow cooker hoods by Franke

Match your cooker hood to your coloured sink - Franke

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London Interior Design Trends: Bathrooms at KBB 2020

5/3/2020

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Want to know the latest bathroom trends? This week we've been to KBB (that's Kitchens, Bathrooms and Bedrooms bi-annual show) so take a look at our finds.
The BIG news is that coloured bathroom suites are back! Oh yes, there was barely a white suite in sight. Pastel colours were winning through with a curious trend for browns too.
A matte finish is now the go to trend, so you'll be seeing this a contemporary twist everywhere soon, on coloured baths, tiles, furniture, taps.......
Finally, yes finally we're seeing the bathroom industry making steps towards more ecologically sound spaces with natural, renewable and recycled materials coming through,
Here are some of our highlights and do get in touch if you need help with your dream bathroom

The chic shower enclosures and panels by Drench including this beautiful fluted glass set in a Forest Green frame

We love this minimal, freestanding matte sink and tap from Hidrobox

Real wood, coir matting and minimal styling showing that less is more from Acquabella

Matte tiles in monochrome, bohemian favourites, stars and Ikat from Ca' Pietra

Pink the sink with Bocci

50 Shades of pink, this time with a sleek copper tap from Villeroy and Boch

Coffee colour, matte loos by RAK Ceramics

White, milk or dark hot chocolate, matte basins 'Rak Ceramics'

Minimal, blush keeping it simple and super stylish at Fiora

We love the idea of soaking in a deep blue bathtub from the gone-crazy-for-colour 'BC Designs'

How about a pop of navy blue and brass sink in an otherwise white bathroom with patterned floor tiles - Villeroy and Boch

We want this luxury, oversized cereal bowl for a bath from Victoria + Albert?

We're not sure about the dark brown loo though.

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London Interior Designer's Guide to: How much is an Interior Designer and what do they do?

2/3/2020

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Do you like the idea of having help from an interior designer to transform your property but your not sure how the process works or even if your budget will allow it? Then read on to find out how we and other designers, work and how we can help you.

- You only need help with one room -
This is fine, some larger companies may only take on whole house projects, but small to medium companies are happy to take on single room projects as they can be slotted in-between larger projects and have a faster turnaround.

- Services and costs -
Interior designers can help with every element of a re-furb but here are the main services you'll come across and likely need:

Colour Consultation
The smallest service is a Colour Consultation which can cost between £110-£190 per room. It's a great starter to re-inventing a room and will give you the confidence to use amazingly effective colours which you wouldn't have dared use on your own.

Design
The next service is Design which normally consists of a visit from a designer to take your brief and measure the space(s). From there the designer can produce a plan and a design which should include a colour scheme and indicative furniture ideas and instruction for the design. We even give you guidance on more complicated kitchen and bathroom design. From here you can more confidently choose, to purchase and implement some or all of the recommendations. Prices start from £750 a room.

FF&E
Should you be short on time or have no clue where to start when ordering sofas or calculating how many M2 of tiles you need, this service can be a god-send especially when it costs you no more that the retail price (RP) of an item. Let me explain: most interior designers (including us) obtain Trade discounts from thousands of gorgeous shops. For our services we may only charge the RP to you but buy at the the Trade price and then retain the difference as our fee. Effectively you pay no more than if you'd walked into the shop and purchased the item yourself, but without any of the hassle and often costly guesswork.

Project Management
If you're really short of time and don't know what to do, to co-ordinate a refurbishment, then Project Management is for you. Project Management (PM) can be one just one meeting with the builder or decorator to relay the design and make sure that it's carried out properly, to being on site at regular intervals to oversee that everything is happening as per the brief and budget. Most interior designers will charge you an hourly rate between £70-£190 per hour dependant on the size of the firm, the complexity of the project and the experience of the designer (we charge around £90).

- How to start -
You may have thought long and hard about what you'd like or have no idea at all - this does not matter. I recommend calling first to discuss your project/utter terror at prospect of re-furbishing. Just a phonecall will undoubtedly reinvigorate your desire to get started and give you a clear idea of your next step. At The Open Plan we offer a free* 30 minute face-to-face meeting at the property to discuss your needs and to answer any questions you may have about our services. So do get in touch by phone or email

*dependant on distance from our offices

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London Interior Design News: Award Season

Interior Designer Advice: ONLINE and Bathroom Transformations

London Interior Design Trends: Kitchens at KBB 2020

London Interior Design Trends: Bathrooms at KBB 2020

London Interior Designer's Guide to: How much is an Interior Designer and what do they do?

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