RESIDENTIAL LETTINGS: head to toe makeover

Residential lettings need regular attention and a complete refurbishment approximately every ten years. These shots refer to work recently completed in a flat in Chelsea: 3 new bathrooms, one kitchen and much decorating and joinery work later and... the rental income is back in line with the market. Quality of workmanship and fittings were never skimped on but a few simplifications helped to contain the overall budget and always please tenants, estate agents and landlords alike. Regardless of trends I have never regretted keeping things too simple!

With thanks to Logan Photography

ARCHIVE PHOTOS

A new request for archive photos has made me realise the importance of investing in a professional photographer. The nature of one's projects is that, by the time they are ready to be photographed, the owners have moved in. These are a few of the pictures I should have commissioned and resorted to snapping myself (hence the poor outcome). The above are only a few examples of past bathroom, kitchen and furniture designs, lighting layouts and children's bedroom and bathroom schemes. For additional information please contact me by telephone or email

RENTAL PROPERTIES: keeping it simple

Having tried a number of different solutions the basic formula revealed itself to be the best: keep it simple! "Simple" may mean neutral colours, which will allow any colour scheme the tenant may wish to introduce, but it also means:
- durability v. quality issues should be carefully considered (in the kitchen shown above a laminate worktop was preferred to real wood, which requires regular maintenance, but a 40mm thick "top end of the market" product was selected)
- quality materials, fixtures and fittings should be used: they pay off in the end
- pay attention to maintenance issues (allow for inspection panels and ease of access to pipework etc., comply with regulation regarding labling of all fused switches)
- generous and well equipped storage spaces should be provided in proportion to the number of bedrooms in the property
- wiring should be laid and sockets (power, TV & phone) should be as numerous as possible to allow for different furniture layouts without the need for later (surface and unsightly) additions

Simple rules always work best.

LOSING THE INTERIOR DESIGN FORMULA: in the kitchen

Interior design cyclically loses it's formula. And what inspiring times those are... Periods when high street and top end of the market designs all seem to strive for the same "look" are contrasted by phases during which interior design heads in multiple directions. The quest for the holy grail, a new and original union of practical and aesthetic concerns, is momentarily open on more fronts.

After a long period during which the UK looked to its European neighbours and actually saw them, the "minimalist formula" was found. Interior design in the 90s applied this formula at every opportunity. Over the last decade however British designers' confidence has grown. Furniture, fabrics, wall papers, just about all expressions of mainstream interior design appears to be searching for a new recipe. Lines are being softened, colour is embraced, pattern is no longer to be frowned upon, every expression of design is potentially acceptable.
This lack of an apparent formula does however confirm an underlying principle which is as valid for interior design today as ever before: the talented lead the way and manufacturers follow, albeit with a delay of a decade or two.
Take kitchen design: Johnny Grey has been producing kitchens like these for the last 3 decades or so. While the price tag falls miles outside the scope of most budgets the inspiration it provides is as cutting edge as it gets. The "soft geometry", the confident colour palette, the quirky references to familial comfort, this is the stuff that 2008/2009 interior design trends are made of!