Next stop on the design festival trail for Leanne was TENT:

It is always a pleasure to visit TENT, to view a range of up and coming designers and the fully established design companies.

The list of talented designers at TENT was endless, it was great to meet so many in person.

Design Island exhibited a large group of its differing and very creative group of Irish designers.

Horizon Furniture’s ‘Maryjane’ chair caught my eye in particular.

British designers Sarah Newman from Design Bark, and Simon Ford from BY PLY had collaborated. Sarah screen-printing her beautiful graphics, which she used on her lampshades, onto Simons wonderful Plywood Chair was amazing to see.

It was good to meet Andy from Andy Murray Design (not the tennis player, but is Scottish!) with his products being produced from all over Scotland.

Its was great to see so many British designers and makers at all of the shows; Naomi Paul Textiles showcased their handmade lighting, Alison Milner showing her understated stools with beautiful pattern design on the seats.

Liam Treanor’s beautiful furniture and lighting range, which had a Scandinavian influence, was lovely to see.

Latorre Cruz pendants were amazingly eye catching and looked almost like feathers, even though they were made from a handmade paper material.

I left TENT feeling very excited to inform the team all about the gems I’d found.

I also got to see the Sonya Winners rug that we have previously shown on the NoChintz blog!

Next stop, Designers Block!

We recently created a showroom for Plumlife’s development in Bolton, the dressing is classical and contemporary with vintage and quirky touches.

A glass bottle chandelier is used as well as a large forest mural going down the stairs. In the children’s bedroom fun circus wallpaper creates a bright and colourful effect.

Plumlife is part of Great Places Housing Group, an award winning housing association based in the Northwest. They are a not-for-profit company which specialises in delivering government backed schemes such as Shared Ownership to help working people get on to the property ladder.

For more information visit the Plumlife website here

(Photography by Haydn Rydings )

On Saturday Leanne visited the London Design Festival and managed to see a lot of interesting and exciting things. Luckily for us she took tons of pictures (88 to be exact),  you can find out all about her Design Festival experience here:

Part One-

I started at Tramshed in Shoreditch were they showed Autoban’s collection of furniture and lighting which never fails to impress. Soren Rose Studio and Benjamin Hubert, who collaborated with De La Espada, produced some beautiful pieces that were launched at Tramshed for the design Festival.

The piece that I favored was the marble lamp shades that had be designed and produced so wonderfully, the light from the bulb shone through the marble shades showing up all the dark veins of the material, you would never believe that a solid and raw material could look so delicate. The contrast between rough and smooth with the finish give another dimension to the pieces.

It was great to meet Tuke &Tuke also, as we are looking at using products that have been designed and made in the UK. The attention to detail in their accessories and furniture makes for what appears to be effortless design even if my photographs don’t do them any justice!

Part two coming soon…

We are excited to reveal the show apartments we recently created for Urban Splash’s development Longlands, Stalybridge.
The one and two bedroom apartments are part of Urban Splash’s regeneration of Longlands, the oldest surviving cotton mill in the area. Currently being developed into shops, cafés and gardens as well as apartments, the site where the mill sits will be revived after being dormant for nearly 50 years.

The one bedroom apartment has been designed with an outdoor theme, situated next to the river bank and the canal the influence of nature and the environment can be seen through various elements, including blue and green colours. Modern furniture pieces are used in the lounge area to keep a contemporary feel.

The two-bedroom apartment has retro influences throughout, the master bedroom has a light airy and luxurious feel. The second bedroom has a elements of the nature theme carrying on the trend of bringing the beautiful surroundings of the building inside.

We also created a Marketing suit for the Longlands site, this included adding a beautiful image of a Deer on the main wall.

Space at Longlands is available now; contact Urban Splash for more information or visit www.urbansplash.co.uk/longlands

(Photography by Haydn Rydings )

This weeks ‘Favourite Blog Of The Week’ comes from interior designer Karen Barlow.

Based in Manchester, Karen often blogs about her favourite places around the city, additionally she features her own work on the blog.

The blog, which launched at the beginning of the year, has a fresh and unique element to it and is definitely one to watch.

Even when on holiday the NoChintz team can’t stop themselves from looking for a bargain!

On a recent trip to France Lucy and Dominic went treasure hunting at Les Chiffonniers, Morlaix.

Full of little trinkets and books, the shop is a designers dream.

Just down the road is the furniture part of the shop which houses larger pieces. Chairs, tables, cabinets and….stuffed foxes, are just some of the treasure that can be found at Les Chiffonniers.