You won’t find cookie cutter designs at London Contemporary – each project starts with a blank sheet and your interiors are designed exclusively for you.
We’re Andrew Hyett and Andrew Dunning – Director and Design Director respectively – and we don’t get swept up in trends. As part of our full turnkey service, we never forget that it’s your home and will design it in your style, with plenty of day-to-day practicality and ‘wow’ moments for good measure.
We recently caught up with Premier magazine to share our story…
Where does inspiration come from?
It comes from so many areas, but the client feed is obviously critical and we need to nurture that. At the first meeting, we listen but – most importantly – we watch. We see how our clients interact with each other and their home. We ask them about their favourite holiday destinations, what they like doing outside the office… from this, we get a feel for what makes them comfortable. We never forget that it’s a client’s home we are designing, not a run-of-the-mill design from our London Contemporary office.
What happens next?
Our first follow-up meeting with the client will always have two styles of moodboard for each room, each one with a country scene photo. These are critical as they allow the client to see colours in their natural habitat – most people are unable to picture colours off a paint chart. We listen very carefully to their feedback. In fact, we often say that we should be marriage counsellors as well as designers, because one side of the family will like X and the other will like Y – and we have to carefully take pieces from each side and put together a compromise of both their likes, without a divorce happening in the process!
Talk us through a recent project
For a 7-bedroom Victorian semi-detached home in Granville Park, the clients wanted the lower ground floor to be cosy. They love nature and spending time outdoors, so we brought the outdoors in with a moss wall and jungle wallpaper, which also reflected their love of peacock colours. The study showed their fondness for skiing with themed wallpaper. Then the mini kitchen on the lower ground floor was designed to match the kitchen upstairs, but with their needs in mind – so there was a thin dishwasher, wine rack and fridge, meaning they didn’t have to keep going up and down the stairs every time they wanted a drink.
What has been your proudest moment?
That would probably be the lady who came to us one June saying she wanted an American kitchen on the lower ground floor of her unrenovated Victorian terrace, as well as a glass box extension and removal of an internal wall. “Oh, by the way, I’m pregnant, the baby is due in December and the work must be completed by then!” We did it on time to budget and the baby had a lovely new area of the house to grow up in.
What’s the biggest mistake people can make with interior design?
Not using a good interior designer is probably the facetious answer. And trying to think you can do it all yourself, especially the project management side of it all – it’s so much more than furniture and fabrics, it’s the structural work too. There is a reason we do it all for you.
Do you have a project you’d like our help with? Get in touch with London Contemporary.