Harrogate interior designers share their top spring trendsSuccessful interior design duo launches new Harrogate studio

This article is sponsored by Lapicida

From working on each other’s kitchen tables, to launching a stylish new Harrogate design studio, Rachael Webber and Justine Kirkham have come a long way in just three years.

Their business, Stylesmith Interiors, has gone from strength-to-strength, with a surge in demand caused by the pandemic seeing them move to bigger premises on Cold Bath Road.

Modern space

The building, which formerly housed Fit Harrogate and the Joy organic food store, has been transformed into a modern space, which will allow the interior designers to meet clients and network with architects and builders, along with others involved in their projects.

As a retail space, it has been tricky to run a profitable business due to the lack of footfall. Joy closed its doors in August, less than a year after opening its doors.

There’s hope the design studio will be a much better fit, as there isn’t the reliance on passing trade.

The new design studio shows off the duo’s style

Justine said:

“In the middle of lockdown we were accumulating more and more things, as obviously construction carried on. So whereas we thought everything was going to slow down, as it turned out, we were busier than ever. It was great, but also it meant that it was absolute chaos with all the boxes of samples etc.”

The duo soon realised they needed more room, so found a unit at Hornbeam Park.

When they were told the building was going to be demolished and redeveloped after 18 months at the site, it was the push they needed to move to bigger premises.

Read more:

After looking at lots of similar office buildings that were tucked away, they realised when everything reopened after lockdown, their clients wanted to visit them in person.

Rachael said:

“This building just happened to come up and we thought it was a bonus that we are visible, but we are not retail so we don’t need the footfall like a retail shop. We are very happy and we love it. “

Experience

Both Justine and Rachael have previously worked for large interior design companies and have 30 years of experience between them. Rachael also has a background in fashion.

The kitchen area downstairs

Justine said:

“What we have realised is you get very much dragged into this corporate set-up where it’s all about sales figures and data and systems and it takes away all the creativity in what you are doing. So when we started talking originally, that was the bit that bugged us.

“We thought it needs to be more client-focused, where it’s all about their experience. So we decided to set-up ourselves.”

To complement the skills of their interior design team, Justine and Rachael also partner with experts and suppliers across the homebuilding and renovation industry. These include builders, architects, kitchen and bathroom suppliers and curtain manufacturers.

The new space, painted in Little Greene’s Harley Green, features elements of design that act as a showcase for the duo’s style. A studio downstairs houses samples, including material, paint and tiles.

Rachael said:
“The space shows what we can do. We have kept it very clean and haven’t gone glitzy. It’s much more how most people actually choose for their houses to be. A bit more colour, to push people outside their comfort zones slightly, but without being blingy.”

The kitchen area in the new studio

Understated

The pair said they didn’t have a specific style when it came to their design ideas, however, personally they had an “understated” take on design.
There are plethora of talented interior designers in Harrogate and a lot of new housing developments and renovation projects going on at the moment.
Some of these also have their own showrooms in the town. To stand out from the crowd, each have their own distinct style, allowing them to become successful in their own right.
Justine and Rachael’s understated modern design already clearly speaks to a lot of people.
Recently I’ve found myself being a fan of maximalism. This is a style that embraces the all-out: beautiful colour palettes, luxurious textiles, patterns and embellishment, Just last month I did an interior design masterclass with Joanie Mac, where I discovered I was very much drawn to that particular style.
But the simple elements of design Justine and Rachael have a lot of appeal.
For example embellishments, like the black taps in their downstairs bathroom and eye-catching blue patterned tiles, made the small space look luxurious.
It is interior design that is accessible.
Justine said:
“We are not trying to be this super duper London-style – very uber cool. Because that doesn’t work up here. But equally we don’t want to be at the blingy, over-the-top end..
“Some people want this very Scandinavian style. We have got loads of people wanting the slightly industrial style. We are doing a barn conversion at the moment where it is very grand, so we are putting a bit of oomph into that. It all depends on the client.”

Compliment

Justine added that they also complimented each other as designers, describing herself as ‘a starter’, who loved gritty building sites and tearing walls down, while Rachael enjoyed adding the finishing touches.
And despite interior designers traditionally been associated with the rich and famous, the pair were keen to stress that anyone could hire their services – even me for my humble 80s semi.
Justine said:
“For example if you wanted to put in a new kitchen or bathroom, or you are looking at flooring or you wanted to knock a wall down, then we are your gals.
“Everybody is doing extensions and creating open-plan living spaces. When you extend and you suddenly have all these masses of space, that’s when you need someone to help you make that work. This is because more often than not, you end up with a very echoey, cold space.

A studio downstairs houses samples, including material, paint and tiles

Stylish

She added that many developers would request neutral schemes, but this could still have a hint of colour, such as a blue or green. This would often lead to properties selling more quickly and for extra money, as they would look more stylish.
I completely agree with this, as, like them, I believe colour can still be neutral. I am definitely not about the magnolia life.
Justine said:
“The whole point for us is we want to be this much more approachable interior design set-up. So it’s not about feeling worried about walking through the door.
“If people come in we will give them a warm welcome and chat about their project and potentials and what they are thinking of doing. That is key really, it feels really intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. It doesn’t have to be really expensive.
Harrogate interiors masterclass has boosted my confidence with design

This article is sponsored by Lapicida

As a nation, we have always taken great pride in our homes.

And in the age of Pinterest and Instagram, online shopping and interiors influencers, it has become easier than ever to have a go at being an interior designer.

You only have to look at the continuing success of glossy magazines like Ideal Home, as well as popular TV shows like Changing Rooms and Grand Designs, to recognise we have a huge fascination with transforming our homes.

And in 2021 – after 18 months of being very much at home – we are more obsessed than ever.

Guilty pleasure

Interior design is well and truly having a moment and I am here for it. My guilty pleasure on an evening when the kids have gone to bed is trawling through Instagram and screenshotting all the gorgeous images of people’s homes. I’m also a Rightmove addict and I read every interiors magazine I can get my hands on.

A rear view of Joanie’s renovated home on Wetherby Road.

So when Harrogate interior designer Joanie Mac invited me to join one of her masterclass dayschools at her own incredible home in Harrogate, it was a no-brainer.

While I have tried to absorb every tip and piece of knowledge passed on by designers, I will admit I’m still pretty clueless. I know when something works in my home, but I don’t necessarily know why.

So when I rocked up to Joanie’s house on Wetherby Road on Sunday morning at 9.30am, I couldn’t wait to get stuck in.

Fabulous

Joanie’s home is everything you expect from an interior designer. Completely fabulous. Obviously I couldn’t stop myself having a nosy at all her quirky furniture, artwork, accessories and bold colour schemes. I was like a kid in a sweet shop.

Joanie’s fabulous open-plan sitting area and dining room.

I was joined by four other students from a variety of backgrounds. There was a mum who attended with her art student daughter, an upholsterer and a primary school teacher, who was planning on changing her career.

After a welcome cup of coffee, we all took a seat at Joanie’s white marble kitchen island and began our first lesson of the day on colour theory.

“Colour is such a powerful thing,” explained Joanie, as she showed us various colour schemes and images and explained why they worked or didn’t.

“Colour changes everything.”

Four seasons

Joanie explained how colours can be broken down into the four seasons. Spring features bright vibrant colours, summer is more muted, soft and “flowery”, autumn is dark and cocooning, while winter, again with its darker tones, has a more “masculine edge”.

Apparently these colours play to our personalities and most of us usually fall into two seasons.

Joanie said:

“The big thing about colour is it can pull everything together – the things you wouldn’t think match. But you have to use it to create cohesiveness not choppiness.”

After another cup of coffee – it was a Sunday after all – Joanie took us on a tour of her house, which she has renovated and decorated to showcase her ideas and methods.

Read More: 

With her walls painted predominantly in Little Owl, a soft warm grey by Fired Earth, Joanie explained that she had used furniture, accessories and lighting to inject colour and bring her home to life. Her rule is to stick to three colours and use variants of these in each room.

Exhibition

Joanie’s home is like one big beautiful exhibition and it certainly gave me some inspiration – from her mixture of vintage and modern design to the way she had hung a stunning floral dress on the wall as a piece of art.

A pretty floral dress can be used as a piece of wall art.

Importantly she had made everything flow by using the “red thread” concept. The idea is that you use this when decorating your own home to link the spaces and bind them together as a whole house, rather than just a series of rooms linked by passages.

For example you could use a splash of blue in all of your rooms. The idea is you must never decorate a room in isolation but consider the property as a whole.

Patterns and textures

After we had explored her house, including her amazing garden, Joanie spoke about patterns and textures.

She said:

“It’s about the friction between the textures. You don’t want to overload the room, but you want to create friction.”

Joanie takes us on a tour of her amazing home.

She suggested sticking to three textures in the room, using accessories like rugs, cushions, wallpaper and vases, and to also make sure you add plenty of green with plants.

It was then time to get stuck into some practical work. We were asked to cut up pictures from interior magazines of images we were drawn to, as well as fabrics and wallpapers, and stick them down to create a mood board.

Art project

This was actually lots of fun, as I’m so used to doing this sort of thing digitally on Pinterest. It felt so much more satisfying to actually create a board with something tangible. It was like doing a school art project and I found it really therapeutic.

Part of my moodboard.

We were then told to write down the first five words that came into our heads to describe ourselves. And it turns out our moodboards, and the colours and textures we used to create them, actually said a lot about us as people.

Brave

Initially I was quite reserved and almost needed permission from Joanie to go nuts with colour and texture. It turns out this summed up the anxious side of my personality perfectly. Once I relaxed into it, I started adding floral patterns, velvet, metallics and bright pink, and somehow it actually worked. I already felt braver when it came to putting this into practice at home.

After lunch on a naturally beautifully-laid table, featuring wooden serving platters, vintage cutlery and decorated with sprigs of rosemary, we looked at seven iconic design styles and learned about the style elements for each one. These were:

Lunch is served on a beautifully-laid table.

We also learned briefly about lighting and how this can transform your space, before moving on to creating vignettes.

A vignette, in terms of interior design, is a tiny, curated style statement, made up of a group of objects that are displayed on a shelf, a table, or elsewhere in the home.

Vignette

We had been asked to bring five objects from our own houses. Mine included an old framed photo of my great grandmother, an antique cigarette box and a vintage coffee tin.

Joanie then made a vignette using each of these items, as well as some of her own accessories, and her creations were really impressive.

We learned to look at them through a picture frame as an individual piece of art and to also contain some of the items, for example on a tray or under a glass cloche, which was extremely effective. Again it was interesting what we all chose to bring, interior design really is about you and projecting your personality.

One of the vignettes created by Joanie using items from my home.

I finished the day feeling really relaxed, but also motivated and excited about putting all the new skills I had learned into practice in my own home.

I am definitely going to be more adventurous with both colour and texture. If think something is going to work in a space, whether that be a really dark paint, a crazy patterned rug, or a random fabric, I’m going to be more confident to give it a go.

After all, my home is a reflection of me and I now feel brave enough to embrace it.

My favourite styling tips from the day:

 

Learning about colour with Joanie.