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By Z Golden
For the interior designers at House, nothing is impossible.
If you want classic French baroque furniture or a hand-made wooden table from Thailand, the team at House will make it happen. No corner of the world is too far.
And that’s what the 15-year old company has always strove to do: provide the BVI with home decor not found anywhere else on its islands. Though the store itself has been growing steadily, its interior design branch is becoming more and more prominent as the need for it arises.
Even before the hurricane, homeowners who either want to build their dream house or renovate their existing homes into spaces that they love have been coming to House for advice.
At the flagship store in Wickham’s Cay, what you see is not always what you get.
House itself stores goods and products from all over the world: anything from bedding to artisan foods. But if you’re looking to furnish your home, the design team is able to help you get exactly what you want.
“I always like to look for new and unusual pieces that you wouldn’t see anywhere else,” said Fran.
Hannah just joined the team at House in June and she’s been an interior designer in London for the past five years.
What does House Interior Design do?
“The interior design service that we provide is kind of higher-end. It’s people who want to have a whole design process done, so we’ll build a whole house. We’ll work alongside builders and architects. We’ll do the floor plans, room layouts, schemes, lighting, furniture, colors, everything. And then right down to the end, sometimes people want cutlery and you’ve then fitted out the whole house.”
What projects are you working on?
“We have between six and ten projects at the moment and all on different scales. A lot of people do like to do things themselves, and others have no idea how to do what they’re visualizing and get what they want without help.”
What is your style?
“I always love to re-use some of the loved pieces that a client has. You don’t want to have a house where everything is brand new and feel like a hotel room. It has to feel homey.”
What is your goal as a designer?
“I want people to walk into a room and say this is really beautiful, but not have it look over-designed. We want mismatching things and it works.”
How did you know you wanted to be a designer?
“I always knew I wanted to be a designer. When I was 15 I did some work experience for a lady in Jersey and I just knew it. I loved it.”
What kind of projects have you done in London?
“I worked on high-end residential country homes. We did a castle where Downtown Abbey is filmed. I did a nuclear fallout bunker and turned it into a bar.”
How would you describe the interior work you do in the BVI?
“Classic. Timeless.”
What colors “work” here?
“You can’t go wrong with blues and whites. People think you have to decorate with tons of colors but you don’t because you have tons of colors around you, so you’re competing with your environment. You can bring in color with your plants or cushions. Cushions are easily changeable and you’ll see that pop of color.”
Why is interior design service important?
“It’s important for people who know what they want but have no idea how to do it, and that’s most people. If this is your forever home you want it to be exactly what you want. If you want a sofa, there are not many places on island to go to get what you want. Plus people work really hard and it’s time-consuming, so we’re just taking that off their hands. There’s a lot of paperwork involved, and it’s making the whole process easier for people.”
