Before & After - Whimsical Interiors

Sometimes, just sometimes I agree to get involved in other people's interiors. When my lovely friend Costin, owner of Animal Magic the dog groomers in Church Street, Godalming got in touch to ask if I would help transform his space into something that reflected his new World Championship status how could I say no (he was very persuasive).  So I thought just in case it is helpful to anyone I would briefly walk you through the process of how I approached the redesign of this space into something that reflected the brand and Costin's larger than life personality. 

Here is the mood board I created in the first instance.

A starting point for this scheme was pretty easy.  Costin's logo was Red, Black & White, so I knew that whatever I needed to do was create a scheme that worked within these parameters.  The first thing I always do is create a physical moodboard. I am old school, I need bits of paper on a board not just digital prints. Obviously a key part of the project is knowing the needs of the customer, which were slightly different on this occasion as it is a shop so it's taking into account other practicalities and ensuring the scheme reflects the brand look. In this case I had just the logo to go on but also Costin's approach to life. The scheme needed to be eclectic, fun and classy.  (And no requirement to change layout).

I also wanted to use as much of the existing pieces that Costin owned as well as displaying his many trophies.  Along with the consideration of the logo, I took inspiration from traditional barbers with the red and white stripes and the whimsical circus theme.  Costin already owned a couple of teal velvet foot stalls so this helped with the colour choices.  I chose Green Smoke by Farrow & Ball to paint the back area of the shop to create a more luxurious feel which would also follow through on the panelling into the main shop area and pink castell (Little Greene) would be used for the walls and ceiling which were not covered in the wide striped wallpaper.

The first photo shows the before image of one of the walls of the shop.  You can see the space didn't have any cohesive look about it, just a little chaotic and confused as to what it was trying to be.

 Before

After

The shelves were created using homebase white shelves and then adding masking tape to the shelves to create a stripe.

The jukebox is Costin's own.

The lamp shades were Costin's own, I just ordered sufficient red cable that we could create a 5 prong light from one central place. You can just see this on the image below.

The light hanging from the window is from Dunelm. 

The cinema seats were sourced from ebay.

Styling included adding gold vintage frames along with rosettes Costin had won. Above.

Here are all 3 of my boys (above) helping me with the final bits of styling.  The window frames were painted in French Grey, Farrow & Ball. We sanded the floor and used a sealant. All pictures were removed and we had the rosettes professional framed. 

I sourced a number of plants from Wattle & Daub to add life to the front area and bring in more green.

Before.....

A key part of the project was to declutter the space of anything that wasn't working.   I also painted the fence between the main shop and the grooming area in green smoke to create a fluid feel. 

After....

The side cabinet was Costin's own, along with the lampshade and teal foot stalls.

I sourced different striped fabric by Ian Makin and Beverly made ruffle cushions along with the amazing seat cushion which is in the bay window.

Before......

After.........

One of the first images I printed out was a pic of a traditional circus.  I wanted to add a little more fabric into this space and I chose an Ian Mankin stripe that Beverly finished for me with the sewing machine and then helped me drape over a curtain pole to emphasise the entrance through to the back area.

I sourced this amazing print from Etsy, perfect colours and a Wire Fox Terrier. The breed Costin is most well known for.

Animal Magic at Christmas.