Linley Interiors Blogger Event

LINLEY is one of London's foremost bespoke furniture designers; they also do interior design, tableware, luxury gifts and collectable pieces. I was really excited to be invited to a Christmas drinks event for a group of lifestyle and interiors bloggers. I have to admit, I've always been too scared to go into their beautiful shop on Pimlico Road in case alarms went off as I stepped in, and a snooty Pretty Woman-style sales assistant glides over and tells me to leave as I'm obviously in the wrong shop. I still felt a little out of place, like pressing my poor face up to a window of luxury and bespoke-realness that I will never be able to afford. But if you are passing, I urge you to pay a visit - the staff are lovely and inviting, and incredibly down to earth. And the shop is a showroom of breathtaking design that is well worth a look round.  

Different 'rooms' are set up round the shop so you can see how the furniture might work with other items from LINLEY. I loved this 'Art Deco' style room (above). Is is Art Deco? I'm not even sure, but it had the look of a 1930's film star's decadent dressing room. Will you look at that vanity table in the background! Swoon. Obviously the chair (below) isn't Art Deco, but the rose gold back gave this Scandanavian style design an elegant touch of glamour. 

To find out more about the chair and take a look at some of the 'rooms' within the shop you can watch my short vlog (in which I am also talked through a bespoke cocktail cabinet by its designer. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it - truly one of the beautiful pieces of design EVER!) - 

Although customers can purchase items from the shop floor, LINLEY also offers a service to tailor solutions to individual clients. Oh the lucky people that can have something made specially for them by one of the store's six in-house designers! By the way, although everything is expensive, you have to understand the amount of work done from the consultation stage with clients to the design process and crafting. You can see in my video when we look at the cocktail cabinet just how much thought and skill goes into each piece. For those just wanting an elegant trinket for the home, or a gift, LINLEY also sells some extremely nice candles, in wood or metallic porcelain, starting at £35, which smell as good as they look. Side note: we were advised to smell coffee beans between sniffs of each candle - this is like cleansing the nose palate apparently! 

LINLEY was founded in 1985 by David Linley, or Viscount Linley to give him his official title. He's the son of Princess Margaret and the Queen's nephew (and his daughter was one of the cuter than cute bridesmaids at Will's and Kate's wedding). Starting out as a shop on the King's Road where David sold his designs, there are now other LINLEY retail stores, as well as the online store and a concession in Harrods - but 60 Pimlico Road remains the flagship. After meeting some of the designers it's evident to see that there is still a passion for craftmanship and making beautiful things; they are known for their use of marquetry - a highly labour intensive and intricate process to decorate wood. This is so exquisite and impressive, but I also love the fun and simplicity of some of the designs - such as the giant rulers (below) that can be used for charting the height growth of children. I would love to get one for my niece! 

   

   

   

We were each given a copy of David Linley's beautiful book Extraordinary Furniture, which FYI is currently half price in the LINLEY sale. This hardback in a gold dust jacket makes an excellent present - sumptuous pictures detailing the history of furniture design and craftmanship, what's not to like? Thank you LINLEY for such a decadent and fascinating event. It was an honour to be talked through some of the stunning pieces by their designers, and I now know that LINLEY is not in the least bit scary a place to visit.