Cotswold Company Free Interior Design Advice in 5 Showrooms

Four things this week for anyone planning a room. Two furniture retailers are putting designers on the shop floor, Wickes says kitchen buyers are thinking harder before committing to bespoke projects, and trading standards have stopped two unsafe lights at the border. The first two items change where you can get design help without paying a fee, and what that help is for.

The Cotswold Company trials free interior design consultations

The Cotswold Company has launched a free interior design consultation service in five showrooms, at Stamford, Harpenden, Knutsford, Tunbridge Wells and Stow-on-the-Wold, Furniture News reported on 20 October. Each showroom has two trained interior advisers, who help with product choice, room planning, fabrics, finishes and colour, and pull different pieces into one scheme for a room. The service is a three-month trial, after which the company will consider rolling it out to its other showrooms.

Free advice from a retailer is worth having, especially for a single room, but it is advice on how to use that retailer’s range. It will not cover lighting plans, joinery, layout changes or sourcing from elsewhere, which is where an independent designer earns a fee. Go in with your room measurements, photos and a budget, and treat it as a first consultation you do not pay for. Is an interior designer worth it? sets out where the line falls, and interior designer fees in the UK shows what paid help costs. Source: Furniture News.

Sharps opens a design-led store with studio designers in Rugby

Fitted furniture maker Sharps has opened a 3,412 sq ft concept store at Elliott’s Field Shopping Park in Rugby, Furniture News reported on 22 October. It has room settings beyond the bedrooms Sharps is known for, and studio designers who work through first ideas and mood boards with customers before Sharps’ usual in-home design visit, when a designer measures the space. The company says it is expanding into home offices, living areas and boot rooms, and will plan more stores like it if this one works.

A free design visit from a fitted furniture firm is part of selling you its furniture, not an independent opinion. Getting two or three fitted quotes from the same measurements, and a price for freestanding pieces as a comparison, is the way to see what the built-in version really costs. Mood boards and 3D visuals explained covers what to ask for at the planning stage, and home office interior design covers one of the rooms Sharps is moving into. Source: Furniture News.

Wickes: kitchen buyers more cautious about bespoke projects

Wickes published its third-quarter trading update on 20 October, for the quarter to 26 September. Group revenue rose 4.5% to £439 million, led by its retail stores, which grew 6.0%. Its design and installation business, which sells fitted kitchens and bathrooms, was almost flat: revenue was £108 million, up 0.3%, and down 0.6% on a like-for-like basis. Lifestyle Kitchens and Bespoke Bathrooms grew, but Wickes said customers for its Bespoke Kitchen ranges were “more considered for larger purchases”, the number of projects stayed flat and the value of orders taken in the quarter was lower than a year earlier. It also said mild price inflation was starting to come through in retail after a long period of falling prices.

A retailer with flat kitchen orders is a retailer that wants your project, so this is a reasonable time to get quotes and to ask for installation, worktops and appliances to be priced separately. Our new kitchen cost guide gives typical figures, and kitchen interior design cost in London covers the design side. The update is on Investegate.

Two unsafe lights stopped at the border

The Office for Product Safety and Standards published two reports this week on lights rejected at the border after checks by local authority trading standards. On 21 October it reported an LED ceiling light, model JM6001, fitted with the wrong supply cord, which could overheat and melt its insulation or set nearby materials alight; it also failed an electric strength test and was missing safety instructions. On 22 October it reported a candle warmer lamp, model TL-167, a candle warming lamp with a built-in wall plug, whose mains wiring touched unearthed metal parts, giving a risk of electric shock.

Neither shipment reached buyers, but both types sell widely online. Buy ceiling lights from a seller you can trace, have a qualified electrician fit them, and check that any plug-in lamp comes with full instructions and a UK address for the seller. Our room lighting calculator helps you plan how much light a room needs. The notices are on GOV.UK: LED ceiling light and candle warmer lamp.