It has taken me the last four weeks to get some sort of semblance of normality back into our lives, well I should be more precise I have finally worked through a skeleton of a routine with the children, to be able to work out which hours of the day would be mine to focus on work. In reality it is still very much a work in progress. So I can only keep my fingers crossed. Next week of course it will change again when we embark on the remote schooling…
We moved out of London just before lock down and arrived at the lovely farmhouse, (we started renting it in October). We are incredibly lucky to have been able the escape to the country, without the locals sending us back to the city (we have very much kept ourselves to ourselves as we felt rather like lepers) but it has meant I have left my office and its contents behind and all my reference points - the drawers and drawers of meticulously labelled and categorised samples from colour charts to tiles to fabric swatches to wood finishes the list is endless. Slowly I am trying to rebuild a home office here, but thankfully I still have my love of design and a fully stocked head of ideas and Annie back in London.
Currently I am sitting in our spare room at our old dining room table, set up as both as my desk and also my sewing machine station! I have a lovely view looking out over the fields but do struggle with the sun in my eyes as currently no curtains anywhere! Like everyone I had huge expectation of what I was going to achieve while in self isolation but to date that has been disappointing. Leaving so much behind I have had to make do with what I had in storage... Annie keeps reminding me not to be so hard on myself but like all of us I worry hugely and what the world is going to look like or be like when we come out of this.
Our interior design work has more or less dried up as we relied so heavily on face to face interactions with our gorgeous clients bringing endless ideas and designs to the table. Sitting discussing it all and understanding how light for example plays such an important part and the flow of the spaces, the use of each space and the importance of holding our clients hands and making them believe in us. That said I have been busy trying to work out how to keep work coming in and trying to think outside the box of what we can offer. We have very recently set up our online shop but with so many of our precious finds it is impossible to ship them (we simply can't get insurance) so ideally again we need to bring them to our clients or arrange times for them to come to us. We do of course have other products that we can send so please do have a look at our webshop and any constructive feedback is hugely welcome.
Looking at the interior design industry and having been in touch with many of our trusted suppliers and luckily many of who can work safely during the Covid-19 crisis. It is so important that we try as much as we can to support these small businesses and the skills and craftsmanship and livelihoods that they represent. We are offering free telephone design consultations with any promise of ordering fabrics etc from us.
We started as a small London based interior design duo but despite being separated, Annie working from her kitchen table in London and myself in Wiltshire we are still finding new ways to work together, thank goodness for virtual technology.
Please do get in touch as we would love to hear from you and help in anyway we can.
Stay safe, healthy and sane.
With much love Anna x
