Where do interior designers shop? For starters, it’s a valid question steeped in mystery. But in this blog, we unveil some of our favourite, go-to suppliers by walking you through one of our recent, coveted projects, the Isle of Wight Project.
Armed with April Hamilton’s list of suppliers, it’s easy to get lost in a world of high end, high quality pieces. After all, our supplier database is home to hundreds of fantastic businesses. Where do you begin?
It’s important to remember that each project is unique, containing numerous briefs. To this end, we carefully tailor our choice of supplier, pulling together styles and schemes to support and manifest our client’s vision.
Over the years, we’ve worked tirelessly to build working relationships with some of the most incredible suppliers. By taking you through our Isle of Wight project, you’ll get to know more about a handful of them and hear what they have to say.
We completed the interiors of this spectacular Isle of Wight home, an idyllic coastal residence that echoes the murmur of the sea, only a short stroll away. With 6 bedrooms and en suites, it’s the perfect location for full-time living. With the help of a few trusted suppliers, we transformed the interiors into a soulful habitat for our clients.
First, in the living room, we leaned on Tom Faulkner, designers of modern and contemporary handmade furniture to conjure up a dashing, bespoke collection consisting of a living room coffee table, side table, console table and kitchen coffee table. Drawing creative inspiration from Mother Nature, we combined soft greys, creams, and the warmth of amber to create a harmonious balance of colours, reflecting the natural woodland surrounding the home and the sea beyond.
“We worked with April Hamilton earlier this year to create some pieces for a project they were working on on the Isle of Wight. They wanted to make sure that the AH house style shined through, and create a comfortable, welcoming and beautiful interior for their clients to enjoy.
All of our furniture is manufactured at our workshop in Swindon, and our team of welders and finishers are experts in what they do. Rosie and Charlotte chose to use a smoked bronze glass top and shelf for the Lexington coffee and side tables, and we love the final look, which complements the rest of the room. For the Siena coffee table they opted for an Eramosa marble top, which adds a touch of luxury, whilst in keeping with the colour scheme of the room. We love how April Hamilton have used some bolder and darker pieces to tie elements of the design together.” Tom Faulkner
A spacious entrance warmly greets guests with our addition of a soft colour palette from Little Greene paint company, bespoke rugs from Jacaranda and bespoke furniture from the April Hamilton collection. We also added an entrance chest and kitchen living trunks from Andrew Martin. The trunks are practical and elegant in design. To create an inviting environment, we paired the Andrew Martin vintage trunk with a sofa with studded detail, warm colours, and bold Aztec-inspired, geometric-design cushions.
“April Hamilton Interiors have used our products in a skilful way. The layering of materials, colours and shapes all amount to give the interiors an overall texture which define the look and feel of a space. Glossy surfaces like the polished chrome of our Livingstone Steamer Trunk, shiny marble and smooth leather all in tonal shades give the room a sleek, modern texture. We are always pleased to see our products being used in projects and it has been great working closely with Rosie and Charlotte. We look forward to seeing more Andrew Martin in their future projects.” Andrew Martin
This beautiful, glamorous, and sophisticated dining room was brought to life courtesy of premium and luxury table decorations at Amiramour. Whether our client is hosting a dinner party, festive celebration or simply enjoying a quiet evening at home; Amiramour’s choice of table settings is truly exquisite.
“From the very beginning my vision for Amiramour was to carefully curate and source only the best pieces for our clients that can transform each meal into a pure moment of exquisite life. We are very particular when selecting collections ensuring we fuse timeless elegance and quality craftsmanship for our designer clients, which is why designers ensure they’re presented so eloquently and beautifully just like April Hamilton has here.” –Mirabela at Amiramour
A set of eloquently simple, handcrafted lighting pendants from Arcform set a modern twist of delicacy. These brushed brass and matte black pendant lights feature a black surface and brass interior. They’re extra special because each light is hand-wrapped from a single strip of brass or copper. The result is uniquely stunning.
“April Hamilton approached us to create a stunning chandelier as a centrepiece for the dining room. An oval, multi-pendant chandelier was agreed on, mirroring the shape of the dining table and finishes that complemented the overall scheme. As this required a completely bespoke design, Arcform and April Hamilton worked to hone the overall size and shape of the chandelier and the proportions of each individual lamp. All our lights are manufactured in their Warwickshire workshop and all component parts sourced in the UK – we have total flexibility and control over both the design and manufacturing processes, enabling the design to be tailored exactly to April Hamilton and their client’s requirements. The resulting design required a bespoke lamp, more slender than our standard, and a bespoke oval ceiling plate. The result is a stunning, 25 pendant chandelier finished in a custom gold and charcoal black, gold twisted cable and a matching gold ceiling plate.” – Jen at Arcform
The bespoke, handmade oval rug we had made for the dining room which you’ll see when looking through the project, was from Jacaranda and is not only visually striking, it’s also built to last. Flooring is truly an integral and important part of design, enabling flow between how the furniture and designs work together. Without rugs to soften the scheme, the overall design would look unfinished. By using a rug to section off an area, it’s easy to create a purposeful space, as we’ve done for the entrance seating.
“We are delighted that our Agra and Arani rugs feature in April Hamilton’s stunning Isle of Wight project. Agra, the one featured in the entrance hall and living room is Jacaranda’s deepest pile rug, hand-woven by skilled artisans from a 50/50 blend of wool & Tencel™ offering a truly indulgent look & feel. The elegant armchairs poised on the Agra rug create a classically styled seating nook and against the oak parquet the Arani rug perfectly frames the oval dining table.
At Jacaranda we specialise in creating hand-woven, tactile textures in carpet and rugs from sustainable fibres, wool and Tencel™. Tencel™ is a botanic fibre produced from sustainably grown forests which transforms into carpets and rugs that reflect the light for an incredible silk-like shine.” Dan at Jacaranda
Porta Romana supplied lighting throughout this project. To see why we love their lighting work, consider the Giacometti Leaf Lamp (right), which is a classic Porta Romana design. On the other hand, the Constance Lamp (left), paired with a silk shade and champagne interior, draws inspiration from Japanese ceramics. With its sharp, curved pleat design, it pays homage to origami. In both spaces, the lamps seamlessly accentuate the overall ambience.
“Finished in Dappled White, the Constance complements the refined and neutral palette of this hallway beautifully, and can also be used as a finishing touch for bold and decorative interiors. When looking through this project in April Hamiltons Portfolio, you’ll see the bronze finish being used for the study desk. The Giacometti Leaf has been finished in Chalk, tying together the muted tones and subtle textures of the console table setting.
We have worked with Charlotte and the team at April Hamilton for a few years now and they have been nothing but professional, friendly and a pleasure to work with, we could not recommend them more highly!” Porta Romana
Wallpaper is a key contender in creating visually-striking interior design. Budget-permitting, textured wallpaper transforms a room by softening acoustics, warming the space, creating subtle detail and interest. It also forms a subtle link between the furniture and the walls. Here, we opted for wallpaper from Stereo Interiors, which features in the living room (notice the texture and colour in the previous image featuring the Porta Romana Leaf lamp). We also used the distinct textured wallpaper in the master bedroom.
“April Hamilton selected some of our newest linen wallcoverings (Durham and Newport) to work within their organic, nature-inspired, scheme on the Isle of Wight. Stereo finishes are predominantly made from natural materials and both Durham and Newport exemplify that ethos, having been woven from fine Belgian linen. Rose and Charlotte skilfully used the subtle, tonal qualities of both materials to provide a smart yet discreet backdrop against which the more overtly glamourous elements of the scheme are able to shine. Inspired product selection and astute design have resulted in an interior of unquestionable style and luxury.” Stereo Interiors
We sourced living room fireplace wall lights from Vaughan Designs. Notice the large textured lamp sitting on top of the Andrew Martin trunks and the lamp in the reading area of the study. All working beautifully to add a sculptural natural element to the design.
We also paired the Bolzano Table Lamp, which is inspired by the shape of an hourglass, with a silk shade to compliment the armchair fabric. The beautiful view of the sea pulls this space together wonderfully.
“This stylish and contemporary reading area in the study has been cleverly designed by April Hamilton using the bronze Bolzano table lamp to great effect in this scheme. The lamp adds gravitas to the room with a combination of its size, texture and colour – it has an unusual hour glass shape with a textured metalwork in solid brass with a bronze finish. The scale of each piece from the lamp, table and chairs has been carefully considered to create a space which is both functional and sophisticated. Vaughan has worked for many years with April Hamilton supplying lighting for their elegant schemes” Vaughan Designs
Many of April Hamilton’s projects are outfitted with artwork sourced from the Trowbridge Gallery. We appreciate that each project caters to a unique personality and that’s why we tend to work with Trowbridge Gallery. For this coastal home, we opted for intricately hand-embroidered, one-of-a-kind, beaded textile art made exclusively for Trowbridge Gallery by Ankasa.
“With such a huge range of hand-made artwork categories to choose from at Trowbridge – from signed limited editions, archival photographs, fine art aquatints and hand embroidered textiles, the best sellers often vary as clients tend to choose a range to ensure they have the perfect piece for every area of their interior.
The fact that Trowbridge is hand-made in the UK has become increasingly important to clients over the years – not only do more and more people want to buy UK made but also, as we control all aspects of production, we’re confident the high quality of artwork you receive is exactly what you would expect from Trowbridge.” Jessica at Trowbridge Gallery
Earlier this year, we published a blog detailing our approach to creating space for artwork, which you can access here.
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