Jul 19

Jul 19 My New Brand Ambassador Role at Redbrick

Today, when you walk into Redbrick, the leading interiors destination in the North, you will walk straight into my living room. It has been recreated at the entrance to the complex, with products that you can buy all under the one roof. There will be a leaflet that you can pick up to "shop" my room from the 40 brands that Redbrick houses, along with guidance on which products to use and where to find them.

Today, I also announce my collaboration with Redbrick, as Brand Ambassador, which is about promoting this fabulous interior destination, in a number of ways, including a series of events that I will be hosting over the coming months.

Watch this space!

Many, many of you are already big fans of Redbrick, I know this because of the number of messages I receive every time I visit, but for those of you who have not heard about Redbrick yet, and live in the North (or who can travel to the North) here is a run-down.

Redbrick

Redbrick is situated just south of Leeds city centre in Batley. The complex is an old Victorian textile mill, which was very sympathetically restored over a 5-year period. The majority of the original features have been retained and sit comfortably alongside the contemporary additions, such as the glass lift.

Redbrick first opened its doors in 2000, with Habitat as its anchor store and it was restored one floor at a time with the top floor opening in 2004. Heal’s arrived in 2005 andMADE.COMchose Redbrick as its first showroom outside London in 2013.

Redbrick very quickly established itself as the Department Store for furniture and interiors and over the years have received positive recognition from the likes of Terence Conran.

The Redbrick ethos is that shopping for furniture should be an enjoyable experience and their objective is to provide customers with an inspirational / relaxed environment with a choice from many of the best furniture & interiors brands. This allows the customer the ability to create their very own style by combing products from different brands. For example, it allows the customer to view a table from Heal’s with chairs from Calligaris and create their very own style, just as I have done with items in my living room.

The open plan nature of the complex allows customers to enjoy a relaxed shopping experience and the level of service that they provide and attention to customer experience is very important to them.

Redbrick features high profile brands such as MADE.COM, Heal’s , Sofas & Stuff, Calligaris, BoConcept, Hülsta and it also works with small independent and emerging companies which allows them to incubate the business and grow organically alongside the major brands.

Redbrick has 3 cafés (some customers come to Redbrick for the cafés alone) Including Filmore & Union, the acclaimed Yorkshire restaurant brand, renowned for its delicious yet very healthy menus).

Brands at Redbrick

Redbrick is home to 40 stores and brands that most of us know and love, all under one roof. From BoConcept to MADE.COM, Sofas and Stuff to Calligaris, Heal's to Natuzzi, there is something for every budget and taste.

Let's look at some of the main ones I have chosen products from to style my room.

BoConcept

BoConcept is an iconic Danish brand aimed at bringing design-led, functional, quality furniture to your home, for your living room, bedroom, home office and dining room. You can mix and match furniture and textures and accessories to create a look that is unique to you.

Founded in 1952, BoConcept designs all of its furniture in-house. From sofas to chairs, wall units to TV units, there is likely a style and fabric that will work perfectly for you.

One of the most recent furniture additions to my living room came from BoConcept at Redbrick-the Imola Chair, which you can read all about here

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MADE.com

Everyone who follows me and my blog knows about the green sofa from MADE.COM; the Scott Sofa in Grass Cotton Velvet which you can shop through the product link towards the end of this post.

MADE.COM, headquartered in London was created to bring design to you by connecting you directly with the makers, cutting any hidden costs. MADE.COM retail online and through a network of showrooms across Europe and work with both industry big names and with new talent through their Talent Lab to bring you the best in design at a great price.

Redbrick houses MADE.COM's first flagship store outside of London which occupies the entire third floor, allowing you to go in and try before you buy.

Heal's

Heal's opened their first store in London over 200 years ago in 1810 and moved to their Flagship store in Tottenham Court Road in 1818. Heal's is an iconic furniture, accessory and lighting brand with 6 stores in the UK, with an extensive ground floor showroom at Redbrick. It has become known for promoting modern design and working with new and established global designers to bring you the latest items for your home; from beautiful smelling candles to Italian leather sofas.

Little Greene Paint Co.

Little Greene Paint is an independent paint and wallpaper manufacturer with records going back to 1773 on the outskirts of Manchester. The Company features English Heritage colours and was the first company in 2004 to sell Eco friendly paint and interestingly it is the preferred paint brand for many of the serious trade decorators.

Funktion Alley

Funktion Alley is a Scandinavian Company beginning life in 2006 in Malmo Sweden, with an award winning collection of furniture and accessories and a collection of Brands. The company is the UK Partner for Northern Lighting, Minus Tio, String, Light Years, STUA, Magis and Daro and opened in Redbrick in 2007.

The Design Quarter

The Design Quarter is home to a whole range of design-led brands such as contemporary and classic sofas from Sits and the Italian dining collection from Devina Nais, all of which can all be created to suit your size and space and there’s Content by Conran, to mention just a few.

DevotedTo

DevotedTo showcases a collective of British design brands including Mini Moderns, GPlan Vintage by Wayne Hemingway, Parris Wakefield, Fenton, Love Neon, &New, JamesUK, CoucouManou, Evermade. With a trend towards Midcentury and vintage this is great place to pick up something unique for your home.

Hope Gallery

Hope Gallery specialises in original art, print making and ceramics. They represent a refreshing combination of emerging and established British artists and International artists .

Smart Gallery

Smart Gallery is an independent Gallery showcasing limited edition art, sculpture, ceramics and glassware from regional and national artists.

Re-creating my Living Room

Here is the Mood Board and below the Products chosen from RedBrick which have been used to re-create my Living Room at the main entrance to the store.

Key to re-creating the room is the paint colour (a moody grey/blue) and two key pieces of furniture; My Imola Chair from BoConcept and my Scott Sofa from MADE.COM. I'm especially fond of darker colours as I find they make rooms cosy but what you add to the room is important too. The Scott Sofa "pops" against the dark walls and the leather of the Imola Chair compliments.

Texture is really important to me and I use it in all of my rooms, so I've chosen sheepskins, rugs, a hide stool and wooden furniture, cushions and faux plants, all of which you layer the room and create a "feeling", a cosiness, a place to relax.

Lighting should not be forgotten, in fact it is key in a darker room, especially in the winter. But don't just go for overhead lighting; task lights, floor lights and table lights all add to the atmosphere in a room and I rarely use my overhead light, especially when relaxing on an evening.