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If you’re looking for the best information on creating your dream kitchen, bedroom or bathroom, look no further than Kitchens Bedrooms & Bathrooms magazine online.
We’ve selected our favourite features from Britain’s best-selling kitchen, bathroom and bedroom magazine, from wow-factor kitchen spaces, to sublime bathroom and bedroom sanctuaries. In fact, you'll discover all manner of expert planning advice for the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom as well as regular news of future designs bound for the home.
We also bring the latest and greatest home appliances to the fore, so whether you’re after a top-end professional oven for the kitchen, or the hottest designer showering system, KBB magazine online has got it covered. What’s more, we’ll bring you profiles of the industry’s best designers and their innovative designs that could take centre stage in your kitchen, bedroom and bathroom projects of tomorrow.
Of course, there’s much more in store in the latest issue of Kitchens, Bedrooms & Bathrooms magazine, which is on sale from March 4th. But, in the meantime, sit back, relax and enjoy our dedicated online service.
Jackie Daly, Editor
Well Considered
Above: "You will be hard pushed to find a better sofa anywhere,” says Conran of the generous Henry sofa, priced £995
Sir Terence Conran talks to KBB about his Well Considered range
Throughout economic boom and bust the message from camp Conran has been refreshingly consistent: to resist the temptation of ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ design in favour of furniture and furnishings fashioned to last. Sir Terence Conran isn’t a designer who grasps at trends for the sake of it. He has been a staunch supporter of longevity since he flung open the doors of his first Habitat store in 1964, touting a new take on intelligently designed homewares that shook the UK to its conservative core.
Habitat is now in the hands of the same group who owns Ikea, and its founder has long left the building, but the beliefs that built the success of Habitat live on at The Conran Shop, first opened on the Fulham Road in 1973 and now one of eight stores worldwide.
Above: Originally designed in 1956 by Lucian R Ercolani, the Plank table is made with a solid elm top and beech legs, priced £495
Success, says Conran, comes down to “intelligence, imagination, creativity, commonsense, perseverance, market awareness, determination, sensitivity and above all a thick skin of self-confidence. Perhaps these values appear to cancel each other out, but I believe they are all necessary attributes required for different times and in different situations.”
Market awareness would explain the recent arrival of the new Well Considered collection at The Conran Shop, described by the man himself as well designed, essential products for the home at exceptionally good value. Conran believes that the time is ripe for retailers to up their game to make products more appealing. “With the economic climate, the consumer will be investing their money more wisely in well-made, quality products that are built to last and, like me, grow old gracefully! We have done this.”
Well Considered targets a younger generation of customer perhaps looking for their first experience of The Conran Shop. “We recently undertook some customer research and you could say that Well Considered is our response to the findings and what our customers are telling us,” explains Conran. “They love to visit but perhaps cannot always find something in a suitable price range.”
Above: Priced £95 the Cross Light features a black cotton shade coupled with an oiled meh wooden tripod base
A snapshot of the price list reveals a capsule collection of furniture comprising a six-seater Plank Table – first designed by Lucian Ercolani in 1956 and produced by British company Ercol – priced £495; a pared-down Trestle Table designed by Conran and priced £395; and a Bentwood chair with a classic ’60s-style shape given a new lease of life in gloss green or red lacquer priced £95. Perhaps these price tags seem a little steep when compared to competitor ranges, but the quality of each piece speaks volumes – well designed, well made and ultimately well marketed.
“The packaging is wonderful and brings the whole collection together,” says Conran. “It was designed by my son Sebastian’s team at Studio Conran who collaborated with the Spanish artist Javier Mariscal.” The upshot is a vibrant, witty look that successfully reinvents The Conran Shop’s classic logo.
Above: The ’60s-style Bentwood chair has given a fresh look and is available in glossy green or red lacquer, priced £95
Asked which piece is his favourite, Conran says he is loathed to pick. “If it is going into The Conran Shop you can be sure I am keen on it,” he reasons, “but if pushed, the Henry Sofa is incredibly handsome and perfect for sprawling in. It has a generous blocky shape and for £995 you will be hard pushed to find a better sofa anywhere. It is also great that it is designed and made in the UK.”
Above all, though, Well Considered boasts the visual appeal of Conran’s signature style: a combination of simplicity, common sense, charm and a dash of the unexpected (see the cheese grater that has been transformed into a light). “There’s a sense of playfulness about it with some great flashes of colour,” concludes Conran.
The Conran Shop 0844 848 4000 or www.conranshop.co.uk
To see this article in its entirety, the October issue of KBB is on sale now or you can subscribe online here
