Interior Master-Class with Abigail Ahern

Interior Master-Class with Abigail Ahern

Saturday 1st October 2016

At Bedeck, we live and breathe interiors.  The bedroom and bathroom is a constant focus but more recently with the introduction of Murmur back in 2015, our first multi category home-ware brand... we are more now than ever looking at every room in the home. 

We travel, we explore and we grow our talent to ensure we deliver designs that sit lovingly in your home. 

A recent trip taken by Jill Magowan in our Marketing Department who experts in all things styling when it comes to photo-shoots, trade shows and showrooms was at Abigail Ahern’s master-class day at her beautiful home in London.  Described as the ‘High Priestess of Interiors’ Abigail’s master class was a huge source of inspiration and an interesting day of styling research for Jill to use back at Bedeck HQ for many exciting projects coming up in 2017.

Jill gives us a little insight into her exciting trip!

Sat 1st October

Wake up time... 3.30am to drive to Belfast City Airport for my 6.45am flight to London City.

The perfect airport to see all of London from above!

 

I landed at around 8.30am and I got the DLR line to Stratford... then onto Hackney Central.  Then I travelled onto the location by foot.

The Location

The start time was 10am and the weather decided to take a turn for the worst, so it was as quick as I could find the location.  Turning down onto the street my phone was navigating me to... Abigail’s House stood out from all the rest.  An instant feel could be felt from the road, the building’s exterior a moody grey... a contrast from the pristine white ones surrounding it.  Relief was felt that I knew where I was going (and could get shelter from the now pounding rain!)

The Master-Class

We all met in Abigail’s kitchen (about 15 of us) with Abigail making us all tea & coffee. We then proceeded upstairs to the 1st floor for the class to start.  I could instantly tell the class would be a well organised session.

Abigail firstly asked us all to introduce ourselves by asking what we wanted to get out of the day’s masterclass... a great way to start and break the ice with all the fellow attendees. 

Creating your Dream Home

Being an admirer of Abigail’s distinct interior style we started off chatting about ‘Creating your Dream Home’... and the rules she would live by to create it (if you could call them rules, as I would say she breaks the rules more than sets them... which we will get onto later).

Notes from class-

  • Layer, Layer and more layers. To add more intrigue to the room. Don’t over-think, the layers can add so much that the eye doesn’t know where to stop.
  • No more than 3 colours per room, when the colour palette is restrained you can automatically mix anything with everything and the room will look grander and sophisticated.

Abigail then discussed each room of the house... giving her advice on each area

Hallway

Abigail sees this as a very important room in the house... to be treated like a living room.  It instantly should make you feel cosy (the atmospheric charm of Abigail’s house was something I instantly felt entering her hallway, calming me down after my drenching from the London rain)

Play with scale, which creates tension and therefore creates magic. If colours are kept the same, and the same scale it can be seen as really boring.  So a Top tip from my days learning....Be Brave!

Kitchen

Introduce more living accessories if the room is open planned. Open planned storage means it draws the eye to rugs, art, shelves; paint everything out in the same colour as the wall then making everything on it look so much better.  Having ‘Living Room’ lighting in your kitchen creates a more interesting kitchen.

Dare to Be Different... add the unexpected items and accessories to your kitchen.

Dining Room

  • Go for a round/oval table with a mix of different chairs.
  • Lighting on dim
  • Candle lighting

Unusual pairings and a mix of materials create beautiful spaces.  Create friction & think outside the box, drawing attention away from the table.

Living Rooms

  • Create as many nooks as possible.
  • Take attention away from the TV. Paint the wall behind it a dark colour/add art behind it (anything you can do to distract from it!)
  • Vary the height of furniture.
  • Accessorize in layers, overlap and don’t be afraid to.

Bedrooms

  • More textures make’s the room look more appealing.
  • Console or dining tables rather than bedside tables makes the room more edgy and cooler & adds a bit of quirk. Abigail repeatedly talked about ‘CREATING FRICTION’... unexpected pieces that break interior design rules.

Bathroom

  • Don’t be afraid of colour
  • Think about layers
  • Play with scale
  • Vary heights
  • Balance traditional and temporary.

Abigail had the most amazing chandelier in her bathroom... that created mood and drama.

Top Tips for Breaking the Rules!

  • Working single colour to create magic and a sense of infinity. The room will look taller and grander.
  • Ceilings/trim/skirting/radiators/floors all the same colour which make your eye focus on other things in the room.
  • Proportion Play -things that are too big in small areas/oversized accessories.
  • Off Kilter symmetry - three frames on a wall, think different about symmetry.
  • Pair expensive with non expensive.
  • Add 3 focal points in a room.
  • Perfection is bland.
  • Buy from your heart... don’t follow trends.
  • Use neglected spaces.
  • Always use mirrors, expand horizons beautifully.
  • Arrange with attitude
  • Mix and match different wood textures.
  • Patterned rug, vases, painting – think of it as a herb to the overall recipe of your room.
  • Follow your own identity.
  • No doors, no shutters, no blinds, no curtains. The botanical greenery in her lovely garden acts as her curtains.
  • Treat your outside like your inside
  • The worst thing you can do is CONFORM!

After a lovely lunch stop we all then visited the Abigail Ahern Store on Essex Road to finish off the session.  The store was a lovely place to visit at the end of the day, her house is the perfect example of her work, style and rules, the store, the perfect place to buy items for your home to bring it all to life... a way of bringing something of what you had learnt home to start layering and accessorizing with beautiful faux flowers & interesting pieces.

It was then back to the tube and onward to Heathrow airport for my homeward journey.

I landed in Belfast City at 8.30pm... tired but feeling very inspired and enthusiastic about all I learnt. Taking away so many tips and inspirational ideas that I will use in my work and at home.