Thursday 21 October 2010

Jamie Hempsall Interior Design joins an elite number of winners as the UK Property Awards are revealed



If you are wishing to find the ultimate property related professionals across the length and breadth of the UK, where better to look than the winners’ list of a highly acclaimed industry competition? The results of the UK Property Awards in association with Bloomberg Television have just been announced, putting a chosen few leading companies firmly in the limelight, both nationally and internationally.

One of these rightly proud winners is Jamie Hempsall Interior Design which has won an award in the category of Best Interior Design – North East. Winners will be invited to attend a high profile property networking event and gala dinner at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in Hyde Park, London on November 26th and 27th during which they will be presented with their awards.

The event is part of the International Property Awards, the world’s most prestigious competition dedicated to finding the best real estate professionals across the globe. The fact that Jamie Hempsall Interior Design has won one of these coveted awards is proof that the Midlands is not only capable of competing at this level but also triumphing within the highly competitive UK property arena.

Entries from the top scoring winners of the UK Property Awards are currently being rejudged as they compete against other winning companies from Europe & Africa, the Americas, Arabia and Asia Pacific to find the ultimate World’s Best in each category. The results of the grand final of the International Property Awards will also be disclosed at the gala presentation dinner in London.

Much of the judging has been carried by the International Property Awards’ esteemed panel of judges at the London offices of Bloomberg Television but entries were also outsourced to leading experts in each particular field throughout the world. This year’s judges included Luke McKend, industry head property markets of Google UK; Peter Bolton King, group chief executive of the National Federation of Property Professionals; Christopher Hall, president elect of FIABCI; Thijs Stoffer, International Consortium of Real Estate Agents Association (ICREA); Fiona Nixon, chairman of the Australia Institute of Architects, Hendrik Nelde, president of FIABCI Belgium; Helen Shield, editor-in-chief of International Homes Luxury Collection magazine and Sven Johns, CEO of the German Real Estate Association.

Jamie Hempsall, Managing Director, said of winning the award, “I am absolutely delighted, it shows that good design is alive and kicking outside the M25! It is always thrilling to get good feedback from your clients, but to achieve an accolade judged by your peers in the property industry is especially rewarding.”

Jamie Hempsall is the Interior Design columnist for The Yorkshire Post Mid-Week Life & Style Section and a member of the British Institute of Interior Design.  Contact him on 0800 0321 180.

Friday 15 October 2010

The interiors retro love affair continues!

Interiors


Directly on the heels of London Fashion Week comes its Interior Design equivalent, Decorex, where companies showcase new products and design for the coming year. Interior Design Jamie Hempsall presents his picks of the season.

There is renewed optimism in the world of interiors with fabric companies launching a wider number of collections than we have seen in the last couple of years.

The big stories this autumn are geometrical patterns, as design companies continue their retro love affair with all things 1930s and 1950s, and stripes which are returning with renewed confidence and gusto.

There is nothing boring about any of these retro chic interpretations which may take influence from the mid 20th century, but have been updated with injections of strong colour and daring interpretation. Texture and comfort are also very important this season with a range of geometric patterns being introduced in tactile cut velvet. Of note too are some new digital printed fabrics being introduced (in particular by Designers Guild) which are blending photographic quality large prints onto intricate designs. These are bold and brash statements that herald the onslaught of a potential design revolution.

Here are my favourite picks from this season's collections.

The Juniper range from Harlequin (pictured above) is pure 1950s with wonderful visions of leaves (Orletta, £59/mtr) and seed heads (Kerria, £34/mtr or Spirea £52/mtr) in a range of colourways including red, purple and orange on simple backgrounds (www. harlequin.uk.com – 0845 123 6805).

There are brilliant re-interpretations of mid-20th century geometrical patterns in contemporary colours on plain backgrounds in the Casson Range from Romo which also features a series of relaxed woven stripes (from £42.50/m). The Ellise range of decorative weaves from Romo is a beautiful collection of soft contemporary cut velvets featuring almost art deco style patterns in bold, confident colour (from £129.95/m; www.romo.com – 01623 756 699).

The Mosaic velvet cut and loop pile range from Zoffany has a more muted colour palette, but provides a rich, plush feel. The striking designs are easy on the eye and would integrate well into any virtually any style of interior. Patterns have been cut and woven to create both visual and textural interest (£79/m; www.zoffany. com – 0844 543 4600).

More beautiful geometry is found in the Maharani range from Osborne & Little, a range of printed designs featuring interlocking cubes and handsome block stripes inspired by Armenian and Iranian architecture (from £34.08/m; www.osborneand little.com – 020 7352 1456).

Leading the way in the introduction of the modern stripe is Designers Guild with their Bernadini collection (in particular the Phipps and Egmont patterns). These are available in a wide range of imaginative colourways and feature exciting new types of velvet (£70/m; www.designers guild.com – 0207 893 7400).

Equally appealing is the new Oscura stripe from Osborne and Little. This is a range of two-tone stripes blackout fabrics (ideal for blinds and curtains) with a companion striĆ© plain in 16 different colourways (£29.38/m; details as before).

If you are looking for more lightweight fabrics then I would seek out the new collections from Malabar. Their Kilo range features simple, but effective lightweight and sheer linen cotton stripes in an array of muted colours (£29/m).

For those wanting something bolder, their Inka range includes more dramatic stripes and some heavy linen herringbone plains in stronger shades from earthy brown to juicy raspberry (£29/m; www. malabar.co.uk – 020 7501 4200).

A lot of the fabric ranges produced this season come with co-ordinating wallcoverings which echo their geometric designs and contemporary colours. The exciting news for decorators is that new production techniques mean that many ranges are now being developed in non-woven finishes so that you apply paste to the wall making hanging them far easier – seek these out for a hassle free makeover.

•You can contact Jamie Hempsall for advice or more details on any of the new season's ranges at www.jamiehempsall.com or on 0800 0321 180