We've just completed a fitness studio in Nottinghamshire for Outklass Fitness who specialise in one to one personal training. The emphasis was on quality and practicality to reflect their core values. The design included plenty of natural finishes (wood, stone & leather) with luxury changing rooms and discrete offices for mentor sessions.
See full details at:
http://www.jamiehempsall.com/case-study/outklass-fitness-studio/
Monday, 30 November 2009
Monday, 23 November 2009
Temporary bed solutions to beat the Christmas Crush!
Yorkshire Post - Wednesday 18th November 2009
Interiors - Sleeping Solutions
Christmas is a time for seeing friends and family, but sometimes the logistics can be a nightmare. Interior Designer Jamie Hempsall looks at how to beat the crush.
If your family is anything like mine, then you will now be involved in delicate negotiations over who is going where for Christmas. The coming weekss can often lead to houses bursting at seams with a steady parade of friends, relations and well-wishers.
Critical to the success of any celebration has to be the sleep solutions to ensure that all of your revellers can settle down for a decent nights rest after a day of fun – to awake bright and early to help you with the clearing up (or at least make you a cup of tea when you have finished it!).
If you have more guests than bedrooms it can be a bit of a challenge, but there are plenty of stylish and practical solutions out there to help you provide superb accommodation; without having to move home.
One of the great inventions of the modern age has to be the inflatable mattress, which nowadays seem to have reached new heights of sophistication (quite literally with raised models the same height as a normal bed).
No longer the uncomfortable beach lilos that many of us were used to in childhood, these options now often come with “no roll together” zones and integrated motors so that no one need get a hernia trying to inflate them.
Their key advantage has to be that whilst offering sleeping room equivalent to a full size bed, they often fold up to the size of a small bag when not in use (perfect for storing in cupboards or the loft). Consider solutions from Aerobed (www.aerobed.co.uk; 00 800 00 20 20 00 – from £59.99) or Scotts of Stow (www.scottsofstow.co.uk; 0844 482 5555 – from £69.95).
Chair beds are another great solution, particularly in child or teenage bedrooms where they can successfully lead a double life as an everyday piece of furniture and a quick sleepover solution.
These are both practical and reasonable and are likely to see more use throughout the year as you welcome a few more school friends over. Most seem to favour colours and designs appropriate for a youthful decorating solution, so you may not be as keen to feature them in your living room.
Children’s furniture and accessory company, ASPACE, offer the terrific Dotty Chair Bed (£245; www.aspace.co.uk – 0845 872 2400) which is also available in Blue & White Stripes. On a similar vein B&Q sell the Pumpkin Teens 2 Bed Candy Stripe (£75; www.diy.com or visit your local store).
If you have a little more room and a bigger budget then the trusty sofa bed is the ideal solution. The key to choosing a great bed solution is to check the depth of the mattress that you will be offering, some are frankly too thin and you might as well let your guests sleep on the floor.
Additionally, check the width of the sleep area available as frames can often be a lot smaller than a normal bed and not exactly comfortable for two grown adults to share. If you are going to house this in a living room, rather than a bedroom or study, check that they are also comfortable to sit on to ensure you do not end up with a white elephant.
The Multy from Ligne Rosset offers a super chic solution for the modern interior (from £1,928; www.ligne-roset.co.uk – 0870 777 7202).
Whatever your chosen solution, send your guests off to bed with a selection of warm hot water bottles and you are guaranteed to create cherished memories of family sleepovers that will last for years to come.
Jamie Hempsall is one of the region’s leading interior designers and a member of BIDA. Visit him at www.jamiehempsall.com or contact him on 01777 248463.
Interiors - Sleeping Solutions
Christmas is a time for seeing friends and family, but sometimes the logistics can be a nightmare. Interior Designer Jamie Hempsall looks at how to beat the crush.
If your family is anything like mine, then you will now be involved in delicate negotiations over who is going where for Christmas. The coming weekss can often lead to houses bursting at seams with a steady parade of friends, relations and well-wishers.
Critical to the success of any celebration has to be the sleep solutions to ensure that all of your revellers can settle down for a decent nights rest after a day of fun – to awake bright and early to help you with the clearing up (or at least make you a cup of tea when you have finished it!).
If you have more guests than bedrooms it can be a bit of a challenge, but there are plenty of stylish and practical solutions out there to help you provide superb accommodation; without having to move home.
One of the great inventions of the modern age has to be the inflatable mattress, which nowadays seem to have reached new heights of sophistication (quite literally with raised models the same height as a normal bed).
No longer the uncomfortable beach lilos that many of us were used to in childhood, these options now often come with “no roll together” zones and integrated motors so that no one need get a hernia trying to inflate them.
Their key advantage has to be that whilst offering sleeping room equivalent to a full size bed, they often fold up to the size of a small bag when not in use (perfect for storing in cupboards or the loft). Consider solutions from Aerobed (www.aerobed.co.uk; 00 800 00 20 20 00 – from £59.99) or Scotts of Stow (www.scottsofstow.co.uk; 0844 482 5555 – from £69.95).
Chair beds are another great solution, particularly in child or teenage bedrooms where they can successfully lead a double life as an everyday piece of furniture and a quick sleepover solution.
These are both practical and reasonable and are likely to see more use throughout the year as you welcome a few more school friends over. Most seem to favour colours and designs appropriate for a youthful decorating solution, so you may not be as keen to feature them in your living room. If you have a little more room and a bigger budget then the trusty sofa bed is the ideal solution. The key to choosing a great bed solution is to check the depth of the mattress that you will be offering, some are frankly too thin and you might as well let your guests sleep on the floor.
Additionally, check the width of the sleep area available as frames can often be a lot smaller than a normal bed and not exactly comfortable for two grown adults to share. If you are going to house this in a living room, rather than a bedroom or study, check that they are also comfortable to sit on to ensure you do not end up with a white elephant.
Whatever your chosen solution, send your guests off to bed with a selection of warm hot water bottles and you are guaranteed to create cherished memories of family sleepovers that will last for years to come.
Jamie Hempsall is one of the region’s leading interior designers and a member of BIDA. Visit him at www.jamiehempsall.com or contact him on 01777 248463.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Charity starts at your home for a minimalist makeover
Yorkshire Post - 4th November - Mid Week Life & Style Section
Interiors
Give your unwanted furniture to a good cause and give yourself the gift of space. Interior Designer Jamie Hempsall reveals the best ways to declutter and donate.
Over the coming weeks spare rooms across the country are likely to become filled with wrapping paper, tags and presents as the nation prepares for Christmas. Add the imminent arrival of garlands, trees, Christmas cards and decorations and you have a recipe for some pretty congested accommodation.
To help minimise feelings of reduced living space undertake an autumnal “stock check” around your home. Commence your de-clutter by stepping back and viewing everything objectively – have you hung on to odd pieces of furniture or perfectly good soft furnishings for years because “you might be able to use them somewhere”, but are never likely to? Are your shelves heavy with bits and pieces that you have never got around to sorting out? Setting yourself the objective to have a good clear out as the dark nights draw in can be extremely liberating as you open up your interior space – space that you will be seeing a lot of over the next few months when you get outside less!
Once you have cleared, why not do a bit of good by donating your treasured, but superfluous interiors items to a local charity – either for them to sell on or to use in shelters or other accommodation?
The notion of de-cluttering and donating is a trend that has celebrity endorsements with the likes of Barbra Streisand and Elton John “consolidating” their possessions and donating the proceeds of sell offs to charity.
If you go ahead bear in mind the charity donation mantra of Mary Portas and the Association of Charity Shops “Donate, Don’t Dump”. Look hard at what you are clearing out. If it has a useful life then donate it, but if it is very worn or broken consider the best method for recycling (although ultimately some things really do just have to go to the tip!).
Before loading the car and heading off to your local charity HQ or store, check what they can and cannot accept to avoid a wasted journey. Some charities are well set up to handle larger items of furniture (e.g. the British Heart Foundation has dedicated outlets). They may even be able to help with collections; however, not every shop can cope with them.
Whilst you are checking, find out whether you can “gift aid” your donation. If you are a standard or high rate tax payer the charity may be able to claim back tax on the estimated value of your gift (increasing its worth by 25%): no cost to you, but a great benefit to the receiving charity.
Giving is not only good for your chosen cause, but also for the environment as donating to charity shops means customers have a low carbon footprint: no further energy or resources are required to create the goods you donate. Reusing goods also prevents them from being sent to landfill and according to the Association of Charity Shops UK charity shops’ reuse activity alone helps reduce CO2 emissions by about 2.5 million tonnes p.a.
Of course, whilst you are in an outlet donating, you might well find a few vintage pieces that someone else has donated which fit your requirements perfectly. Elements of interior trends regularly re-surface and charity shops are a terrific and economical source of original treasures that can be re-used or adapted for inclusion in your latest scheme. Frequent visits may be required, but just one wonderful find can save you a fortune.
Everyone says that “charity begins at home” and this is a terrific way to make that a reality.
Jamie Hempsall is a member of the British Interior Design Association and one of the region’s leading interior designers. Visit him at www.jamiehempsall.com.
Interiors
Give your unwanted furniture to a good cause and give yourself the gift of space. Interior Designer Jamie Hempsall reveals the best ways to declutter and donate.
Give your unwanted furniture to a good cause and give yourself the gift of space. Interior Designer Jamie Hempsall reveals the best ways to declutter and donate.
Over the coming weeks spare rooms across the country are likely to become filled with wrapping paper, tags and presents as the nation prepares for Christmas. Add the imminent arrival of garlands, trees, Christmas cards and decorations and you have a recipe for some pretty congested accommodation.
To help minimise feelings of reduced living space undertake an autumnal “stock check” around your home. Commence your de-clutter by stepping back and viewing everything objectively – have you hung on to odd pieces of furniture or perfectly good soft furnishings for years because “you might be able to use them somewhere”, but are never likely to? Are your shelves heavy with bits and pieces that you have never got around to sorting out? Setting yourself the objective to have a good clear out as the dark nights draw in can be extremely liberating as you open up your interior space – space that you will be seeing a lot of over the next few months when you get outside less!
Once you have cleared, why not do a bit of good by donating your treasured, but superfluous interiors items to a local charity – either for them to sell on or to use in shelters or other accommodation?
The notion of de-cluttering and donating is a trend that has celebrity endorsements with the likes of Barbra Streisand and Elton John “consolidating” their possessions and donating the proceeds of sell offs to charity.
If you go ahead bear in mind the charity donation mantra of Mary Portas and the Association of Charity Shops “Donate, Don’t Dump”. Look hard at what you are clearing out. If it has a useful life then donate it, but if it is very worn or broken consider the best method for recycling (although ultimately some things really do just have to go to the tip!).
Before loading the car and heading off to your local charity HQ or store, check what they can and cannot accept to avoid a wasted journey. Some charities are well set up to handle larger items of furniture (e.g. the British Heart Foundation has dedicated outlets). They may even be able to help with collections; however, not every shop can cope with them.
Whilst you are checking, find out whether you can “gift aid” your donation. If you are a standard or high rate tax payer the charity may be able to claim back tax on the estimated value of your gift (increasing its worth by 25%): no cost to you, but a great benefit to the receiving charity.
Giving is not only good for your chosen cause, but also for the environment as donating to charity shops means customers have a low carbon footprint: no further energy or resources are required to create the goods you donate. Reusing goods also prevents them from being sent to landfill and according to the Association of Charity Shops UK charity shops’ reuse activity alone helps reduce CO2 emissions by about 2.5 million tonnes p.a.
Of course, whilst you are in an outlet donating, you might well find a few vintage pieces that someone else has donated which fit your requirements perfectly. Elements of interior trends regularly re-surface and charity shops are a terrific and economical source of original treasures that can be re-used or adapted for inclusion in your latest scheme. Frequent visits may be required, but just one wonderful find can save you a fortune.
Everyone says that “charity begins at home” and this is a terrific way to make that a reality.
Jamie Hempsall is a member of the British Interior Design Association and one of the region’s leading interior designers. Visit him at www.jamiehempsall.com.
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