Design notes from Classics

The nicest and most interesting homes and gardens will always be the ones that are an expression of the people who tend them. ‘Design Notes’ hopes to help you create spaces that reveal yourself!

“I design in my spare time”.

When I was teenager I had an encounter with a woman who said exactly that and the phrase became a kind of jokey catchphrase at home when we were mimicking people of a, well…certain attitude or disposition. Declaring to “design” in one’s “spare time” seemed like such a privilege; not just because ‘designing’ seemed elitist somehow but because it seemed like such a strange hobby. Still, even now, Design seems to have an intangible set of unwritten and unspoken rules, as well as stereotypes and prejudices. I still get a nervous twitch when someone comes in the shop and says they’re a ‘Designer’. Not that I have anything against designers, it’s just that I suppose I genuinely think we are all designers. If someone pays you to design something, object, garden, furniture or interior then of course, you’re going to call yourself a Designer but what about those of us that just want to feel we could enjoy a bit of designing in our spare time?

Scrap perfection and replace it with “I like that!”

I haven’t met a single person who wanted to live in an environment that didn’t feel like an expression of their own personality and interests; there’s a reason we identify with that feeling of “homesickness” and it’s because we can all identify with the feeling that there’s a place somewhere, whatever form it takes that feels like an expression of ourselves. It might be a house, tent, yurt, flat, boat, car, garden or caravan. It might just be one room. To me, having a place where one can truly express theirselves feels like the ultimate luxury. As someone who now, like as a child, can feel an acute sense of that homesick feeling, I can also deeply feel the overwhelming comfort from being in a place I see myself in.

In my new series of Design Notes I want to help you with suggestions, observations, research and…basically re hashing other people’s ideas into relatable ideas you can use to start or deepen your expression of yourself and what you like and put it into your “places”. My Design notes won’t be following prescriptive ideas of Design but they may borrow from them. I’ve drummed up the confidence to embark on these posts, that will be mainly on my Instagram page and stories, from an organic consolidation of over a decade of running Classics, making a home above the shop, chatting to customers, visiting your homes and a general leaning of enjoying looking at creative stuff!

Classics’ Instagram

I never really got in to Pinterest and still opt for the more hard copy approach to keeping a record of things that inspire me and I’ve always found that it doesn’t have to be a “wow” to be included in my scrap books. It can just be a “that’s nice.” If you’re only going to include bits of wow inspiration then you’re constantly setting yourself up to reach a standard most of us aren’t capable of, can’t afford and don’t have the stomach for.

Begin with the feelings of liking something and let the good ones grow. Collecting bits of inspiration in a book seems to be a tried and tested way of starting and I always lean to a small notebook I can staple fabric in, stick down cuttings, pocket torn off sheets at the back, colour in and take with me when I’m making conscientious purchases. Hopefully, in time some of my Design notes will appear in your little books. Your book, your designs, your identity. These books will naturally become a small version of you. Perhaps, like me, if you’re not confident with drawing, your book might just end up being full of fabric swatches and lists. I love both!

Freebies.

Bearing in mind this is a project that is about helping you find your individualism and not hiring a ‘Designer’ as such, finding free inspiration is a good place to start and it helps build confidence because you’re not spending money with uncertainty. Here are a few top tips for freebies.

• Fabric shops will always give you a patch without buying.

• Paint shops have millions of colour cards useful for everything and usually at no cost to the shopkeeper; brands supply them.

• Visit the local recycling centre; I’ve found full fabric sample packs there which are great to dismantle and use for swatches.

• When you see something in a public space that inspires you - magazine in a doctors surgery - don’t be shy of asking to take the page.

• Swap mags with your mates once you’re done. You will always find different bits to cut and keep than them.

• Visit your friends and family and ask to take photos of the bits of their homes you like; they will feel flattered. Photobox offer free prints from their APP you can print out and put in your book.

• Cut up packaging. There are so many colours and shapes on packaging and brands have already spent money on designers.

• Pick up free magazines no matter how naff they might look; sometimes they just have a printed border you might like the colour of.

• Wallpaper swatches are great and some companies will send you several for free without question.

Start with art.

Professional Designers often recommend starting a design scheme with a piece of art and I have a lot of sympathy with this idea. If you’re trying to design something from scratch a starting point is helpful. I always start with fabric but that’s because I love it and although I’m generally looking out for ‘nice’ , I more often than not get that ‘wow’ from fabric. I start with fabric because it’s my favourite thing to buy and choose for my home. Even if I’m not buying fabric, it’s the Art in the fabric I’m attracted to. Obviously we can’t all afford to buy enormous original pieces of art to hang on our walls, stand in front of and match colours so I suggest that when you see art, colour and shapes in your freebies, stick them in your book. Often I tear out sheets with photos of homes smothered in expensive and elaborate art. I’m not aiming to have a home like that…I may just be looking at a certain colour combination. That’s why I love visiting free museums and exhibitions; you can always find a bit of yourself in art. If you’re confident or talented then you may want to start with your own art or perhaps your children’s or an old pot that once belonged to your Grandma with a nice pattern on. You get my drift. The panic we all often feel when we need to begin to express ourselves can be abated by gazing in to someone else’s world first

Flatter a shopkeeper!

I wouldn’t have ever considered the idea of bringing you Design Notes had I not have become a shopkeeper. Shopkeepers nowadays mostly have a secret past and their wealth of creative experience alongside meeting people means they’re often well placed to help you build confidences and ideas around your design ideas and projects. Many of the shopkeepers here in Kingsbridge have been previously professional artists, fashion buyers, art students, textile teachers, professional designers and stylists. I used to work for newspapers as a Picture Researcher and have always enjoyed looking at all kinds of images and that job still informs a lot of the decisions I make that are design related decades later. There is an enormous amount of useful experience and advice that is FREE right here in Kingsbridge in the independent shops. Most shopkeepers make it a mission to understand YOU. They are finely tuning their businesses around your identity so what better place to start for advice on how to express your identity! Get to know them and their shops and I promise you, they will endeavour to help you find the ultimate expression of self that brings you a whole new feeling of being in an environment that feels suited to you.

Nature asks nothing from you.

Finding time, energy, motivation and inspiration can ironically sometimes feel like a project in itself and then we end up feeling like the thing that was supposed to be fun has become a chore… designing in our spare time just feels like another bloody pressure. Being yourself, expressing yourself in a space and making decisions around your identity and how you want to display it is one of the lifelong projects we all struggle with. If you feel that struggle then none of it becomes fun. Maybe you just need to BE yourself, not THINK about yourself or even DESIGN yourself in to a space; nature is your friend at times like these. Not only will nature give you some space for thought but it might give you energy and the origin of an idea you hadn’t previously considered.

Remember there are no rules to designing, creating or expressing yourself in an environment and I hope that you realise my Design Notes are only meant as confidence builders to help you navigate finding yourself amongst the confusion.