Now that her children have grown up, Deborah Waller wanted to add a touch of sophistication to her home in Richmond, a project completed with the help of the town’s Grey’s Interiors

Deborah Waller has deep roots in the North Yorkshire market town of Richmond. She and husband Paul have lived there for 17 years, bringing up three children in their Swalegate home. They’ve been happy there, but raising children leaves little time to focus on the home, and when she realised it had been at least five years since any work had been done on the house, Deborah decided now was the time to lavish some attention on it.

“Probably last time we decorated was around five years ago,” she says. “This time I wanted to create something really special, but it is still had to be practical, homely and somewhere we could all relax. I never disliked how it was previously, it was just time to change.”

Deborah wanted a bespoke room, something no-one else had. And as she and Paul like to support the local independents in their home town, they turned to Grey’s Interiors, a homeware and interiors store housed in a building which once used to be Richmond’s cinema.

The initial brief to owner Jane Webster was to help Deborah completely revamp the lounge. The starting point was a new sofa Deborah had chosen, the brief to complement this with new fixtures, home accessories and window dressings, and to come up with a suitable lighting scheme. “It was apparent, after a couple of meetings, and given Deborah’s warm character, what would suit her style and personality,” says Jane. “She wanted to create a warm, cosy, comfortable family environment, but with some sophistication and glamour.”

“I hadn’t met Jane prior to the shop opening at the beginning of the year, but she was so friendly and we liked her instantly,” says Deborah. “I very quickly established that she had a real flair for interiors and the vision to bring a project together.”

After the initial consultations, Jane presented Deborah with a few variations of fabrics and styles. “Deborah felt her lounge was bland and lacked the bespoke look she desperately wanted to create,” says Jane. “We had a starting point with her sofa choices; the designer fabric for curtains cushions and blinds was the next step. Only when we were happy with these, did we consider co-ordinated wallpaper, table lamps, floor lamps, a rug and home accessories.”

The room is a good-sized family lounge with a beautiful bay window with lots of natural light and a log burner. The feature wall surrounding this was decorated with a Jane Churchill textured wallpaper with a slight shimmer for a touch of sophistication; the other three walls were painted in Zoffany Architects White. Jane Churchill was also the designer of choice for the fabrics used for pinch-pleat dress curtains and Roman blinds, this time Santana Aqua, a luxurious embroidered fabric. The same fabric was used for sofa cushions, teamed with a selection from Voyage Maison, bringing the whole room together. The bay window was dressed in a contrasting deeper blue fabric by Jane Churchill, called Solaris Blue.

“The rug selection was a silver shimmer deep pile from the Dutch supplier Light and Living, which works perfectly on the Karndean flooring,” says Jane. Lamp selections were also from Light and Living, an elegant floor lamp in a raw nickel finish, complemented by a raw nickel and ceramic table lamps. The choice of accessories ranges from candle holders, hurricane Lamps and feature vases with flowers and berries, all from Grey’s Interiors suppliers.

The result is homely, yet sophisticated, just what Deborah wanted. “I like every aspect, from the curtain choice and style to the accessories and lighting,” she says.

Spurred on by the success of the project, Deborah now has plans for other areas of the house, and has already had Jane refresh the master bedroom with Jane Churchill blinds, Light and Living wall mirrors and new bedside lamps.

“The design process for the lounge was easy, enjoyable and after it was complete, I couldn’t wait to move on to my next project, obviously with Jane’s input,” says Deborah. “My new project is my kitchen/dining/garden room. We are already discussing schemes.”

Jane was also thrilled with Deborah’s new lounge. “I love being able to visualise a project – it is something I am comfortable with – but it is always rewarding when the end results turn out just as you had hoped, if not even better,” she says.

  • Grey’s Interiors, 2 Queen’s Road, Richmond, DL10 4DN. T: 01748-518050; W: greys-interiors.co.uk