In Conversation with Julie from Garnet House Drapes
Garnet House Drapes is a Norfolk based soft furnishings company. We design, craft and install bespoke soft furnishings including curtains, blinds, cushions, upholstery and accessories.
We offer an extensive range of fabrics and curtain poles, in addition to the creation of beautiful, hand-made soft furnishings.
We source fabrics from an extensive list of suppliers and fabric designers, from contemporary to country, from modern to the traditional look and feel that so many owners of older homes seek, particularly in the historic towns and villages of East Anglia.
What inspired you to be an interior designer?
I was inspired to open a creative business by the remarkable skills and craftsmanship of my late brother, Rob. As a creator of interior structures he received a great deal of praise, including a medal from the Queen for his contribution to the restoration of Windsor Castle, and he left a body of beautiful work, including the wonderful oak fan vault in the Millennium Tower of Bury St Edmunds Cathedral, and his last project, the award-winning Vortex in the Bloomberg building in London. I realised that you only get one chance to make a difference, so I decided to leave the world of sales and marketing behind to follow a new path, creating things that make people happy.
If they were to make a toy action figure of you, what would your accessory be?
Oh, I would most definitely love to have an extra pair of bionic hands. Just imagine all of the amazing things I could create!
To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life within the design world has taken?
100%. I make all the decisions and follow my own direction! Life's too short to mess about.
What would be your dream interior project?
I would love to work on an old Tudor longhouse to find a way to bring a blast of modernity to an amazing piece of history.
What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
I actively seek different and unusual. I particularly love finding new fabric designers that offer an alternative view on how something should look and feel, to bring colour and uniqueness into someone's home.
If you could go back in time and speak to your adolescent self, what advice would you give them about the design world?
Don't hang about and waste time following a career in technology. Believe in yourself and your abilities and dive in now.
Garnet House Interiors
julie@garnethousedrapes.co.uk
@garnethouseinteriors
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Photo courtesy of Garnet House Drapes