Cheshire’s interior experts and professionals

Interiors professionals look at what’s fresh in the home this spring

Rosalind Ellis (Image: Archant)

ROSALIND ELLIS - MANAGING DIRECTOR THE INTERIORS SHOP

Your favourite room?

My absolute favourite room is the dining room. Often underrated it’s a room that you can go a little wild in with the décor as you don’t spend as much time in there as other rooms and so won’t tire of it too quickly. Dark and atmospheric with sumptuous finishes and clever lighting, it’s a space to unwind in with a great food, good wine and even better company.

Who has influenced you?

My style is influenced by my childhood, growing up with parents and grandparents in the Antiques trade. When I see a room where modern and vintage styles have been brought together perfectly it makes me instantly happy and intrigues me to know more about the people who live there. I’m currently, slowly, redecorating an 1860’s cottage and my muse is a Victorian traveller returning from worldly adventures with an eclectic mix of fabrics, object d’art and curiosities.

Your dream home?

My dream home is a double fronted detached Victorian house with oodles of original features, fireplaces and high ceilings. An absolute must have would be a Minton tiled entrance hall and a tiled footpath leading up to a glossy yellow front (has to be Mister David by Little Greene Paint). A secluded garden and views out over fields would be the icing on the cake!

9 Castle Croft Road, Westminster Park, Chester, Cheshire CH4 7QD | 01244 678 444 | theinteriorsshop.co.uk

Cheshire Woodworking (Image: Archant)

CIARÁN O BRAONÁIN - CHESHIRE WOODWORKING & GUN BOXES

Describe your business

I make custom hand-crafted furniture for my clients. Often, they have an idea in mind but simply can’t source it – that’s where I come in: I can create it for them, to their own design and to meet their exact needs. I’ve made all kinds of furniture for a wide range of clients and interior designers. I also make gun and hospitality boxes for the back of SUVs.

What do you love about your job?

I love the tranquillity of crafting in my workshop on the Sandstone Trail in the Cheshire countryside. My main companions are my two working cocker spaniels and sometimes curious walkers who pop in for a look around. It’s an amazing place to focus on creating pieces for my clients, and they love visiting too.

How did you get into this industry?

After my degree in Furniture Design and spending some time in the furniture industry, I made a move to teaching woodwork in secondary school over in Ireland as well as running a small workshop from home. But when we moved here, I decided to focus on furniture making. It’s simply my passion. I got into making gun boxes by accident, really. I was on a shoot and a gentleman asked me if I could make him one – so I did! They are beautiful things to create and I love the reaction of clients when they see their finished product… It’s just so rewarding.

Commonside, Frodsham WA6 9HA | 07768 076990 | cheshirewoodworking.co.uk

Clear Living (Image: Archant)

JANE HANSEN - CLEAR LIVING LIMITED

Describe your business

Architectural glazing specialists. We do wonderful things with glass! Glazing is a lifestyle about inside outside living.

What’s new for 2020?

As well as our long-standing Sky-Frame Partnership, we are also working with the German Solarlux brand who were the original innovators of the bifolding door and are now considered to be the best bifold system in the marketplace. We are also importing more thermally efficient steel windows and doors, and use the slimmest system on the market, MHB.

Your favourite room?

Kitchen living spaces. For most families, the kitchen is now the heart of the home. It is where we cook, watch TV, eat, help the children with their homework and entertain. Rooms are now knocked through to create large living entertaining spaces, the bigger the better with vast expanses of glass! Three tips to give a room some style for Spring Look at adding on a glass box to extend or bank of doors onto the garden to bring the outside in. Consider the addition of a garden studio as a Gym or home office. We import the stunning Acubis system from Solarlux (left). People often budget too little for glazing. As an average life span of 30 years, greater consideration on its design and functionality should be given.

Ellesmore house, Wincham Avenue, Wincham, CW9 6GH | 01606 45109 | clear-living.co.uk

Gillian Hertzog (Image: Archant)

GILLIAN HERTZOG - OWNER XROSS INTERIORS

Describe your business

Xross Interiors is an Interiors showroom specialising in Bespoke soft furnishings, curtain poles and tracks , wallpaper and paint , made to measure blinds and plantation shutters, carpets and much more. We are the exclusive distributors for Lymm and the surrounding area of top interior brands including Cole & Son, and Little Greene for wallpapers and paints, Osborne & Little, Romo, Sanderson, Harlequin and Today Interiors fabric houses, Westex Carpets and many more.

What do you love about your job?

Helping clients (many of which have become personal friends) put schemes together using the amazing brands we offer and then seeing the finished projects, it gives a great sense of achievement.

How did you get into this industry?

By accident! A friend asked me to make a pair of curtains, so I followed the instructions from a book! Recommendations and a City and Guilds course later and Xross Interiors evolved and later moving to larger premises in 2016 which include our own onsite workroom. Your dream home? My own! After many years of reinvesting everything back into Xross Interiors , I am finally transforming my own home into my sanctuary….. and i’m loving it!

27 The Cross, Lymm WA13 0HR | 01925 758298 | xrossinteriors.co.uk

Botanical Interiors (Image: Archant)

DR JOE AND DR CHRISTINA - BOTANICAL INTERIORS

Describe your business

Botanical Interiors provides a bespoke interior plant design service for homes and businesses. Following a free initial consultation, we guide our clients through a personalised planting scheme that is designed with their interior in mind. From improving ambience, happiness and air quality to increasing staff productivity, our potted plants and trees are carefully selected and positioned to enhance the space. We consider light levels, changing temperatures and humidity of the space to provide plants that will flourish in their new home. From homes and restaurants to corporate offices and salons, we have worked with a range of clients across the North of England fitting both indoor and outdoor potted plants.

How did you get into this industry?

Upon completion of our PhDs, we established Botanical Interiors to focus our expertise on improving spaces across the North of England through interior plant design.

What’s new for 2020?

Living coffee tables!

Three tips to give a room some style for spring:

Use large plants to make a statement. Use hanging plants if short of space. Make an impact with a beautiful pot!

botanicalinteriors@hotmail.com | 07847 124046 | botanicalinteriors.co.uk