I’m not making myself sound that old when I say I remember the days when you just went to the shop and either bought the thing that was there or you didn’t. Either you liked the chair in the colour it was presented or you went without. And if the table that you had fallen in love with didn’t fit in the space you had designated for it then you had to find another table. Or another house.
Those days have gone. These days we expect to be able to choose the upholstery on the sofa, have the table made slightly smaller to fit and the possibilities with lighting are endless. As I write this I have just come from the launch of a new Hem store where much of the furniture can be customised – to within a centimetre – and one range of lights comes with ten billion options. Yes you read that right. Ten billion ways to have one pendant light. That may actually be too much choice.
You can customise the size of your table by using a slider and create modular shelving to suit the space you have. Then, when you get it home, you can rearrange it. Again and again. At the back of the store there are tear sheets of all the products with the prices and available colours as well as samples of painted wood and fabric to take away so you can match the colour and measure the sizes at home and then order it online.
The prices are affordable (especially when you think are creating something completely bespoke), the materials are natural and the design is simple and modern. In fact the premise behind the store is Design Made Easy. It’s called Hem and I already have a long wish list.
This chair is one of them. It’s leather and it costs £648 so wish is where it will remain for the time being but there are also beautiful side tables and stools for around the £100 mark as well as cool powder-coated steel hooks for under £15.
The real-life store is in Covent Garden, arranged over two floors, or you can browse online to your heart’s content. If you customise a piece that needs assembling, there is an option to have a professional deliver it and put it up or you. You can also choose from 11 RAL colours, several MDF veneers or solid wood. The tables have optional drawers and cabling ports not to mention those ten billion lighting options you need to sort through. Have fun.
Yep, the chair would be a must for me too – if only. Thanks for the heads-up Kate. I’m now going online to see if they deliver to Cyprus. Although I had been thinking of furniture design as a new career over there….
Thanks for the post Kate, I also love the chair, having a big think about buying it!! Without your post this store may have remained hidden to me for sometime , so thanks for keeping your finger on the pulse.
Best
Barbara
agree – absolutely love the leather chair
with regards to ‘customising’ all furniture/lighting etc I’m not totally sure what I think. yes, it’s frustrating when you fall in love with something and it doesn’t fit (i’m sure I remember reading a funny comment on your blog once where you were literally ‘determined’ to make something fit….even if it meant filing away part of it!) Hilariously, the idea of moving seriously does cross my mind, but even I’m not crazy enough to move for a new table…..
anyway, I suppose my reservation with the whole ‘customising’ thing is that there is a risk we could all then have ‘the same’. (although given the amount of variations on the shades this may never happen!)
However frustrating the acquiring process is, I actually like the fact that with interior furnishings, certain things fit and others don’t . I like that you have to ‘source’ for a home as opposed to seeing something and thinking, I will have that ‘regardless’ as I will ‘make’ it fit.
just a thought 🙂