Alice Beer talks to BBC local radio stations about Plumbs and keeping that in-herited piece of furniture rather than throwing it away.

A survey has revealed that two thirds of UK homeowners would rather bring a piece of furniture back to life and enjoy a piece of family history than buy something new.

What’s in and what’s not? Find out if you current decor is out of date or if you’ve pre-emptied what the interior design fashion police are saying your home should like be this year.

Excerpt: According to Pantone, “Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world” – the perfect anecdote to a turbulent 2009!

Read the full article here…

Come and see us and our Loose Covers & Reupholstery products at the BBC Summer Good Food Show and BBC Gardeners’ World Live – the Summer Hotspot for 2009 at The NEC, Birmingham.

We will be on the Stand SV128 – Hall 6 – in the Gardeners’ World Live section.

From Wednesday 10th to Sunday 14th June, The NEC in Birmingham will play host to two of the most eagerly awaited Shows of the summer celebrating two of our favourite pastimes for the long summer days – gardening and cooking for friends!

BBC Gardeners’ World Live will return with a fantastic line up of your favourite celebrity gardeners and experts to help you tackle your thorny gardening problems and provide ideas and inspiration for creating the perfect summer backdrop in your own back garden. New at the 2009 Show will be the live garden and allotment where the experts will show you what to do, and they’ll show you how to do it too!

We hope to see you there…

We have a hotel event planned for Tuesday 1st July. The Hotel event is designed to be an enjoyable trip out to look at the latest in soft furnishings and interiors. We will even treat you to refreshments and a special bag of free goodies to take home!

Come and see for yourself Plumbs extensive range of soft furnishing fabrics including our new range of Made-to-Measure Furniture Covers, Reupholstery and Curtain designs as well as some of our most popular best sellers!

Tuesday 1st July Holiday Inn Ipswich , Suffolk – map
Holiday Inn, London Road, Suffolk IP2 0UA Tel: 0870 400 9045

What’s included:

• FREE entry and refreshments
• The chance to find out more about the latest Furniture Covers, Reupholstery and Curtains ranges from Plumbs
• A friendly relaxed chat with a Plumbs design Consultant
• Take away free fabric samples
• Take away free goody bag!

We hope we see you there…

We’d like to say a big thank you everyone who came to see us at ‘The Design Weekend Home and Garden Exhibition’ in Tatton Park over the Bank Holiday weekend.  It was a great day out for us and hopefully for you too.  For all those who missed us or couldn’t make it, there is another chance to see us at the BBC Summer Festival in July.

Why not sign-up to our newsletter to receive more information and discount on the ticket.  Please click here to sign-up…

Have a look at some photos of the event at Tatton Park -

We are delighted to announce the launch of a completely new ecommerce site Plumbs Curtain Shop that will enable you to buy Made to Measure & Ready-Made Curtains at competitive prices while keeping with Plumbs’ tradition of using quality UK manufactured fabrics.

We have traditionally catered for the Made to Measure Curtain market but with the launch of the new site have begun offering Ready-made curtains at great prices. We now offer curtain fabric priced per metre for budding upholstery enthusiasts to produce your own unique curtains or to use on many other soft furnishing projects. Sensationally, prices start at just £1 a metre for fabric offering hundreds of fabric options.

Ready made curtains are always popular because they offer great value, with prices starting from just £35 a pair. From Deep red velvet to Cool cotton naturals or just something cheap to deflect the sun’s rays, plumbscurtainshop can answer all needs.

All our products are guaranteed for 12 months from the date of purchase. As with all our products the guarantee covers any fault occurring as a result of fair wear and tear or quality of materials and / or workmanship. If any product purchased under the terms of our guarantee fails to give you complete satisfaction we will offer you a full replacement. Even better is that plumbscurtainshop offer a no risk 30 day money back promise on everything.

Sarah Plumb, from the Plumb family said, “After 45 years we have become known for being a U.K. manufacturer with a reliable record for quality and good service. Cheap imports from across the globe mean low prices are available to anyone. However here at Plumbs we not only offer low prices but we can also offer quality as we make everything ourselves here at our factory in Lancashire. Plus you have the added advantage of a full money back guarantee”

The last couple of years has seen a great increase in curtain popularity not only for decorative and security reasons but increasingly as an energy saving measure. Curtains can really make a difference to insulating the home and preventing heat loss. Curtains work well in the Summer time too by helping to deflect the sun’s rays and keep the home cool.

So if you are looking for great value curtains and fabrics, take a look at www.plumbscurtainshop.co.uk today.

I’ve written a couple of blog posts about the new home decor trends for Spring and 2008, which can be found here:

Give your home a brand new look for spring
Home Decor must haves for 2008

To add to these, I recently found a great post here that gives some really inspirational ideas you can use in your own home, my favourite is:

Cottage Charm
Just like a relaxing day at a quaint bed and breakfast, decor can delight the senses with contentment and nostalgia. Interior designers and crafters alike are using intricate flower patterns to create unique household decorations. A soft blanket and pillow to adorn a favourite chair and black and white photos project the joys of yesteryear. Hand-painted buckets and antique watering cans bring the entire look together with a delightful country feel.

Click here to read the rest of the post…

There are many opinions on what will be hot or not in 2008 with probably many of the top designers arguing into 2009. However I hope some of these broad ideas might get your creative juices flowing and give you some inspiration for you home decor this year.

• Apparently no home this year can be considered hot without a wall mural, these “must have” accessories can dramatically change the whole feel of a room instantly. Don’t just go for the same designs everyone else gets either, most companies producing murals will offer a custom service which will allow you to use artwork, a photo or a landscape which is personal to you.
• Minimalism seems to be out this year, some of the worlds top designers say that cosy and over-stuffed comfortable furniture is in, so at long last we can now relax in our living rooms. Bright colourful rooms featuring antiques and upholstered furniture will create this look without sacrificing elegance or beauty. There are many second-hand shops and flea markets where you can pick up some really good antique sofas and chairs at relatively low cost. Even if the fabric is a little dated or worn, as long as the frame is of good quality (made of hardwood) then you can get the piece re-upholstered to suit any decor.
• As we all start to consider the environment and our carbon footprint, it is only natural this should be reflected in our homes. There are many ways in which home products can be re-cycled, re-used and re-furbished, from recovering your sofa in loose covers to using bamboo flooring in your kitchen or bathroom.
• Colour has a very important role to play in any home decor, it can be the difference between a house that flows from room to room complementing each other or a ghastly and possibly costly mistake which makes you curse each time you walk into a room. Both Asian and Spiced colour palettes will be big in 2008 with big influences coming from the Chinese Olympics. There may also be some unexpected colours and combinations such as browns with burgundy and deep purple with red, blue may also turn out be an unlikely candidate.
• Lighting can be just as important as colour to a room by changing how the room is viewed. Using accent lighting and multiple light sources to emphasise key decor highlights such as objects or architectural features will be a big trend this year. But remember to keep green and use energy efficient products.
• People will be looking to indulge their senses this year by adding difference textures into the home such as silks & velvets. Think of the different textures you can give your rugs, curtains, loose covers, sofa throws, scatter cushions and even wallpaper.

No matter what any of the industry expects say this year it is clear that there are many ways for you to make you home individual and personal but the environmental angle does seem to be an overriding factor.

We have a number of exhibitions planned this year to let you come and see us and our products for yourself, from our next event ‘The Design Weekend Home and Garden Exhibition’ to the BBC Summer festival in June.

So in ten days time we will be at the ‘The Design Weekend Home and Garden Exhibition’ in Tatton Park, Cheshire. You will be able to find us at Stand HG31 from the Sat 03 – Mon 05 May. Gain ideas for everything from flooring to furniture and garden design to gazebos. The event also features Design talks, Free consultations, Seminars and Workshops.

Tatton Park is a great venue and is one of the UK’s most complete historic estates. The Mansion, Gardens, Farm, Old Hall, 1,000 acre deer park and speciality shops offer something for everyone along with over 100 events annually. So you can also make coming to see us a great day out.

Tickets are available from TicketMaster by calling:

0844 847 1554

Adults £12, Concessions £8.50, Accompanied children under 16 free

Click here to see a map of where Tatton Park is…

Leather upholstered furniture has been hugely popular over the last few years, particularly in the more trendy colours of chocolate and black and most commonly in 2 – 3 seater sofa styles. This plain leather look from all major furniture retailers has now been surpassed by a very stylish leather and luxury chenille combination giving real designer looks and sumptuous feel to cold and slippery leather.

Now Plumbs can offer you a complete transformation of your leather furniture into cutting edge looks of today with options of chenille back and seat cushions, arm covers and stunning scatter cushion combinations. A brand new look of opulence at a fraction of the cost of replacing your furniture in a similar styling.

Plumbs have combined with Wilman Interiors to offer the most up to the date featured designs of superb quality at real value for money prices. These creative option form part of the new “Dolce Vita” collection of furnishing fabrics. You can choose from the very latest metallic looks of Rossini, Carmela & Delanna in Black/Silver with Black Deco Chenille or Chocolate/Bronze coupled with Chocolate Deco Chenille. Or choose the cool contemporary looks of our Chocolate/Black Chenille Stripe and Polka Dot combinations. Finally we have the sheer elegance of our Black/Cream mini leaf and stripe options, whichever you choose, we guarantee the end result will be simply stunning.

Our double-sided and interlined “Super” throw using Deco Chenille on one side and anyone of our feature fabrics on the reverse complete with tassel trim is the ultimate in wrap around luxury.

Beautiful coordinating curtains are also available in almost all options to complete a superb new look for you and your home.

These are not just any furnishings, they are absolutely sumptuous and gorgeous furnishings.

To get a look like this, request a visit from your local Plumbs consultant who can show you our full range of fabrics and give advice on your best options.  No hard-sell and no obligation to buy, only a local friendly service!

Request your visit here…