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Guest Post: The benefits of using animal hides on products and interiors

The decision to make that special purchase – whether it’s for our home, our office, or ourselves, is often made for aesthetic reasons alone. And, while leather and animal hide products or furniture can be undeniably beautiful, there are many other reasons than how it looks to opt for this natural material.

Durability
While other fabrics and materials may stain or tear, animal hide stands the test of time. Even if your little one puts sticky fingerprints on your Chesterfield sofa or you accidentally spill coffee on your leather desk diary, you should simply be able to wipe clean with a damp cloth.

Timeless style
Trends may come and go, but leather and animal hide never go out of fashion. The leather Barcelona chair designed 70 years ago looks just as good today. The cowhide rug you bought for your student pad looks equally at home in your family home. And, the leather briefcase your dad carried to work every day looks just as stylish now that it has passed on to you. Hide products truly are investment pieces which transcend seasons.

Easy care
Other materials may require endless washing and dry cleaning, or even become so stained as to render them unusable. But despite its high end looks, leather is actually very easy to care for. If you have a leather sofa or bedstead, for example, you can simple vacuum it before using a damp cloth to wipe it down.

Versatility
Whereas once leather and hide products may have been produced only in neutral colours and traditional styles, now the possibilities of colour and finish are endless. You could choose to mix the classic style of a Chesterfield sofa with a contemporary colour such as cobalt blue or rich plum. Or, you could choose to use leather or hide in the most unexpected of places – perhaps in floor tiles, or to cover a feature wall.

Natural elegance
Because leather and hide are natural materials, they retain a beauty imbued by Mother Nature, with every piece being completely unique because of its varying natural grain. And it is this naturalness which provides some of leather and hide’s many benefits. It is flexible, breathable and supple, allowing it to naturally repel moisture, retain its shape and resist any damage caused by heat or sun.

Acoustics and warmth
As well as exuding an air of welcoming warmth, leather and hide really do have insulating properties which can actually make a room warmer. They also provide acoustical value, as they absorb sound easily. That’s why they make great choices of material for the home, perhaps as an over-sized feature headboard for the bedroom or stunning floor tiles for the living room or office.

The wow factor
While leather and hide actually offer great value when you consider products and interiors which use these materials are so long lasting, they give a room, a piece of furniture or a product a feeling of richness and opulence. Choosing just one key hide piece can give an area a focal point, providing an impressive, professional finish.
Beautiful and practical, leather and hide are naturally stylish and durable, making them the ideal choice for a myriad of product and interior uses.
Bill began learning his artisan skills in Australia 30 years ago before opening his studio back in the 90’s.  The studio creates bespoke products and interiors for individuals and companies across the world.  Bill can be found in his London studio at Bill Amberg Studio.








Neutral Colour Home Accessories

A house without accessories is like a woman without her jewellery. Accessories can make any interior look more interesting and balanced. You can mix & match different items, according to your own taste and preferences.
Here are some examples of accessories in neutral colour combination.










That Scandinavian Look

We love the way the Scandinavians to white design and modern furniture. It's clean and simple without being cold or uninviting. We love it so much we could design it ourselves - the problem is, its place is in Scandinavia and to take it away from that culture would not translate well in London. We think. :(










Boho

I love a bit of Bohemian Charm - the colours, the textures and just the freedom of the Boho style. I think when designing Boho, we have to be careful not to go too random or too mixed in terms of style and colour. Stick to at least some kind of rule of thumb - pick 4 or 5 essential colours and patterns and repeat those.









Kitchens

We're still predicting a shift in modern kitchen design towards a friendlier feel, away from the gloss white we've been seeing for so long. Gloss white will still be here to stay but we've seen a lot more in terms of softer colours and textures. Here are some kitchens we really like:








Clever IKEA

I think Ikea has a relatively poor reputation with designers but I would have to disagree. I  feel that often Clients who are renovating for investment purposes and don't want to spend hundreds of thousands, or young professionals wanting to refurbish well but at an affordable price, can be put off by interior designers who instantly get out their fancy catalogues of £10,000 dining tables. In fact, using Ikea in a clever way can be a great way to save on costly furniture bills. When used well, Ikea can almost blend into the design and look much more expensive than it really is. That's the trick. ;)








Fitting Underfloor Heating in Old Homes

We love underfloor heating. It makes a big difference in creating a constant and comfortable inside temperature so we always recommend it when we do big refurbishment projects.

However, on smaller projects where the work we do is mostly superficial, it's not such an easy option. Retrofitting under floor heating takes much more thought and planning. You could connect just a single zone of UFH to your existing heating system, but this does not offer as much control over the temperature - the UFH can only be on when the rest of the central heating is on. UFH takes longer to heat up than radiators, so the area with UFH will remain cold whilst the rest of the house warms up.

For a retrofit, UFH should ideally operate on a separate zone system with direct boiler control. T do this, you could separate the flow on from your boiler primaries so that one set of flow and return goes to your radiators and the other to your UFH system. An alternative would be to choose a system such as OneZone from Nu-Heat, which can be controlled individually.

The type of floor also needs to be taken into consideration. In new builds, pipes are usually fitted into screed floors which are being laid at the time anyway. In older, homes, on the other hand, the best way to retro-fit UFH would probably be to add a floating floor over your existing structure to accommodate the UFH pipes.

The downside is that this will add to the floor height (therefore, reducing your overall room height). This is a big enough problems when fitting UFH on a new build or total renovation but it can create a whole new headache in retro fit situations. Existing skirting boards will have to be removed and it will affect your doors, which may need to be re-hung to open smoothly over the new floor, or to have some of their height taken off.

If you are working with a suspended timber floor, and do not want to add to your floor height, it will have to be removed and the pipes laid underneath, usually between joists and on top of insulation, in order to maximise efficiency, but this can be a bit more disruptive.

Luckily, there are a number of companies that offer systems specifically for retro fit designed to be fitted in the least disruptive way possible and to raise the existing floor height by as little as possible, usually around 30mm. Good companies to look at are Nu Heat systems, Ippec's Pexatherm Thin System, the Schulter-Bekotec-Therm, Polypipe's OverlayTM Lite and Robbens System's Single Room UFH Pack.

With so many new companies offering affordable and innovative solutions to the retro-fit UFH problem, getting rid of your radiators isn't such a far off concept as it used to be. Ardesia Design uses and recommends the Polypipe OverlayTM system.


Wallpaper

Wallpaper is back but it doesn't have to be the kind at your grandmother's house that you slowly peel away out of boredom. The focus has recently been on plain walls but it really doesn't hurt to add some excitement and some bold colour! Go for something in a plain colour but with texture, or something with an interesting geometry and use minimally as a feature wall or two - not all over!









Classic

In this long lasting reign of minimalism, modernism and plastic - elaborate wall moudlings, original features, arches and other fancies have really been a thing of the past. However,  there is starting to be a growing appreciation for these features with people even attempting to emulate an original, elegant moulding in a modern build flat. Mixing original period features (or recreating them) and pairing them with modern furnishings can create a very modern, sophisticated look.








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