Stories 3 GBP

STORIES

STOR IES FOR SPR ING

VOLUME 3 SPRING 2017

W E BELIEV E That sometimes, opposites attract An oversized plant in a small vessel. A Gustavian-inspired mirror leant atop a workbench-style console table.

A candlestick lamp, handsome and stately, topped off with a gathered lampshade, pretty and feminine.

And yet somehow, they come together rather beautifully.

Arundel console table, £820. Fitzroy large lampstand, £125. Lucile 15” Lara Sage shade, £34.

Lavenham Large mirror, £350. Ashcroft round basket, £72.

THE PR ESS PR EV IEW

neptune.com Stores nationwide

SPRING 2017

“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”

“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine.”

Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

Foreword

Features

Every season has colours and sentiments attached to it. And while autumn brings to our minds shades of rich reds and warm oranges, spring tells us a different tale entirely. It’s probably the season with the clearest vision of all. It starts and it ends with green. And so does our third volume of Stories.

In the pages that follow we share with you a collection of our most-loved ‘spring things’ from cultivating your own mini herb garden to refreshing your home through colour alone. Not only that, we’ve included articles on topics that we’ve never discussed before. Turn to page 23 to go behind the scenes of our bespoke cabinetry workshop in Wiltshire, and to page 31 where Editor-in-chief of Homes & Gardens, Deborah Barker, shares her notes from her interview with our Creative Director, Emma Sims-Hilditch.

If you’re new to Stories, know that we write it first and foremost with escapism in mind. We hope that it will be an interesting read, perhaps an insightful one at times, but above all else, we hope that it takes you away to a lovely place, even if it’s only for a moment or two. It’s a book that celebrates all of the happier things in life, that takes the time to appreciate them for what they are, and to welcome in the new season with arms wide open.

Thank you for reading it.

NEPTUNE.COM

THE HER B GA R DEN 29 Perhaps you dream of a garden where the lavender grows waist-high, or of a camomile lawn that’s soft enough to lie back on. Even if your aspirations are more modest – simply to snip fresh, fragrant leaves as you cook – herbs smell and taste so much better when grown from scratch.

A C R E AT I V E H E A D S PAC E 31 A never-before-seen interview between our Creative Director, Emma Sims-Hilditch, and Editor-in-chief of Homes & Gardens, Deborah Barker. Learn about Neptune’s beginnings, how with husband, John, and business partner, Giles, Emma shaped a distinctive vision for the brand, and the ideas and motivations behind some of their best-known products.

H E N L E Y 65 Just look how you’ve grown “Henley was the second kitchen that we ever designed.

We’ve learnt a lot since then and wanted to use that knowledge and apply all of those life lessons to it. So we rebuilt it, entirely.” This is Henley, except it isn’t.

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

Foreword

Features

Every season has colours and sentiments attached to it. And while autumn brings to our minds shades of rich reds and warm oranges, spring tells us a different tale entirely. It’s probably the season with the clearest vision of all. It starts and it ends with green. And so does our third volume of Stories.

In the pages that follow we share with you a collection of our most-loved ‘spring things’ from cultivating your own mini herb garden to refreshing your home through colour alone. Not only that, we’ve included articles on topics that we’ve never discussed before. Turn to page 23 to go behind the scenes of our bespoke cabinetry workshop in Wiltshire, and to page 31 where Editor-in-chief of Homes & Gardens, Deborah Barker, shares her notes from her interview with our Creative Director, Emma Sims-Hilditch.

If you’re new to Stories, know that we write it first and foremost with escapism in mind. We hope that it will be an interesting read, perhaps an insightful one at times, but above all else, we hope that it takes you away to a lovely place, even if it’s only for a moment or two. It’s a book that celebrates all of the happier things in life, that takes the time to appreciate them for what they are, and to welcome in the new season with arms wide open.

Thank you for reading it.

NEPTUNE.COM

THE HER B GA R DEN 29 Perhaps you dream of a garden where the lavender grows waist-high, or of a camomile lawn that’s soft enough to lie back on. Even if your aspirations are more modest – simply to snip fresh, fragrant leaves as you cook – herbs smell and taste so much better when grown from scratch.

A C R E AT I V E H E A D S PAC E 31 A never-before-seen interview between our Creative Director, Emma Sims-Hilditch, and Editor-in-chief of Homes & Gardens, Deborah Barker. Learn about Neptune’s beginnings, how with husband, John, and business partner, Giles, Emma shaped a distinctive vision for the brand, and the ideas and motivations behind some of their best-known products.

H E N L E Y 65 Just look how you’ve grown “Henley was the second kitchen that we ever designed.

We’ve learnt a lot since then and wanted to use that knowledge and apply all of those life lessons to it. So we rebuilt it, entirely.” This is Henley, except it isn’t.

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SPRING 2017

THE GR EEN HOUSES

Picture this. You’re walking into somebody’s home for the first time, and you’re met with the sight of a green interior. Green is a pleasant surprise. Pale, mid, or deep, on walls, on furnishings, or both, make us stop in our tracks.

It’s just a little, unexpected.

Suffolk six seater dining table hand-painted in Catcus £880 Long Island dining chair in Emma Sage £340 Chatto Lloyd Loom armchair £650 Walls painted in Sage

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SPRING 2017

THE GR EEN HOUSES

Picture this. You’re walking into somebody’s home for the first time, and you’re met with the sight of a green interior. Green is a pleasant surprise. Pale, mid, or deep, on walls, on furnishings, or both, make us stop in our tracks.

It’s just a little, unexpected.

Suffolk six seater dining table hand-painted in Catcus £880 Long Island dining chair in Emma Sage £340 Chatto Lloyd Loom armchair £650 Walls painted in Sage

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

Green is the colour above all others that we associate with nature. It’s intrinsically linked to blades of grass, to pastures and landscapes, to leaves and lawns, to fresh fruit and leafy vegetables.

There are two sides to this connotation. Perhaps because nature ‘does’ green so well, we’re unsure about how to emulate it in our own homes. We think that it belongs to the outside world and that we wouldn’t be able to do it justice. The other way to think about it is that by keeping green the other side of the threshold, we’re not making the most of it. It’s a wasted opportunity. Colour is such a powerful tool. It can help to shake off the stress of a bad day and encourage us to let go, to unwind.

Green in the home does what it does best – spell out calmness, vitality, patience and escapism.

Our spring/summer 2017 collection is called ‘The Green Houses’. It’s our way of celebrating greenness and gardens, as well as exploring how

Chatto Lloyd Loom armchair £650 Delilah cushion in Emma Sage & Warm White £57

we can bring the two together in a way that can be enjoyed inside and outside all season long, and beyond. It’s our way of championing a colour that’s overlooked and to put it in the limelight in a way that we can all understand, and then echo in our own homes.

Not only have we designed new creations to add to our existing collections, but we’ve enjoyed putting existing pieces into new contexts so they can be seen in a whole new light. We’ve replanted them, so they can bloom all over again. And at the heart of it all sits our newest colour concept – Sage.

A quieter version of green that was inspired by the underside colouring of the Sage leaf.

There’s always a story behind our seasonal collections. And historically, we haven’t always included them in Stories. But this one felt like it should be shared. Like it had a real place.

Think of this page as the very-first chapter.

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

Green is the colour above all others that we associate with nature. It’s intrinsically linked to blades of grass, to pastures and landscapes, to leaves and lawns, to fresh fruit and leafy vegetables.

There are two sides to this connotation. Perhaps because nature ‘does’ green so well, we’re unsure about how to emulate it in our own homes. We think that it belongs to the outside world and that we wouldn’t be able to do it justice. The other way to think about it is that by keeping green the other side of the threshold, we’re not making the most of it. It’s a wasted opportunity. Colour is such a powerful tool. It can help to shake off the stress of a bad day and encourage us to let go, to unwind.

Green in the home does what it does best – spell out calmness, vitality, patience and escapism.

Our spring/summer 2017 collection is called ‘The Green Houses’. It’s our way of celebrating greenness and gardens, as well as exploring how

Chatto Lloyd Loom armchair £650 Delilah cushion in Emma Sage & Warm White £57

we can bring the two together in a way that can be enjoyed inside and outside all season long, and beyond. It’s our way of championing a colour that’s overlooked and to put it in the limelight in a way that we can all understand, and then echo in our own homes.

Not only have we designed new creations to add to our existing collections, but we’ve enjoyed putting existing pieces into new contexts so they can be seen in a whole new light. We’ve replanted them, so they can bloom all over again. And at the heart of it all sits our newest colour concept – Sage.

A quieter version of green that was inspired by the underside colouring of the Sage leaf.

There’s always a story behind our seasonal collections. And historically, we haven’t always included them in Stories. But this one felt like it should be shared. Like it had a real place.

Think of this page as the very-first chapter.

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

This is Sage. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

Small selection of our hand-made pots in various sizes. £10/£15

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

This is Sage. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

Small selection of our hand-made pots in various sizes. £10/£15

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

A lily in the valley When trying to summarise spring in a single flower, we find we’re spoilt for choice.

Ask one person, and they might say a tulip.

Another, a simple daisy or trumpet-centred daffodil. Ask a third, and they could even suggest a snowdrop, for it is one of the first flowers to step out bravely when winter begins to thaw.

For us though, it’s Lily of the Valley.

Dainty and delicate, Lily of the Valley is instantly identifiable because of its gently nodding, bell-shaped flowers in pure white with scalloped edges. Some know them only as ‘fairy bells’. It’s almost a term of endearment, and it feels like a perfect fit.

They hang from a fragile stem and they’re given shelter and protection from the quilllike leaves that sprout, usually in pairs, either side. Lily of the Valley flowers as early as March. It’s certain to be seen in May. It holds on until June whenever they can. It returns in September, but gone are the pretty petals. In their place are scarlet berries, and green leaves that have turned golden.

It loves the shade. It’s a beginner’s plant as much as it is the experienced gardener's. It’s known for being little bother. It doesn’t ask for much fuss.

Lily of the Valley is a British native.

Perhaps that makes us love it that bit more.

It was cited in the 16th-century Herbal (the historic botany book by John Gerard) as growing across London’s Hampstead Heath, a statement seconded by the great English botanist, Nicholas Culpeper. Now, it’s found and loved across Asia, North America and closer-to-home Europe. In France, Lily of the Valley, or muguet de bois as they call it, forms part of a Gallic tradition where bunches are gathered and presented to loved ones as a token of love and luck on May Day. We close by talking about fragrance. It might be the attribute for which Lily of the Valley is most known – a scent as delicate as its appearance. It’s light and sweet, floral yet mossy, and bergamot whispers quietly at the back. Perfumers all over the world have tried to bottle its notes, with Dior’s 1956 creation, Diorissimo, being heralded as the best imitated, but never matched.

Lily of the Valley symbolises the return of happiness, of sweetness and the feeling of contentment. The French refer to it as a porte-bonheur. It translates, quite literally, as a ‘bringer of happiness’.

This is Cactus. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

A lily in the valley When trying to summarise spring in a single flower, we find we’re spoilt for choice.

Ask one person, and they might say a tulip.

Another, a simple daisy or trumpet-centred daffodil. Ask a third, and they could even suggest a snowdrop, for it is one of the first flowers to step out bravely when winter begins to thaw.

For us though, it’s Lily of the Valley.

Dainty and delicate, Lily of the Valley is instantly identifiable because of its gently nodding, bell-shaped flowers in pure white with scalloped edges. Some know them only as ‘fairy bells’. It’s almost a term of endearment, and it feels like a perfect fit.

They hang from a fragile stem and they’re given shelter and protection from the quilllike leaves that sprout, usually in pairs, either side. Lily of the Valley flowers as early as March. It’s certain to be seen in May. It holds on until June whenever they can. It returns in September, but gone are the pretty petals. In their place are scarlet berries, and green leaves that have turned golden.

It loves the shade. It’s a beginner’s plant as much as it is the experienced gardener's. It’s known for being little bother. It doesn’t ask for much fuss.

Lily of the Valley is a British native.

Perhaps that makes us love it that bit more.

It was cited in the 16th-century Herbal (the historic botany book by John Gerard) as growing across London’s Hampstead Heath, a statement seconded by the great English botanist, Nicholas Culpeper. Now, it’s found and loved across Asia, North America and closer-to-home Europe. In France, Lily of the Valley, or muguet de bois as they call it, forms part of a Gallic tradition where bunches are gathered and presented to loved ones as a token of love and luck on May Day. We close by talking about fragrance. It might be the attribute for which Lily of the Valley is most known – a scent as delicate as its appearance. It’s light and sweet, floral yet mossy, and bergamot whispers quietly at the back. Perfumers all over the world have tried to bottle its notes, with Dior’s 1956 creation, Diorissimo, being heralded as the best imitated, but never matched.

Lily of the Valley symbolises the return of happiness, of sweetness and the feeling of contentment. The French refer to it as a porte-bonheur. It translates, quite literally, as a ‘bringer of happiness’.

This is Cactus. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

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STORIES

A lick of paint here.

A lick of paint there.

We’re not ones to be easily swayed by passing fads or fashions, preferring classic designs that are built to last.

When it comes to kitchens, however, repainting classic cabinetry in a fresh colour is like having the best of both worlds. Yes, paint shades are often in thrall to changing trends, but that’s all part of paint’s appeal. It enables us to update existing pieces and to rejuvenate our spaces. Which, in turn, brightens our entire outlook.

And what space could be more fitting to perform this act of interiors alchemy than the kitchen? There’s a reason why it’s so often called ‘the hub of the home’. Even if you have a study or studio elsewhere, the kitchen is a truly creative room.

Along with all the food that bubbles away, this is also where ideas come to fruition.

Where future plans or the big questions are mulled over, often around the kitchen table.

So a kitchen needs to be constantly inspiring and able to reflect our changing tastes. Five years ago, few of us would have contemplated painting a kitchen in grey or dark green. But today, it’s a different story.

Colour enables us to be brave, to try new combinations and enjoy unexpected results.

Paint is a win-win adventure in colour, because it maintains the intrinsic quality of your cabinetry.

A new colour simply brings out a new facet of its character – a bit like when we learn a new skill or wear something bold. We’re still us – only a more interesting version of ourselves.

This is why we decided to try our spring/ summer colour creation, Sage, on the classic Henley kitchen. Far from retracting from the Henley’s refined finish, Sage seems to accentuate its crafted qualities. It helps that our final coat of paint is always done by hand, with long, even brushstrokes. Mixed with worktops in wholesome oak, the Henley kitchen in Sage feels supremely calm.

Similarly, we knew the Suffolk kitchen looked dreamy in Dove Grey and dramatic in Charcoal. But by repainting it in our deeper shade of Cactus, it surprised us all over again.

See what we mean by visiting the Suffolk kitchen part of our website. Partnered with walls in the same enveloping shade, it feels inviting. And full of possibilities.

And that, really, is how every kitchen should make you feel. Along with keeping everyone fed and watered, your kitchen serves to keep your mind and spirit nourished and open to new adventures.

PAGE 14 Henley kitchen hand-painted in Sage from £14,000 Corinium large jug vase £25

Of all the layers that make up an interior, colour is the most versatile.

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STORIES

A lick of paint here.

A lick of paint there.

We’re not ones to be easily swayed by passing fads or fashions, preferring classic designs that are built to last.

When it comes to kitchens, however, repainting classic cabinetry in a fresh colour is like having the best of both worlds. Yes, paint shades are often in thrall to changing trends, but that’s all part of paint’s appeal. It enables us to update existing pieces and to rejuvenate our spaces. Which, in turn, brightens our entire outlook.

And what space could be more fitting to perform this act of interiors alchemy than the kitchen? There’s a reason why it’s so often called ‘the hub of the home’. Even if you have a study or studio elsewhere, the kitchen is a truly creative room.

Along with all the food that bubbles away, this is also where ideas come to fruition.

Where future plans or the big questions are mulled over, often around the kitchen table.

So a kitchen needs to be constantly inspiring and able to reflect our changing tastes. Five years ago, few of us would have contemplated painting a kitchen in grey or dark green. But today, it’s a different story.

Colour enables us to be brave, to try new combinations and enjoy unexpected results.

Paint is a win-win adventure in colour, because it maintains the intrinsic quality of your cabinetry.

A new colour simply brings out a new facet of its character – a bit like when we learn a new skill or wear something bold. We’re still us – only a more interesting version of ourselves.

This is why we decided to try our spring/ summer colour creation, Sage, on the classic Henley kitchen. Far from retracting from the Henley’s refined finish, Sage seems to accentuate its crafted qualities. It helps that our final coat of paint is always done by hand, with long, even brushstrokes. Mixed with worktops in wholesome oak, the Henley kitchen in Sage feels supremely calm.

Similarly, we knew the Suffolk kitchen looked dreamy in Dove Grey and dramatic in Charcoal. But by repainting it in our deeper shade of Cactus, it surprised us all over again.

See what we mean by visiting the Suffolk kitchen part of our website. Partnered with walls in the same enveloping shade, it feels inviting. And full of possibilities.

And that, really, is how every kitchen should make you feel. Along with keeping everyone fed and watered, your kitchen serves to keep your mind and spirit nourished and open to new adventures.

PAGE 14 Henley kitchen hand-painted in Sage from £14,000 Corinium large jug vase £25

Of all the layers that make up an interior, colour is the most versatile.

SPRING 2017

SA ME DOOR NO MOR E

Your front door is far more than a functional entrance to your home. Its colour and decorative style speak volumes about you, before visitors even reach for the knocker.

It used to be that front doors mostly came in glossy basic shades. A bit like the first Ford motor cars, you could have your door in any colour, as long as it was black. Or red. Or blue; green, at a push.

Happily, front doors are now decorated in a dazzling array of colours – as are house facades.

From the classic French Grey doors and window frames of Cotswold country homes to the wellknown candy-fronted mews houses of London’s Notting Hill. Exterior paint colours immediately evoke a strong emotional response. They make a home unique. And they create memories.

But, on the whole, it’s interesting that our front doors seem to live a life quite separate from the interiors style that lies beyond the threshold.

Even those Notting Hill residents probably don’t continue their ice-cream coloured exterior walls, indoors. And we see this as a missed opportunity.

Whether you have a classic Victorian portico or a rustic cottage porch, a front door can be a fitting

prelude to the shades that adorn your walls inside.

A front door can introduce a shade that is subtly repeated as you progress through the home, perhaps on a hallway console table or in a carpet runner.

Similarly, why is it that repainting a front door seems far more challenging a task than changing a wall colour? Sanding down aside, tackling a door is a whole lot more straightforward than repainting a room. If you do it yourself, set aside a bright spring weekend and, come Monday morning, you’ll have an entirely fresh face to present to the world.

Unlike Mr Ford’s first customers, the colour choice is wide open for you. It could be influenced by new shades that arrive with the season. You could coordinate it with some newly painted window frames. You could even pick a shade that works beautifully with a neighbour’s door.

Finally, just as with a freshly painted room, bring out the beauty of a doorway by ‘dressing’ it. Flank it with potted plants or invest in new brassware.

A door knocker that gives a rewardingly solid sound, or a letter box cover with just the right amount of ‘give’.

Welcome to a new entrance – and a new way of thinking about your most significant door.

This is Sage. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

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SPRING 2017

SA ME DOOR NO MOR E

Your front door is far more than a functional entrance to your home. Its colour and decorative style speak volumes about you, before visitors even reach for the knocker.

It used to be that front doors mostly came in glossy basic shades. A bit like the first Ford motor cars, you could have your door in any colour, as long as it was black. Or red. Or blue; green, at a push.

Happily, front doors are now decorated in a dazzling array of colours – as are house facades.

From the classic French Grey doors and window frames of Cotswold country homes to the wellknown candy-fronted mews houses of London’s Notting Hill. Exterior paint colours immediately evoke a strong emotional response. They make a home unique. And they create memories.

But, on the whole, it’s interesting that our front doors seem to live a life quite separate from the interiors style that lies beyond the threshold.

Even those Notting Hill residents probably don’t continue their ice-cream coloured exterior walls, indoors. And we see this as a missed opportunity.

Whether you have a classic Victorian portico or a rustic cottage porch, a front door can be a fitting

prelude to the shades that adorn your walls inside.

A front door can introduce a shade that is subtly repeated as you progress through the home, perhaps on a hallway console table or in a carpet runner.

Similarly, why is it that repainting a front door seems far more challenging a task than changing a wall colour? Sanding down aside, tackling a door is a whole lot more straightforward than repainting a room. If you do it yourself, set aside a bright spring weekend and, come Monday morning, you’ll have an entirely fresh face to present to the world.

Unlike Mr Ford’s first customers, the colour choice is wide open for you. It could be influenced by new shades that arrive with the season. You could coordinate it with some newly painted window frames. You could even pick a shade that works beautifully with a neighbour’s door.

Finally, just as with a freshly painted room, bring out the beauty of a doorway by ‘dressing’ it. Flank it with potted plants or invest in new brassware.

A door knocker that gives a rewardingly solid sound, or a letter box cover with just the right amount of ‘give’.

Welcome to a new entrance – and a new way of thinking about your most significant door.

This is Sage. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

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STORIES

Take one room…

We don’t just sing the praises of paint, we practise what we preach. We asked Tanya Snook, Art Director and mother of four, to demonstrate how switching to a palette of uplifting shades changed the mood of her own whole home.

Tanya chose to go to work on her family’s dining room, which previously felt like an add-on to the larger living space, but lacked its own character. It had become an overspill area or a room the family used on special occasions – but then headed straight back out to the comfy chairs.

The room had been decorated in a nearly-black shade of grey, which Tanya initially covered in several coats of off-white as a corrector. The final shade on the dining room walls is our Mist matt emulsion – immediately more evocative than the interim off-white.

Now, it’s a restful dining space, where the quirky picture frames and timber tones of the furniture work together. The overall mood is one of calm. It’s a space that beckons and welcomes.

It also doubles as a relaxed work space for Tanya.

“I can be laying out fabric swatches or using the computer and I feel focused in here,” she says. “But I’m also on hand for the children, in the next room.”

Tanya used our mellower paint shade of Sage (again, emulsion) on the walls around the fireplace, switching to Sage eggshell for the mantelpiece and the door. Quite a change from the door’s previous incarnation – a stark white against the dark charcoal walls. “Now the doorway feels part of a restful, coherent scheme. It all flows,” says Tanya.

Finally, Tanya hand-painted her bookcase in Shingle eggshell. “I love how it highlights its shape and emphasises the height of the room,” she says.

As Tanya’s handiwork shows, colour doesn’t have to shock or jolt. It can enhance an existing room, an architectural element or a piece of furniture with soothing results. “Paint is a remarkably quick way to alter an entire scheme,” says Tanya. “We feel as if we’ve gained a whole new room, but it’s all down to simple pots of paint.”

PAGE 18 Chichester full height bookcase £1,290 Castleford wide and tall bottle in Clear and Forest Green £34/£47 Edinburgh large round mirror £660 Olivia armchair upholstered in Pale Oat £1,310 Camilla scatter cushion in Emma Sage & Isla Mallard £60 Stamford garter stich throw in Mist £86 This is Alpine. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion.

17

STORIES

Take one room…

We don’t just sing the praises of paint, we practise what we preach. We asked Tanya Snook, Art Director and mother of four, to demonstrate how switching to a palette of uplifting shades changed the mood of her own whole home.

Tanya chose to go to work on her family’s dining room, which previously felt like an add-on to the larger living space, but lacked its own character. It had become an overspill area or a room the family used on special occasions – but then headed straight back out to the comfy chairs.

The room had been decorated in a nearly-black shade of grey, which Tanya initially covered in several coats of off-white as a corrector. The final shade on the dining room walls is our Mist matt emulsion – immediately more evocative than the interim off-white.

Now, it’s a restful dining space, where the quirky picture frames and timber tones of the furniture work together. The overall mood is one of calm. It’s a space that beckons and welcomes.

It also doubles as a relaxed work space for Tanya.

“I can be laying out fabric swatches or using the computer and I feel focused in here,” she says. “But I’m also on hand for the children, in the next room.”

Tanya used our mellower paint shade of Sage (again, emulsion) on the walls around the fireplace, switching to Sage eggshell for the mantelpiece and the door. Quite a change from the door’s previous incarnation – a stark white against the dark charcoal walls. “Now the doorway feels part of a restful, coherent scheme. It all flows,” says Tanya.

Finally, Tanya hand-painted her bookcase in Shingle eggshell. “I love how it highlights its shape and emphasises the height of the room,” she says.

As Tanya’s handiwork shows, colour doesn’t have to shock or jolt. It can enhance an existing room, an architectural element or a piece of furniture with soothing results. “Paint is a remarkably quick way to alter an entire scheme,” says Tanya. “We feel as if we’ve gained a whole new room, but it’s all down to simple pots of paint.”

PAGE 18 Chichester full height bookcase £1,290 Castleford wide and tall bottle in Clear and Forest Green £34/£47 Edinburgh large round mirror £660 Olivia armchair upholstered in Pale Oat £1,310 Camilla scatter cushion in Emma Sage & Isla Mallard £60 Stamford garter stich throw in Mist £86 This is Alpine. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion.

Lavenham mirror £215 Corinium medium jug with handle £11 Lamorran small serving bowl £11

Lavenham mirror £215 Corinium medium jug with handle £11 Lamorran small serving bowl £11

SPRING 2017

A PL ACE TO PONDER

Cushioned and cosseting, a window seat calls to be curled up on for a restorative reading session, to grant yourself the quiet time and space you need to think things through, or to simply do nothing at all except to sit and stare.

But equally, a window seat can be a place of inspiration and imagination. Where better to contemplate big ideas than gazing out onto the changing seasons and the world around us?

The other beauty of a window seat is the way that it makes a virtue out of a necessity, and turns something relatively simple into a mini room. It can feel like a small sitting room or cosy snug within the folds of a much bigger space.

It’s the ultimate multi-tasker.

It’s another way to build a bridge between our interior and exterior worlds.

T WO B U I L D -F R E E WA Y S T O C R E AT E A W I N D OW S E AT

A window seat is a special place. It calls to us in a way that’s different to a sofa or armchair. It’s out of the ordinary. It’s a ‘happy place’. There’s a charm to a window seat that’s hard to put your finger on.

Make the most of what you’ve got If your home is blessed with deep window sills, you can coax the space into becoming a seat.

It might be that it’s not quite as deep as you’d like or it’s a touch higher on the wall than you would have otherwise chosen, but it requires no construction and no fuss whatsoever. All that’s needed here is to have a full-width base cushion made-to-measure in your preference of fabric and fi lling (contrast piping works particularly well on a window seat cushion). Choose foam for structure or go for densely-packed feather and down for comfort that can still hold its shape.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way If the above isn’t feasible, and if you’re keen to avoid taking on any sort of carpentry construction for your window seat, all is not lost. Far from it. Interpret the meaning of ‘window seat’ quite literally and position a much-adored chair (or two) or even a padded footstool, beneath the window you wish to frame. With some careful thought, you can achieve just the same. The trick is to choose a seat that you truly love, and then add a cushion or two for good measure.

And remember, a window seat is something that has a place in absolutely any part of the home.

Hallways, bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms.

Under windows little and large. In alcoves and corners. For children, for guests, but more than anything, all for yourself.

PAGE 21 Fairfax large lampstand with Lucille 18" Warm White shade £181 Delilah scatter cushion in Emma Mustard & Warm White £57 Tamsin scatter cushion in Jack Mustard & Isla Finch £76 Laura scatter cushion in Jack Mustard £80 Arundel console table £820

22

SPRING 2017

A PL ACE TO PONDER

Cushioned and cosseting, a window seat calls to be curled up on for a restorative reading session, to grant yourself the quiet time and space you need to think things through, or to simply do nothing at all except to sit and stare.

But equally, a window seat can be a place of inspiration and imagination. Where better to contemplate big ideas than gazing out onto the changing seasons and the world around us?

The other beauty of a window seat is the way that it makes a virtue out of a necessity, and turns something relatively simple into a mini room. It can feel like a small sitting room or cosy snug within the folds of a much bigger space.

It’s the ultimate multi-tasker.

It’s another way to build a bridge between our interior and exterior worlds.

T WO B U I L D -F R E E WA Y S T O C R E AT E A W I N D OW S E AT

A window seat is a special place. It calls to us in a way that’s different to a sofa or armchair. It’s out of the ordinary. It’s a ‘happy place’. There’s a charm to a window seat that’s hard to put your finger on.

Make the most of what you’ve got If your home is blessed with deep window sills, you can coax the space into becoming a seat.

It might be that it’s not quite as deep as you’d like or it’s a touch higher on the wall than you would have otherwise chosen, but it requires no construction and no fuss whatsoever. All that’s needed here is to have a full-width base cushion made-to-measure in your preference of fabric and fi lling (contrast piping works particularly well on a window seat cushion). Choose foam for structure or go for densely-packed feather and down for comfort that can still hold its shape.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way If the above isn’t feasible, and if you’re keen to avoid taking on any sort of carpentry construction for your window seat, all is not lost. Far from it. Interpret the meaning of ‘window seat’ quite literally and position a much-adored chair (or two) or even a padded footstool, beneath the window you wish to frame. With some careful thought, you can achieve just the same. The trick is to choose a seat that you truly love, and then add a cushion or two for good measure.

And remember, a window seat is something that has a place in absolutely any part of the home.

Hallways, bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms.

Under windows little and large. In alcoves and corners. For children, for guests, but more than anything, all for yourself.

PAGE 21 Fairfax large lampstand with Lucille 18" Warm White shade £181 Delilah scatter cushion in Emma Mustard & Warm White £57 Tamsin scatter cushion in Jack Mustard & Isla Finch £76 Laura scatter cushion in Jack Mustard £80 Arundel console table £820

22

23

STORIES

Bespoke (Adj.) British.

1. (of goods) made to order.

2. (of a computer program) written or adapted for a specific user or purpose.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Twelfth Edition.

Both definitions apply to what we do at Neptune.

To date, we haven’t made much noise about our bespoke service. In truth, it started small. We were creating things like simple filler panels to complete a kitchen scheme. It wasn’t quite a service at this stage, more of a possible solution where there existed no other. But it felt like there could be more to it.

NEPTUNE.COM

23

STORIES

Bespoke (Adj.) British.

1. (of goods) made to order.

2. (of a computer program) written or adapted for a specific user or purpose.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Twelfth Edition.

Both definitions apply to what we do at Neptune.

To date, we haven’t made much noise about our bespoke service. In truth, it started small. We were creating things like simple filler panels to complete a kitchen scheme. It wasn’t quite a service at this stage, more of a possible solution where there existed no other. But it felt like there could be more to it.

NEPTUNE.COM

SPRING 2017

That meant we needed people. Specialists and craftsmen. As we write this article there are 22 people who work purely for the bespoke team at our Wiltshire head office. Ten of those are carpenters, a handful more focus on finishing. We have a couple of apprentices, one person who takes care of all of the administration, and one designer.

And, by the end of February there will be more.

It turns out, Neptune bespoke is a service that’s more in demand than we’d first anticipated.

Bespoke, to us, is something that we create outside of our ‘standard’ collections. We use the same design principles, the same exacting criteria, and the same level of technical expertise. It’s proven most popular in kitchens, where a Neptune designer might suggest that a bespoke cabinet would work better for a specific project. It could be a case of simply altering the size if the dimensions of the space are making it tricky to achieve the perfect layout or wisest use of space. We categorically don’t believe in ‘it will have to do’. We create what works.

It could be that there’s a gap at the end of a run and a customer doesn’t want one of our breadboard and tray blocks, or tea towel rails, instead they wish that the cabinets were that bit wider. So we make them wider. Or narrower as the case may be. Or shorter (low cottage ceilings can often get in the way). Sometimes, it happens the other way around and a customer has thought up a new cabinet creation that they desperately want to have in their home. Together we’ll explore the design, and make it happen. And if it can’t, perhaps for safety reasons, we’ll find a happy alternative and design something as close to their original design as we can.

But bespoke has started to tiptoe into other parts of the home. It’s entered the realm of freestanding furniture found in living rooms, hallways, bedrooms and beyond. Slender sideboards have begun to transform into squares, leaving their original rectangular silhouette

behind. Shelving systems have started to shift around, reconfiguring themselves to sit beside hidden drawers or hutches. Awkward nibs and gaps have become awkward no more, as we mapped out storage concepts that could fill them to the millimetre. They don’t call it made-to-measure for no reason. We recalibrated an entire house, making 15-20 pieces of cabinetry that meant every nook and cranny suddenly had a storage purpose. And there were only five people in the team at that stage.

Construction isn’t everything though. When we design a custom piece, it could be that a customer wants the internal cabinetry painted in two colours; the backdrop in a darker tone and the sides in something paler. Or they might have fallen for the Chichester cabinetry but prefer the internal exposed oak of the Suffolk. It can be just as much about small alterations to satisfy personal preference. Our approach is to adapt our existing collections to come up with something that specifically answers your wants and needs.

But we’ll always do it in a way that ensures the Neptune aesthetic is never lost. We want it to feel like the very best of us and you.

We’re excited about bespoke. It feels like it’s going to be something big. But not just yet.

Currently, we only offer it on our Chichester and Suffolk collections. The plan, in time, is to extend it to Henley and Limehouse, and then if the interest remains, we’ll look to offer it across our entire portfolio. We’re growing the team but it’s not something we can rush, finding the right people isn’t always a straightforward search and we can put our hand on our heart and say we would never take on a project that we don’t have the manpower to fulfil to the Neptune standard.

But we wanted to tell you about it, because it’s real, because sometimes excitement is hard to contain, and because it’s for you after all.

That’s the true beauty of bespoke.

28

SPRING 2017

That meant we needed people. Specialists and craftsmen. As we write this article there are 22 people who work purely for the bespoke team at our Wiltshire head office. Ten of those are carpenters, a handful more focus on finishing. We have a couple of apprentices, one person who takes care of all of the administration, and one designer.

And, by the end of February there will be more.

It turns out, Neptune bespoke is a service that’s more in demand than we’d first anticipated.

Bespoke, to us, is something that we create outside of our ‘standard’ collections. We use the same design principles, the same exacting criteria, and the same level of technical expertise. It’s proven most popular in kitchens, where a Neptune designer might suggest that a bespoke cabinet would work better for a specific project. It could be a case of simply altering the size if the dimensions of the space are making it tricky to achieve the perfect layout or wisest use of space. We categorically don’t believe in ‘it will have to do’. We create what works.

It could be that there’s a gap at the end of a run and a customer doesn’t want one of our breadboard and tray blocks, or tea towel rails, instead they wish that the cabinets were that bit wider. So we make them wider. Or narrower as the case may be. Or shorter (low cottage ceilings can often get in the way). Sometimes, it happens the other way around and a customer has thought up a new cabinet creation that they desperately want to have in their home. Together we’ll explore the design, and make it happen. And if it can’t, perhaps for safety reasons, we’ll find a happy alternative and design something as close to their original design as we can.

But bespoke has started to tiptoe into other parts of the home. It’s entered the realm of freestanding furniture found in living rooms, hallways, bedrooms and beyond. Slender sideboards have begun to transform into squares, leaving their original rectangular silhouette

behind. Shelving systems have started to shift around, reconfiguring themselves to sit beside hidden drawers or hutches. Awkward nibs and gaps have become awkward no more, as we mapped out storage concepts that could fill them to the millimetre. They don’t call it made-to-measure for no reason. We recalibrated an entire house, making 15-20 pieces of cabinetry that meant every nook and cranny suddenly had a storage purpose. And there were only five people in the team at that stage.

Construction isn’t everything though. When we design a custom piece, it could be that a customer wants the internal cabinetry painted in two colours; the backdrop in a darker tone and the sides in something paler. Or they might have fallen for the Chichester cabinetry but prefer the internal exposed oak of the Suffolk. It can be just as much about small alterations to satisfy personal preference. Our approach is to adapt our existing collections to come up with something that specifically answers your wants and needs.

But we’ll always do it in a way that ensures the Neptune aesthetic is never lost. We want it to feel like the very best of us and you.

We’re excited about bespoke. It feels like it’s going to be something big. But not just yet.

Currently, we only offer it on our Chichester and Suffolk collections. The plan, in time, is to extend it to Henley and Limehouse, and then if the interest remains, we’ll look to offer it across our entire portfolio. We’re growing the team but it’s not something we can rush, finding the right people isn’t always a straightforward search and we can put our hand on our heart and say we would never take on a project that we don’t have the manpower to fulfil to the Neptune standard.

But we wanted to tell you about it, because it’s real, because sometimes excitement is hard to contain, and because it’s for you after all.

That’s the true beauty of bespoke.

28

SPRING 2017

Perhaps you dream of a garden where the lavender grows waist-high, or of a camomile lawn that’s soft enough to lie back on. Even if your aspirations are more modest – simply to snip fresh, fragrant leaves as you cook – herbs smell and taste so much better when grown from scratch.

Pots of fresh herbs breathe life into a home. In previous centuries, they were grown as remedies, which people – and then esteemed apothecaries – would gather, using them to cure, to calm, and to soothe. Today, they continue to be a balm in the home, although more often in the form of a tea, a scent or a flavour.

If your herb growing experience is limited, by all means consult books and websites (The Royal Horticultural Society at rhs.org.uk is a wealth of advice). But also grow what you love. If you adore coriander in a salad or chives on new potatoes, there’s your best motivation. Chives are, incidentally, the easiest herb to grow from seeds, so ideal for novices.

From window box to the longest of lawns

THE HERB GA R DEN

BY JO LEEV ERS

JO LEEVERS writes for some of the UK’s most acclaimed lifestyle magazines and national newspapers, from The Telegraph to Homes & Antiques.

It’s best to start small, sowing seeds in pots or trays indoors. You can also buy young plants from nurseries, but don’t attempt to nurture supermarket herbs pots. They’re grown rapidly under glass, so not designed to endure the British climate for long.

For owners of a smaller garden or courtyard, your herbs can safely stay in containers rather than planting them out into borders. As they begin to outgrow their trays, transplant them into containers. Pretty terracotta pots or vintage wooden crates work well as they are deep enough for roots to grow and they look good grouped together.

In a garden with space to plant out seedlings, wait until the early spring frosts are behind us. But in the meantime, think about what type of layout appeals. The formal herb gardens of British country houses were traditionally laid out in geometric arrangements, but a more natural, flowing arrangement has a definite wayward charm.

Whether you achieve your dream of a wild meadow laced with scents, or merely a few pots to snip from as you cook, herbs bring nature into the home. They show that this is a place where care and attention are given freely – and where life flourishes.

PAGE 29 Our selection of hand-made pots in various sizes. £10/£15 This is Mist. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

30

SPRING 2017

Perhaps you dream of a garden where the lavender grows waist-high, or of a camomile lawn that’s soft enough to lie back on. Even if your aspirations are more modest – simply to snip fresh, fragrant leaves as you cook – herbs smell and taste so much better when grown from scratch.

Pots of fresh herbs breathe life into a home. In previous centuries, they were grown as remedies, which people – and then esteemed apothecaries – would gather, using them to cure, to calm, and to soothe. Today, they continue to be a balm in the home, although more often in the form of a tea, a scent or a flavour.

If your herb growing experience is limited, by all means consult books and websites (The Royal Horticultural Society at rhs.org.uk is a wealth of advice). But also grow what you love. If you adore coriander in a salad or chives on new potatoes, there’s your best motivation. Chives are, incidentally, the easiest herb to grow from seeds, so ideal for novices.

From window box to the longest of lawns

THE HERB GA R DEN

BY JO LEEV ERS

JO LEEVERS writes for some of the UK’s most acclaimed lifestyle magazines and national newspapers, from The Telegraph to Homes & Antiques.

It’s best to start small, sowing seeds in pots or trays indoors. You can also buy young plants from nurseries, but don’t attempt to nurture supermarket herbs pots. They’re grown rapidly under glass, so not designed to endure the British climate for long.

For owners of a smaller garden or courtyard, your herbs can safely stay in containers rather than planting them out into borders. As they begin to outgrow their trays, transplant them into containers. Pretty terracotta pots or vintage wooden crates work well as they are deep enough for roots to grow and they look good grouped together.

In a garden with space to plant out seedlings, wait until the early spring frosts are behind us. But in the meantime, think about what type of layout appeals. The formal herb gardens of British country houses were traditionally laid out in geometric arrangements, but a more natural, flowing arrangement has a definite wayward charm.

Whether you achieve your dream of a wild meadow laced with scents, or merely a few pots to snip from as you cook, herbs bring nature into the home. They show that this is a place where care and attention are given freely – and where life flourishes.

PAGE 29 Our selection of hand-made pots in various sizes. £10/£15 This is Mist. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

30

SPRING 2017

A creative head space Every great brand has a great Creative Director at its heart, but they don’t always appear fully made and ready for action. Sometimes they grow in skill, inspiration and confidence as the brand grows alongside them, and that’s been the case for Emma Sims-Hilditch and Neptune.

Here, Emma tells us about Neptune’s beginnings, how with husband, John, and business partner, Giles, she shaped a distinctive vision for the brand, and the ideas and motivation behind some of their best-known designs.

BY DEBOR AH BAR K ER

Like so many businesses, Neptune saw its first spark of inspiration on that stalwart of the budding entrepreneur… the kitchen table. Emma was very much a hands-on curtain maker at the time when her husband, John Sims-Hilditch, and his friend, Giles Redman, announced their business idea: hammocks. “Giles came up with the hammock idea, and as John hadn’t long left the British Army, he very much liked the idea of creating a classic English hammock inspired by his army days. I put my curtains to one side, took out some really tough needles, and made the first-ever sample on our kitchen table,” Emma explains.

Slowly Neptune began to grow as John and Giles developed their hammocks into a larger collection of garden furniture. At the time, the

idea of having a creative direction for the business – and Emma being the person who drove it – was not even a dream. “The boys had an idea, we were running with it, and in those early years it was all hand to mouth. But as Neptune moved indoors and we realised that we needed to start acting seasonally, I began to get more and more involved.

It was very much an organic process. Interiors and design were my domain, so it made sense for me to help. That’s how it all began.”

DEBORAH BARKER is Editor-in-chief of Homes & Gardens and 25 Beautiful Homes – two of the UK’s leading interiors magazines.

PAGE 31 Winsford tea mugs, set of two £14 Winsford tea plates, set of four £32 Ella tumblers, set of six in Charcoal £36

32

SPRING 2017

A creative head space Every great brand has a great Creative Director at its heart, but they don’t always appear fully made and ready for action. Sometimes they grow in skill, inspiration and confidence as the brand grows alongside them, and that’s been the case for Emma Sims-Hilditch and Neptune.

Here, Emma tells us about Neptune’s beginnings, how with husband, John, and business partner, Giles, she shaped a distinctive vision for the brand, and the ideas and motivation behind some of their best-known designs.

BY DEBOR AH BAR K ER

Like so many businesses, Neptune saw its first spark of inspiration on that stalwart of the budding entrepreneur… the kitchen table. Emma was very much a hands-on curtain maker at the time when her husband, John Sims-Hilditch, and his friend, Giles Redman, announced their business idea: hammocks. “Giles came up with the hammock idea, and as John hadn’t long left the British Army, he very much liked the idea of creating a classic English hammock inspired by his army days. I put my curtains to one side, took out some really tough needles, and made the first-ever sample on our kitchen table,” Emma explains.

Slowly Neptune began to grow as John and Giles developed their hammocks into a larger collection of garden furniture. At the time, the

idea of having a creative direction for the business – and Emma being the person who drove it – was not even a dream. “The boys had an idea, we were running with it, and in those early years it was all hand to mouth. But as Neptune moved indoors and we realised that we needed to start acting seasonally, I began to get more and more involved.

It was very much an organic process. Interiors and design were my domain, so it made sense for me to help. That’s how it all began.”

DEBORAH BARKER is Editor-in-chief of Homes & Gardens and 25 Beautiful Homes – two of the UK’s leading interiors magazines.

PAGE 31 Winsford tea mugs, set of two £14 Winsford tea plates, set of four £32 Ella tumblers, set of six in Charcoal £36

32

33

STORIES

SPRING 2017

“Back then Neptune was a product-making company; lifestyle didn’t come into our minds. All we thought about was making a product that our customers would want to buy. I was busy, I had my curtain-making business and I had three little children (John and Emma have three children: Daisy, Betty and Billy) to raise. There wasn’t enough time back then to be as strategic as we are now.”

But steadily that began to change. As Neptune looked for new opportunities to expand beyond gardens, Emma’s own personal growth and confidence as an interior designer came into play.

“I was becoming much more aware of the interior design world around me. In fact the real reason we started to design particular furniture pieces was because I couldn’t buy the ones I wanted – furniture that was well made, affordable and looked beautiful.”

Drawing on a range of influences – especially her own interest in European interior design – Emma began to create Neptune’s unique look and feel, and it was something shaped by discipline as much as inspiration.

“The look I was working on naturally translated into Neptune. I’ve always had quite an easy relationship with colour. I love tone, and I love natural, earthy shades. It was vital that we got them perfect – the whites in particular. The white spectrum is always the hardest to capture.

Our paints were a real mark in the sand for us. I saw it as a statement of us creating for the future.

Developing things that would stand the test of time. I could have quite easily got carried away, developing a hundred or so different paints! But John helped me to edit it down into a much more curated collection of 28 core shades.” Emma’s favourite shade is Moss.

“That has very much became a principal of our business and our creative direction – edited Emma in the Coach House Studio at The White Hart.

Shot by her daughter, Betty.

choice. We still work on that to this day, breaking up our collections into seasons: spring/summer and autumn/winter. I like to ensure I have the room to respond to the inspiration that I see on a daily basis and that there’s enough breadth in our designs to suit a wide range of people, but it still needs to be cohesive at the same time. Every collection we launch is there to help our customers make an easy decision. That’s our ambition: to always make life as easy as we can, so that you’re able to simply enter our stores and immediately see what works well together. And with the launch of our curtain-making service later this year, it will become easier still.”

The source of inspiration “Our inspiration can come from everywhere and absolutely anywhere; but travel in particular fuels our thought. For example, during a stay in Cornwall more than ten years ago we spied these really classic, yet unusual, breakfast chairs. We loved them, and they went on to help us shape our Suffolk dining chairs. Another example is set design for film. The props they use are often really elegant, particularly in Jane Austen period dramas. I noticed that in every scene with a dining table, the BBC would get the same Georgian glasses out! I loved the shape – almost like a triangle opening up at the top – and said, let's try to make something like that. So we made the Greenwich wine glasses.

“Our creative style is influenced by many countries and their cultures as well as our own… the painted Scandinavian furniture of the 18th and 19th century, some inspiration from France, even a trip we did to East Coast America informs what we make. It might be colours, or styles, or shapes. It all contributes. But we do have a rule for our creative direction…”

34

33

STORIES

SPRING 2017

“Back then Neptune was a product-making company; lifestyle didn’t come into our minds. All we thought about was making a product that our customers would want to buy. I was busy, I had my curtain-making business and I had three little children (John and Emma have three children: Daisy, Betty and Billy) to raise. There wasn’t enough time back then to be as strategic as we are now.”

But steadily that began to change. As Neptune looked for new opportunities to expand beyond gardens, Emma’s own personal growth and confidence as an interior designer came into play.

“I was becoming much more aware of the interior design world around me. In fact the real reason we started to design particular furniture pieces was because I couldn’t buy the ones I wanted – furniture that was well made, affordable and looked beautiful.”

Drawing on a range of influences – especially her own interest in European interior design – Emma began to create Neptune’s unique look and feel, and it was something shaped by discipline as much as inspiration.

“The look I was working on naturally translated into Neptune. I’ve always had quite an easy relationship with colour. I love tone, and I love natural, earthy shades. It was vital that we got them perfect – the whites in particular. The white spectrum is always the hardest to capture.

Our paints were a real mark in the sand for us. I saw it as a statement of us creating for the future.

Developing things that would stand the test of time. I could have quite easily got carried away, developing a hundred or so different paints! But John helped me to edit it down into a much more curated collection of 28 core shades.” Emma’s favourite shade is Moss.

“That has very much became a principal of our business and our creative direction – edited Emma in the Coach House Studio at The White Hart.

Shot by her daughter, Betty.

choice. We still work on that to this day, breaking up our collections into seasons: spring/summer and autumn/winter. I like to ensure I have the room to respond to the inspiration that I see on a daily basis and that there’s enough breadth in our designs to suit a wide range of people, but it still needs to be cohesive at the same time. Every collection we launch is there to help our customers make an easy decision. That’s our ambition: to always make life as easy as we can, so that you’re able to simply enter our stores and immediately see what works well together. And with the launch of our curtain-making service later this year, it will become easier still.”

The source of inspiration “Our inspiration can come from everywhere and absolutely anywhere; but travel in particular fuels our thought. For example, during a stay in Cornwall more than ten years ago we spied these really classic, yet unusual, breakfast chairs. We loved them, and they went on to help us shape our Suffolk dining chairs. Another example is set design for film. The props they use are often really elegant, particularly in Jane Austen period dramas. I noticed that in every scene with a dining table, the BBC would get the same Georgian glasses out! I loved the shape – almost like a triangle opening up at the top – and said, let's try to make something like that. So we made the Greenwich wine glasses.

“Our creative style is influenced by many countries and their cultures as well as our own… the painted Scandinavian furniture of the 18th and 19th century, some inspiration from France, even a trip we did to East Coast America informs what we make. It might be colours, or styles, or shapes. It all contributes. But we do have a rule for our creative direction…”

34

SPRING 2017

The season rule “Our design process is just like the fashion industry with two main seasons spring/summer and autumn/winter. But we are very insistent now that we design a season in that season. Previously we might have been thinking about the autumn/ winter selection in spring, but when you do it in the autumn or winter of the previous year, you are completely immersed in the individual character of that season. You’re tuned into the light, the colours, the textures. We start by composing a story for that season to inspire us and out of that come all sorts of ideas. For instance our theme for this spring/summer collection is The Green Houses. We let nature and our own sense of what feels right guide us, not trends. Saying that though, it was really exciting to see that when we picked Sage Green to be our seasonal colour for this spring over a year ago, that green has turned out to be the colour for this year across the entire industry.”

The creative force Creativity is at the very heart of Emma’s life but at Neptune it is very much a team approach, with John, Giles and Emma at its core.

Neptune is a sum of its parts where each of their individual, defined skills come together to form a brilliant partnership. “Then there’s our incredible design team. We’re close-knit, we collaborate, we praise and critique each other’s work to get somewhere really special. We have a big meeting every Tuesday afternoon in Neptune's Design Library where all the creative forces in the business come together. We review existing product, brainstorm new concepts, and drill down into all of the technical elements of design, as well as working on the more imaginative side of things.”

Emma also has her own international interior design studio, Sims Hilditch. It seems that creativity and entrepreneurial spirit have spilled over to her daughters too. “I never skimped on buying them art materials and I never worried about the carpet. The curtains maybe! Now Daisy and Betty are both artists. Daisy is a portrait and landscape painter, working from life, whilst Betty is a set designer for films and in her spare time, a wonderful photographer. Billy is showing his creativity in a different way and is currently enjoying his first year at university studying French and Italian.”

At home “Our home has quite a subtle and calming palette. John is naturally bolder with colour though, and we both believe that living with colour is the best way to really understand it. So now, at home, we always repaint our hallway in Neptune’s seasonal colour. In the right season, with the right light, it brings that space to life and is an inexpensive way to really transform our home. Testing these colours in our own home is the best way for me to know we’re developing the shade that’s just perfect for that season.”

The future “John and Giles believe in building a hundred year old business. And our designs are in it for the long haul too. Timelessness is at the heart of our design mission. So we cannot be fashion-led. We have to design and produce products that stand the test of time. We want to create things that will be future heirlooms.

I’m so proud of how far we’ve come, and it might sound clichéd, but I’m excited about what the future holds. Every day in the design world is an exciting day.”

Winsford teapot £30 Winsford tea plates, set of four £32

36

SPRING 2017

The season rule “Our design process is just like the fashion industry with two main seasons spring/summer and autumn/winter. But we are very insistent now that we design a season in that season. Previously we might have been thinking about the autumn/ winter selection in spring, but when you do it in the autumn or winter of the previous year, you are completely immersed in the individual character of that season. You’re tuned into the light, the colours, the textures. We start by composing a story for that season to inspire us and out of that come all sorts of ideas. For instance our theme for this spring/summer collection is The Green Houses. We let nature and our own sense of what feels right guide us, not trends. Saying that though, it was really exciting to see that when we picked Sage Green to be our seasonal colour for this spring over a year ago, that green has turned out to be the colour for this year across the entire industry.”

The creative force Creativity is at the very heart of Emma’s life but at Neptune it is very much a team approach, with John, Giles and Emma at its core.

Neptune is a sum of its parts where each of their individual, defined skills come together to form a brilliant partnership. “Then there’s our incredible design team. We’re close-knit, we collaborate, we praise and critique each other’s work to get somewhere really special. We have a big meeting every Tuesday afternoon in Neptune's Design Library where all the creative forces in the business come together. We review existing product, brainstorm new concepts, and drill down into all of the technical elements of design, as well as working on the more imaginative side of things.”

Emma also has her own international interior design studio, Sims Hilditch. It seems that creativity and entrepreneurial spirit have spilled over to her daughters too. “I never skimped on buying them art materials and I never worried about the carpet. The curtains maybe! Now Daisy and Betty are both artists. Daisy is a portrait and landscape painter, working from life, whilst Betty is a set designer for films and in her spare time, a wonderful photographer. Billy is showing his creativity in a different way and is currently enjoying his first year at university studying French and Italian.”

At home “Our home has quite a subtle and calming palette. John is naturally bolder with colour though, and we both believe that living with colour is the best way to really understand it. So now, at home, we always repaint our hallway in Neptune’s seasonal colour. In the right season, with the right light, it brings that space to life and is an inexpensive way to really transform our home. Testing these colours in our own home is the best way for me to know we’re developing the shade that’s just perfect for that season.”

The future “John and Giles believe in building a hundred year old business. And our designs are in it for the long haul too. Timelessness is at the heart of our design mission. So we cannot be fashion-led. We have to design and produce products that stand the test of time. We want to create things that will be future heirlooms.

I’m so proud of how far we’ve come, and it might sound clichéd, but I’m excited about what the future holds. Every day in the design world is an exciting day.”

Winsford teapot £30 Winsford tea plates, set of four £32

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SPRING 2017

EMM A FLOR A L Of all the designs that go into the Neptune brand, creating fabrics is what comes the most naturally to Emma having worked with them for more than 25 years. She believes that the colour and texture that fabric brings is at the heart of any room scheme, and it is there to endure.

The inspiration for Neptune’s Emma fabric (first launched last season, and now returning in the Sage Green palette for spring/summer) came from Emma and John’s love of English gardens, and their desire to create an iconic floral pattern. The first step was to collaborate with a watercolour artist to create the original design. The painting was beautiful, recalls Emma “but as a fabric it felt a little old-fashioned because of how the pattern was working.”

So began a process of bouncing ideas backwards and forwards until that painting evolved into a design ideally matched to the Neptune vision of timelessness. But the design is only half the story.

“It’s not just about what the print is going to look like,” explains Emma. “It’s about the texture, it’s about the weight of the cloth, it’s about the scale and the repeat and the longevity of the design.

Life.

G OOD FOOD. G OOD M USIC .

A ND A GOOD BOOK.

Three of life’s loveliest pleasures.

“I won’t take second best!” laughs Emma (though with steely determination). “And I absolutely won’t allow a fabric to go through if I don’t believe it is best in class.”

This is Cactus. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

38

SPRING 2017

EMM A FLOR A L Of all the designs that go into the Neptune brand, creating fabrics is what comes the most naturally to Emma having worked with them for more than 25 years. She believes that the colour and texture that fabric brings is at the heart of any room scheme, and it is there to endure.

The inspiration for Neptune’s Emma fabric (first launched last season, and now returning in the Sage Green palette for spring/summer) came from Emma and John’s love of English gardens, and their desire to create an iconic floral pattern. The first step was to collaborate with a watercolour artist to create the original design. The painting was beautiful, recalls Emma “but as a fabric it felt a little old-fashioned because of how the pattern was working.”

So began a process of bouncing ideas backwards and forwards until that painting evolved into a design ideally matched to the Neptune vision of timelessness. But the design is only half the story.

“It’s not just about what the print is going to look like,” explains Emma. “It’s about the texture, it’s about the weight of the cloth, it’s about the scale and the repeat and the longevity of the design.

Life.

G OOD FOOD. G OOD M USIC .

A ND A GOOD BOOK.

Three of life’s loveliest pleasures.

“I won’t take second best!” laughs Emma (though with steely determination). “And I absolutely won’t allow a fabric to go through if I don’t believe it is best in class.”

This is Cactus. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

38

39

STORIES

In the kitchen Green, light, fragrant and fresh. That’s spring in a nutshell. So when we sat down to choose our favourite spring-time recipe, we knew we wanted to pick something that reflected precisely those things.

A good risotto is a very handy dish to have as part of your repertoire.

Provided you keep a watchful eye over it, a risotto can be a doddle to do and take on such an immense amount of flavour. You can reduce the portion size to serve it as a light lunch on a sunny March afternoon, or keep it as it is with a selection of tempting salads to the side. And there you have it – our favourite supper dish for March, April and all the way through May.

PAGE 40 Antonia fringed edge napkins in Sage £44

39

STORIES

In the kitchen Green, light, fragrant and fresh. That’s spring in a nutshell. So when we sat down to choose our favourite spring-time recipe, we knew we wanted to pick something that reflected precisely those things.

A good risotto is a very handy dish to have as part of your repertoire.

Provided you keep a watchful eye over it, a risotto can be a doddle to do and take on such an immense amount of flavour. You can reduce the portion size to serve it as a light lunch on a sunny March afternoon, or keep it as it is with a selection of tempting salads to the side. And there you have it – our favourite supper dish for March, April and all the way through May.

PAGE 40 Antonia fringed edge napkins in Sage £44

41

STORIES

SPRING 2017

Courgette risotto

SERV E S 4 We enjoy this recipe most just the way it is. But you can always add in some free-range chicken if you prefer. Roast it separately with a squeeze of lemon and some cracked pepper, then tear it up and stir it in at the end.

W H AT YOU’LL NEED 375g risotto rice Arborio or Carnaroli 1.5l vegetable stock piping hot 150g peas fresh is best 3 courgettes finely diced 2 garlic cloves minced 1 red onion finely chopped 1 tbsp olive oil 1 (heaped) tsp fresh rosemary finely diced A large handful of fresh basil torn A sprinkling of pine kernels lightly toasted A pinch of salt and pepper A few shavings of pecorino to serve

This is Moss. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

W H AT TO DO 1 With all of your ingredients prepared as explained to the left, begin by heating the olive oil in a large saucepan.

2 Add the onion and garlic, cooking on a mid heat until the onion starts to soften and avoiding the garlic from browning – five minutes should be plenty.

3 Next comes the rice. Most recipes call for arborio, but it can be tricky to use unless you’re a seasoned risotto maker as it’s easy to overcook.

If you don’t make risotto often, you might find carnaroli easier. It’s the most forgiving and won’t make you suffer if you neglect to stir it for a while.

Rice chosen, tip it into the pan in one go, followed by the fresh rosemary.

4 Pour in half of the vegetable stock and let it cook for 10 minutes or so (until the liquid has disappeared). Try to stir it every two minutes, and increase that to one minute when there’s little liquid left to avoid the rice from catching.

Now add the remaining stock and cook for five-eight minutes longer.

5 The mixture should at this point be wet, with some liquid remaining. Place the courgettes and peas into the risotto and allow them to cook through for no more than five minutes.

You want them to still have a touch of bite so there’s a variance in both colour and texture.

6 While your greens are cooking, take a frying pan and turn it to a medium heat, but with no oil. This is to dry roast your pine kernels which boosts their flavour. Two minutes is plenty and if a few char slightly, don’t worry too much.

Then remove them from the heat.

7 Taste your risotto mixture to check everything is cooked properly. The rice should be soft but not to the point of losing its form. Mush is not the aim of the game. If you’re content, it’s time to add the finishing touches. You can also freeze your risotto at this point too should you want to.

8 Add salt and pepper to your taste and as much basil as you like, stirring to let it wilt.

9 Spoon generous amounts onto plates and add a few shavings of pecorino cheese on top along with a sprinkling of pine kernels, a glug of olive oil and a sprig of fresh basil. And be sure to leave enough in the pan for seconds!

NEPTUNE.COM

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

Courgette risotto

SERV E S 4 We enjoy this recipe most just the way it is. But you can always add in some free-range chicken if you prefer. Roast it separately with a squeeze of lemon and some cracked pepper, then tear it up and stir it in at the end.

W H AT YOU’LL NEED 375g risotto rice Arborio or Carnaroli 1.5l vegetable stock piping hot 150g peas fresh is best 3 courgettes finely diced 2 garlic cloves minced 1 red onion finely chopped 1 tbsp olive oil 1 (heaped) tsp fresh rosemary finely diced A large handful of fresh basil torn A sprinkling of pine kernels lightly toasted A pinch of salt and pepper A few shavings of pecorino to serve

This is Moss. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

W H AT TO DO 1 With all of your ingredients prepared as explained to the left, begin by heating the olive oil in a large saucepan.

2 Add the onion and garlic, cooking on a mid heat until the onion starts to soften and avoiding the garlic from browning – five minutes should be plenty.

3 Next comes the rice. Most recipes call for arborio, but it can be tricky to use unless you’re a seasoned risotto maker as it’s easy to overcook.

If you don’t make risotto often, you might find carnaroli easier. It’s the most forgiving and won’t make you suffer if you neglect to stir it for a while.

Rice chosen, tip it into the pan in one go, followed by the fresh rosemary.

4 Pour in half of the vegetable stock and let it cook for 10 minutes or so (until the liquid has disappeared). Try to stir it every two minutes, and increase that to one minute when there’s little liquid left to avoid the rice from catching.

Now add the remaining stock and cook for five-eight minutes longer.

5 The mixture should at this point be wet, with some liquid remaining. Place the courgettes and peas into the risotto and allow them to cook through for no more than five minutes.

You want them to still have a touch of bite so there’s a variance in both colour and texture.

6 While your greens are cooking, take a frying pan and turn it to a medium heat, but with no oil. This is to dry roast your pine kernels which boosts their flavour. Two minutes is plenty and if a few char slightly, don’t worry too much.

Then remove them from the heat.

7 Taste your risotto mixture to check everything is cooked properly. The rice should be soft but not to the point of losing its form. Mush is not the aim of the game. If you’re content, it’s time to add the finishing touches. You can also freeze your risotto at this point too should you want to.

8 Add salt and pepper to your taste and as much basil as you like, stirring to let it wilt.

9 Spoon generous amounts onto plates and add a few shavings of pecorino cheese on top along with a sprinkling of pine kernels, a glug of olive oil and a sprig of fresh basil. And be sure to leave enough in the pan for seconds!

NEPTUNE.COM

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

The book club We’re such book people. You might have noticed that in the pages that precede and follow, we refer, more than once or twice, to places to curl up with a book. The same goes for our previous volumes of Stories. Books in our homes are something we value just as much as we do furniture or a beautiful arrangement of flowers. Well-thumbed books carry a sense of familiarity and memory, coffee table books reflect the things that inspire and intrigue us, and stories that stand on shelves, waiting to be read, excite us and comfort us by saying ‘soon we’ll be sat down together, and it’ll be just you and me.’

W H AT W E’R E R E A DING Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett – described as being ‘wonderfully low-key and charming’, Pond follows the life of an unnamed character who lives in rural seclusion. Slow-moving and utterly immersive, it marks Bennett’s debut into the world of literature and is stunningly clever at unearthing beauty in the everyday.

The Ramblers by Aidan Donnelley Rowley – set in some of the most beautiful parts of New York City, this modern-day novel follows the lives of three lost souls as they struggle to find their way.

One is a bird watcher, the other the daughter of one of the city’s wealthiest families, and the third a determined artist, and together they share with us their experiences of love, hope, sadness, friendship and the wonders of the natural world.

Barkskins by Annie Proulx – this is best described as an epic novel. In 700 pages, that span 300 years and detail the lives of two French labourers and their descendants, Proulx takes us through economic success and failure as well as fascinating commentary on forest destruction. An unexpected read that’s topical and thought-provoking.

This is Snow. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

Plant: exploring the botanical world by Phaidon – published in late 2016, this 300-pager has become one of the ultimate coffee table books of the year. It’s filled with the most captivating imagery of pioneering botanicals that show off the diversity of plant life through watercolours, drawings, prints and incredible photography. It’s certainly one not to miss.

Otter Country: in search of wild otter by Miriam Darlington – we devoured this mesmerising piece of non-fiction by one of Britain’s best nature writers. Darlington spent a year travelling across the United Kingdom in search of wild otters. She takes us with her through rich landscapes, seasons and light, meeting otter experts, ecologists, fishermen and poets along the way. And the best part? She shares all that she’s learnt about interacting with one of Britain’s most elusive creatures.

44

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

The book club We’re such book people. You might have noticed that in the pages that precede and follow, we refer, more than once or twice, to places to curl up with a book. The same goes for our previous volumes of Stories. Books in our homes are something we value just as much as we do furniture or a beautiful arrangement of flowers. Well-thumbed books carry a sense of familiarity and memory, coffee table books reflect the things that inspire and intrigue us, and stories that stand on shelves, waiting to be read, excite us and comfort us by saying ‘soon we’ll be sat down together, and it’ll be just you and me.’

W H AT W E’R E R E A DING Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett – described as being ‘wonderfully low-key and charming’, Pond follows the life of an unnamed character who lives in rural seclusion. Slow-moving and utterly immersive, it marks Bennett’s debut into the world of literature and is stunningly clever at unearthing beauty in the everyday.

The Ramblers by Aidan Donnelley Rowley – set in some of the most beautiful parts of New York City, this modern-day novel follows the lives of three lost souls as they struggle to find their way.

One is a bird watcher, the other the daughter of one of the city’s wealthiest families, and the third a determined artist, and together they share with us their experiences of love, hope, sadness, friendship and the wonders of the natural world.

Barkskins by Annie Proulx – this is best described as an epic novel. In 700 pages, that span 300 years and detail the lives of two French labourers and their descendants, Proulx takes us through economic success and failure as well as fascinating commentary on forest destruction. An unexpected read that’s topical and thought-provoking.

This is Snow. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

Plant: exploring the botanical world by Phaidon – published in late 2016, this 300-pager has become one of the ultimate coffee table books of the year. It’s filled with the most captivating imagery of pioneering botanicals that show off the diversity of plant life through watercolours, drawings, prints and incredible photography. It’s certainly one not to miss.

Otter Country: in search of wild otter by Miriam Darlington – we devoured this mesmerising piece of non-fiction by one of Britain’s best nature writers. Darlington spent a year travelling across the United Kingdom in search of wild otters. She takes us with her through rich landscapes, seasons and light, meeting otter experts, ecologists, fishermen and poets along the way. And the best part? She shares all that she’s learnt about interacting with one of Britain’s most elusive creatures.

44

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STORIES

Neptunes THE SOU NDTR ACK TO THE SEASON

Yarn A LL ABOUT

This time around, we dedicate our soundtrack to a man called Jasper Burnham. Not only does he run our store in Colchester, but he’s one of our go-to people for creating the perfect atmosphere through music.

Growing up, Jasper was surrounded by the most colourful spectrum of music. As the youngest of five children, he was exposed to almost every genre through his siblings from Bowie, to Elvis, to Nirvana. He went on to spend 17 years working as a ‘plugger’ for major record labels, promoting artists to national radio and television programmes.

He’s worked with the likes of BB King, Rufus Wainwright, Paolo Nutini and even P Diddy. If you ever visit our Colchester store, seek him out and ask him to tell you stories of the artists he discovered and the people he met along the way.

Music was, and is, his life.

Our playlists always include songs that have a clear link to the season in mind. But more than anything, they’re a thoughtful composition of music that we love, that we think complement each other perfectly, and that we think are age-defying.

Much like how we build our own collections.

This is spring, through Jasper’s eyes. Uplifting, soulful, peaceful, reflective. Sporadically melancholic.

Overridingly joyful.

Speed of the sound of loneliness John Prine & Nanci Griffith Babylon David Gray Say hello, wave goodbye David Gray Life on Mars David Bowie One U2 The Scientist Coldplay English Rose The Jam I love to boogie T.Rex Don’t leave me this way Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Can you feel it? The Jackson 5 Rock your baby George McCrae Summer breeze The Isley Brothers Lovely day Bill Withers Hometown glory Adele Shape of you Ed Sheeran White tiger Izzy Bizu Follow the playlist on Spotify by searching @Neptune_home.

Psst… if you’re having trouble finding us, try putting the following into the search bar: Spotify:user:Neptune_home. That seems to help.

In the last decade, there’s been a seismic shift back to all things natural.

Western society in particular has become hungrier and hungrier for a plant-based diet and for less-processed goods.

Organic is huge. Vegan is massive.

100% natural is a phrase touted wherever possible.

45

STORIES

Neptunes THE SOU NDTR ACK TO THE SEASON

Yarn A LL ABOUT

This time around, we dedicate our soundtrack to a man called Jasper Burnham. Not only does he run our store in Colchester, but he’s one of our go-to people for creating the perfect atmosphere through music.

Growing up, Jasper was surrounded by the most colourful spectrum of music. As the youngest of five children, he was exposed to almost every genre through his siblings from Bowie, to Elvis, to Nirvana. He went on to spend 17 years working as a ‘plugger’ for major record labels, promoting artists to national radio and television programmes.

He’s worked with the likes of BB King, Rufus Wainwright, Paolo Nutini and even P Diddy. If you ever visit our Colchester store, seek him out and ask him to tell you stories of the artists he discovered and the people he met along the way.

Music was, and is, his life.

Our playlists always include songs that have a clear link to the season in mind. But more than anything, they’re a thoughtful composition of music that we love, that we think complement each other perfectly, and that we think are age-defying.

Much like how we build our own collections.

This is spring, through Jasper’s eyes. Uplifting, soulful, peaceful, reflective. Sporadically melancholic.

Overridingly joyful.

Speed of the sound of loneliness John Prine & Nanci Griffith Babylon David Gray Say hello, wave goodbye David Gray Life on Mars David Bowie One U2 The Scientist Coldplay English Rose The Jam I love to boogie T.Rex Don’t leave me this way Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Can you feel it? The Jackson 5 Rock your baby George McCrae Summer breeze The Isley Brothers Lovely day Bill Withers Hometown glory Adele Shape of you Ed Sheeran White tiger Izzy Bizu Follow the playlist on Spotify by searching @Neptune_home.

Psst… if you’re having trouble finding us, try putting the following into the search bar: Spotify:user:Neptune_home. That seems to help.

In the last decade, there’s been a seismic shift back to all things natural.

Western society in particular has become hungrier and hungrier for a plant-based diet and for less-processed goods.

Organic is huge. Vegan is massive.

100% natural is a phrase touted wherever possible.

SPRING 2017

Similar mind sets have of course crept their way into our interiors. We’ve become much more aware of what things are made of, and of provenance, than perhaps we had been five, ten or twenty years before. But what hasn’t necessarily risen in awareness is what natural really means, and what the true characteristics of the materials that we welcome into our homes really are. Sometimes pure and natural, in reality, isn’t what best suits our lifestyles. Sometimes we prefer the aesthetics and performance of a blended material. There’s no rhyme or reason, no right or wrong. It’s a case of personal preference. But before anything, it’s a case of awareness. To be familiar with each material’s hidden talents. To know which we really want and to then love that choice for its true colours.

It’s time for a proper introduction to yarn.

Fabric by the metre: Emma Mustard & Isla Finch from £48 Corinium small platter £19

48

SPRING 2017

Similar mind sets have of course crept their way into our interiors. We’ve become much more aware of what things are made of, and of provenance, than perhaps we had been five, ten or twenty years before. But what hasn’t necessarily risen in awareness is what natural really means, and what the true characteristics of the materials that we welcome into our homes really are. Sometimes pure and natural, in reality, isn’t what best suits our lifestyles. Sometimes we prefer the aesthetics and performance of a blended material. There’s no rhyme or reason, no right or wrong. It’s a case of personal preference. But before anything, it’s a case of awareness. To be familiar with each material’s hidden talents. To know which we really want and to then love that choice for its true colours.

It’s time for a proper introduction to yarn.

Fabric by the metre: Emma Mustard & Isla Finch from £48 Corinium small platter £19

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SPRING 2017

Our

SEW ING K IT At Neptune, we use a number of different yarns to build our fabric library. We too, are huge advocates of the natural ‘movement’, but we equally won’t shy away from more modern man-made fibres like polyester if they’ll help to improve the structure of the final textile.

So below, we’ve put together a character profile of each of the core yarns that we use in our ‘by the metre’ fabrics, to help you be sure you’ll get off on the right foot.

COTTON Growing cotton plants is a careful art, but one that has been happening for thousands of years across the globe. We use it predominantly to form our velvet fabrics, as opposed to polyester or silk velvet. It’s the option that we feel is the happiest combination of natural, soft and resilient, and allows velvet to become an everyday luxury. We also choose cotton to create some of our superior linen blends.

Traits Strength: cotton plants might look like balls of candyfloss, but they’re remarkably strong. It’s incredibly difficult to cause cotton to tear and so whether used on its own or with another fibre, it will always promise durability.

Soft: but it also manages to be soft at the same time. Each individual strand of cotton may be tough, but to the touch, it’s beautifully soft.

Cotton offers the best of both worlds.

Breathable: much like wool, cotton’s natural structure allows the air to circulate. It means that smells that drift from kitchen to living room are far less likely to get trapped within the strands, and that it will help to regulate your body temperature too.

Hypoallergenic: yet another quality it shares with wool, cotton is naturally hypoallergenic.

Used on We use cotton on our Elena, Isla, Emma, Clara, and Jack fabrics.

This is Navy. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

WOOL There are various different types of wool from ultra-warm alpaca to supremely soft lambswool and cashmere (which you’ll find in some of our throws and blankets). But for our larger expanses of fabric we use sheep’s wool.

Traits Warmth: wool is a fabulous insulator. It’s one of the things that people love the most. Cosiness is a given.

Breathable: that being said, one of the things that is often overlooked is the fact that wool is also

very breathable. So in summer, it will let the air circulate, but in winter, it will keep it trapped in. It makes it transeasonal.

Texture: this can go either way. Some people love wool for its tickly texture, others find it a little irritating. It will never feel as silky smooth as cotton, but we’ve worked hard to give ours a handle that’s as soft on the skin as possible, without masking the natural character.

Hypoallergenic: perfect for allergy suffers.

Used on We use pure wool on our Angus, Elliot, Ewan, Hamish, Hector fabrics.

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

Our

SEW ING K IT At Neptune, we use a number of different yarns to build our fabric library. We too, are huge advocates of the natural ‘movement’, but we equally won’t shy away from more modern man-made fibres like polyester if they’ll help to improve the structure of the final textile.

So below, we’ve put together a character profile of each of the core yarns that we use in our ‘by the metre’ fabrics, to help you be sure you’ll get off on the right foot.

COTTON Growing cotton plants is a careful art, but one that has been happening for thousands of years across the globe. We use it predominantly to form our velvet fabrics, as opposed to polyester or silk velvet. It’s the option that we feel is the happiest combination of natural, soft and resilient, and allows velvet to become an everyday luxury. We also choose cotton to create some of our superior linen blends.

Traits Strength: cotton plants might look like balls of candyfloss, but they’re remarkably strong. It’s incredibly difficult to cause cotton to tear and so whether used on its own or with another fibre, it will always promise durability.

Soft: but it also manages to be soft at the same time. Each individual strand of cotton may be tough, but to the touch, it’s beautifully soft.

Cotton offers the best of both worlds.

Breathable: much like wool, cotton’s natural structure allows the air to circulate. It means that smells that drift from kitchen to living room are far less likely to get trapped within the strands, and that it will help to regulate your body temperature too.

Hypoallergenic: yet another quality it shares with wool, cotton is naturally hypoallergenic.

Used on We use cotton on our Elena, Isla, Emma, Clara, and Jack fabrics.

This is Navy. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

WOOL There are various different types of wool from ultra-warm alpaca to supremely soft lambswool and cashmere (which you’ll find in some of our throws and blankets). But for our larger expanses of fabric we use sheep’s wool.

Traits Warmth: wool is a fabulous insulator. It’s one of the things that people love the most. Cosiness is a given.

Breathable: that being said, one of the things that is often overlooked is the fact that wool is also

very breathable. So in summer, it will let the air circulate, but in winter, it will keep it trapped in. It makes it transeasonal.

Texture: this can go either way. Some people love wool for its tickly texture, others find it a little irritating. It will never feel as silky smooth as cotton, but we’ve worked hard to give ours a handle that’s as soft on the skin as possible, without masking the natural character.

Hypoallergenic: perfect for allergy suffers.

Used on We use pure wool on our Angus, Elliot, Ewan, Hamish, Hector fabrics.

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SPRING 2017

LINEN Formed from the fibres of the flax plant, linen is one of the oldest yarns in existence. It’s at the heart of our biggest family of fabrics, with currently six types of linen blend in our portfolio.

Traits Strength: linen is known for being robust if it’s harvested carefully and the fibres aren’t damaged.

It makes it an excellent choice for high-traffic areas or for homes with children or pets.

Character: out of all of our yarns, linen is arguably the one with the most natural texture and variance, so much so that techniques have been developed to try to emulate linen’s slubs in other yarns, but never quite to the same effect.

It’s all part of its natural character. The higher the percentage of linen in a blend, the more slubs.

Without them, it wouldn’t be true linen.

Breathable: like with wool and cotton, being a natural fibre, linen is also breathable, making it an excellent all-year-long option.

POLY E S T E R

Slubs. Slubby. Slubbiness.

Explained.

In brief, a slub is a raised part within the fabric, typically dotted with little knots and knobbles. They’re a characteristic of natural fibres, especially linen.

Slubs occur when shorter fibres are knotted together to increase their length.

But equally, they can crop up along the thread even before they're knotted. Why? Because nature doesn’t create identical strands. These traits aren’t defects, quite the opposite, they’re the true mark of a natural fabric, and are what make each piece utterly unique.

The structure of polyester is complex, but in a nutshell, it’s a synthetic fibre that’s used widely in the construction of fabric.

Traits Strength: polyester is incredibly durable. It can be stretched over time and still not lose any of its strength. It’s another way to make a textile more robust.

Colour retention: just like viscose, polyester is excellent at holding onto colour and maintaining vibrancy where some natural yarns struggle.

Not so breathable: the main downside to polyester is the fact that it can’t breathe like a natural fibre can. This is much more of an issue when polyester is used in clothing, but we’re still very aware of the fact and so use it in the smallest of amounts.

Used on We use a small amount of polyester (just 10%) to help our cotton velvet, Isla, to hold its colour.

We also use a touch in our Elena and Archie fabrics for the same reason.

Linen without slubs is like wood without a grain.

Used on We use linen on the following fabric styles: Hugo, Archie, Clara, Imogen, Agatha, Gabriela, Finian, Lara, Emma and Jack.

Each time varying the finishing technique, the weight of the linen used, and the blend.

Harrogate extending dining table £1,460 Arundel small bench £420 Fabric by the metre: Lara Sage, Emma Dove and Isla Mallard from £48 Corinium jug vase, large £25 Florence scatter cushion, Finian Sage £75 Chichester 3ft sideboard hand-painted in Sage £960 Castleford wide and tall bottle in Clear and Forest Green £34/£47

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

LINEN Formed from the fibres of the flax plant, linen is one of the oldest yarns in existence. It’s at the heart of our biggest family of fabrics, with currently six types of linen blend in our portfolio.

Traits Strength: linen is known for being robust if it’s harvested carefully and the fibres aren’t damaged.

It makes it an excellent choice for high-traffic areas or for homes with children or pets.

Character: out of all of our yarns, linen is arguably the one with the most natural texture and variance, so much so that techniques have been developed to try to emulate linen’s slubs in other yarns, but never quite to the same effect.

It’s all part of its natural character. The higher the percentage of linen in a blend, the more slubs.

Without them, it wouldn’t be true linen.

Breathable: like with wool and cotton, being a natural fibre, linen is also breathable, making it an excellent all-year-long option.

POLY E S T E R

Slubs. Slubby. Slubbiness.

Explained.

In brief, a slub is a raised part within the fabric, typically dotted with little knots and knobbles. They’re a characteristic of natural fibres, especially linen.

Slubs occur when shorter fibres are knotted together to increase their length.

But equally, they can crop up along the thread even before they're knotted. Why? Because nature doesn’t create identical strands. These traits aren’t defects, quite the opposite, they’re the true mark of a natural fabric, and are what make each piece utterly unique.

The structure of polyester is complex, but in a nutshell, it’s a synthetic fibre that’s used widely in the construction of fabric.

Traits Strength: polyester is incredibly durable. It can be stretched over time and still not lose any of its strength. It’s another way to make a textile more robust.

Colour retention: just like viscose, polyester is excellent at holding onto colour and maintaining vibrancy where some natural yarns struggle.

Not so breathable: the main downside to polyester is the fact that it can’t breathe like a natural fibre can. This is much more of an issue when polyester is used in clothing, but we’re still very aware of the fact and so use it in the smallest of amounts.

Used on We use a small amount of polyester (just 10%) to help our cotton velvet, Isla, to hold its colour.

We also use a touch in our Elena and Archie fabrics for the same reason.

Linen without slubs is like wood without a grain.

Used on We use linen on the following fabric styles: Hugo, Archie, Clara, Imogen, Agatha, Gabriela, Finian, Lara, Emma and Jack.

Each time varying the finishing technique, the weight of the linen used, and the blend.

Harrogate extending dining table £1,460 Arundel small bench £420 Fabric by the metre: Lara Sage, Emma Dove and Isla Mallard from £48 Corinium jug vase, large £25 Florence scatter cushion, Finian Sage £75 Chichester 3ft sideboard hand-painted in Sage £960 Castleford wide and tall bottle in Clear and Forest Green £34/£47

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

VISCOSE Viscose is somewhere between a natural and synthetic fibre. The raw material is cellulose which is found in ‘wood pulp’ but it then undergoes a lengthy process before it officially becomes viscose.

It’s often used interchangeably with rayon (formerly known as artificial silk), although they’re not quite one and the same thing.

Traits Softness: this is possibly the quality above all others for which viscose is heralded. Not only does it feel lovely against the skin, but it lends fabrics a beautiful drape. It works well when it’s paired with a natural fibre that needs a little more softness, or even with one that’s already soft and wants to be exaggerated.

Colour retention: some natural fibres can struggle a little when it comes to holding onto colour. That’s where viscose can help. Colour clings to it fabulously, even the brightest and boldest of shades.

Absorbs moisture: one of the downsides with viscose however is that is easily absorbs moisture and so is more prone to staining. That’s why it performs far better in fabrics when it’s used as a carefully balanced blend.

Used on We use a touch of viscose in our Clara, Agatha, Gabriela, Emma and Lara fabrics.

What do we mean by ‘ handle’?

Quite simply, how a fabric feels to handle, how it feels in your hand. It’s the word we tend to use when describing the feel of our fabrics, as opposed to ‘texture’.

Some fabrics have a handle that makes them better suited to different purposes.

For example, certain fabrics have a better drape than others, making them ideal for curtains as opposed to upholstery.

Discover the full Neptune fabric library online, in our seasonal Directory or in any of our extraordinary stores.

You can order swatches for free online to get a better idea for how they might fit into your new life together.

This is Old Chalk. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

Olivia headboard in Jack Sage from £445

54

53

STORIES

SPRING 2017

VISCOSE Viscose is somewhere between a natural and synthetic fibre. The raw material is cellulose which is found in ‘wood pulp’ but it then undergoes a lengthy process before it officially becomes viscose.

It’s often used interchangeably with rayon (formerly known as artificial silk), although they’re not quite one and the same thing.

Traits Softness: this is possibly the quality above all others for which viscose is heralded. Not only does it feel lovely against the skin, but it lends fabrics a beautiful drape. It works well when it’s paired with a natural fibre that needs a little more softness, or even with one that’s already soft and wants to be exaggerated.

Colour retention: some natural fibres can struggle a little when it comes to holding onto colour. That’s where viscose can help. Colour clings to it fabulously, even the brightest and boldest of shades.

Absorbs moisture: one of the downsides with viscose however is that is easily absorbs moisture and so is more prone to staining. That’s why it performs far better in fabrics when it’s used as a carefully balanced blend.

Used on We use a touch of viscose in our Clara, Agatha, Gabriela, Emma and Lara fabrics.

What do we mean by ‘ handle’?

Quite simply, how a fabric feels to handle, how it feels in your hand. It’s the word we tend to use when describing the feel of our fabrics, as opposed to ‘texture’.

Some fabrics have a handle that makes them better suited to different purposes.

For example, certain fabrics have a better drape than others, making them ideal for curtains as opposed to upholstery.

Discover the full Neptune fabric library online, in our seasonal Directory or in any of our extraordinary stores.

You can order swatches for free online to get a better idea for how they might fit into your new life together.

This is Old Chalk. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

Olivia headboard in Jack Sage from £445

54

55

STORIES

SPRING 2017

Talking to

PAV A N D L U K A S Z Reading about other people satisfies the nosy person inside each of us (it’s kind of like the written form of people watching), shedding light on an individual – or two in this case – who you might not have otherwise known. But in a business sense, reading about other people can also help you to get to know a brand that bit better too. It’s a way to put a face to a name. It’s a way to introduce the people who are more ‘behind the scenes’. A brand is made up of many missions, many values, many faces and many personalities. Profiles, like this one, are extra parts of the jigsaw puzzle to our bigger picture.

So, meet Pawel and Lukasz. Two brothers who manage the construction and perfect finish of our extraordinary stores.

PAW E L A N D L U K A S Z . I N B R I E F. Pawel. Or Pav, as most people call him. He’s the ‘little’ brother and the joker of the two. In fact, he’s 6'1". He’s always had an interest in architecture and construction and studied “renovation of monuments” – a course that doesn’t quite translate into English, but we get the idea. Nine months ago, he had his first baby; a little girl called Nela.

Lukasz. Pronounced with a ‘W’ rather than an ‘L’.

He comes across slightly more seriously than his younger brother, but after a bit of time with him you quickly realise that serious air is more to do with his utter determination, focus and relentless attitude to hard work.

He began his career as a sports teacher and was on Poland’s national handball team.

When we asked why he changed course he replies “It wasn’t hard enough any more. I love hard work.

I wanted a bigger challenge.” He too has a young daughter, Clementina. She’s nearly two years old.

On home. They grew up in one of Poland’s most historic towns, Sandomierz. It’s known for its beautiful Old Town. “People call it ‘small Rome’,” Pav tells us. They began learning about construction when they were children. Their grandfather was a builder and roofer and at weekends and school holidays they would go to work with him for a few hours here and there.

“We learnt a lot from him,” Pav continued.

This is Salt. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

56

55

STORIES

SPRING 2017

Talking to

PAV A N D L U K A S Z Reading about other people satisfies the nosy person inside each of us (it’s kind of like the written form of people watching), shedding light on an individual – or two in this case – who you might not have otherwise known. But in a business sense, reading about other people can also help you to get to know a brand that bit better too. It’s a way to put a face to a name. It’s a way to introduce the people who are more ‘behind the scenes’. A brand is made up of many missions, many values, many faces and many personalities. Profiles, like this one, are extra parts of the jigsaw puzzle to our bigger picture.

So, meet Pawel and Lukasz. Two brothers who manage the construction and perfect finish of our extraordinary stores.

PAW E L A N D L U K A S Z . I N B R I E F. Pawel. Or Pav, as most people call him. He’s the ‘little’ brother and the joker of the two. In fact, he’s 6'1". He’s always had an interest in architecture and construction and studied “renovation of monuments” – a course that doesn’t quite translate into English, but we get the idea. Nine months ago, he had his first baby; a little girl called Nela.

Lukasz. Pronounced with a ‘W’ rather than an ‘L’.

He comes across slightly more seriously than his younger brother, but after a bit of time with him you quickly realise that serious air is more to do with his utter determination, focus and relentless attitude to hard work.

He began his career as a sports teacher and was on Poland’s national handball team.

When we asked why he changed course he replies “It wasn’t hard enough any more. I love hard work.

I wanted a bigger challenge.” He too has a young daughter, Clementina. She’s nearly two years old.

On home. They grew up in one of Poland’s most historic towns, Sandomierz. It’s known for its beautiful Old Town. “People call it ‘small Rome’,” Pav tells us. They began learning about construction when they were children. Their grandfather was a builder and roofer and at weekends and school holidays they would go to work with him for a few hours here and there.

“We learnt a lot from him,” Pav continued.

This is Salt. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

56

57

STORIES

SPRING 2017

T HE I N T ERV IEW A potted history.

Pav joined Neptune in 2007, and Lukasz a year later. They both work on our New Store Development team (or NSD as we call it internally).

Pav is a Finishing Site Foreman which essentially means he makes everything perfect. He oversees a team of 10, who do all of the furniture fitting in our stores, such as our kitchens, and ensures everything is left to the highest possible standard.

“He’s the very best at what he does,” Lukasz says about his brother.

Pav looks straight down, hands in his lap. He is the very personification of modesty.

Lukasz is a Site Foreman. He’s involved in everything that comes before Pav and his team arrive – any demolition, the structural work and the store fit out. He, quite literally, builds our stores. It makes sense. Lukasz comes across as the bolder one, the one who jumps straight in, with big ideas, big ambition and huge strength in character.

They’re rarely on the same site at the same time.

We started by asking what life was like when they first joined Neptune.

Between them, they take it in turns to explain how they would work on exhibitions all over the world, building house-like constructions for our stands in Paris, Norway and across the UK. This was a time when we hadn’t got a single store. It was early days. “It would take about five days to build a small house (referring to the stands). It was a lot to do in the time but we didn’t want ours to be like anybody else’s,” says Lukasz. “Then we built Neptune’s first store. It wasn’t too far from here.

We made a small showroom, but it was nothing like where we are now.”

We were sat at our Wiltshire head office. We asked if they' d been involved in that.

Lukasz answers first.

“Of course. We are there for every build.

I had a team of 30 who worked for us on it. It was a huge job. We started in July 2011...” At this point Pav interrupts to say that no, it wasn’t in July. Lukasz insists it was. Pav tells us it wasn’t.

They squabble. Then Lukasz continues, “It was June 2011 when we started. I was so determined to get it finished that I didn’t go back to Poland for Christmas that year. I wanted to be here. To be able to carry on easily. It was the first and last Christmas I spent in England.” He smiles.

We ask Pav if he stayed too. He laughs and says “no way, I went back to Poland.” And continues laughing away for a few seconds. Lukasz rolls his eyes.

“I can’t remember the exact date that we finished,” Lukasz continues. At this point he gets his phone out and starts looking through his photos, showing us images of computers being installed in January 2012. “We were definitely finished by February, because I went skiing.” Now it’s his turn to laugh, passing us his phone to see a picture of him in snow gear with both thumbs up.

We questioned whether this was the most difficult build they’ve ever worked on.

“They’re all easy!” Pav says immediately, followed by more chuckles. “Not easy, but you know what to do, and if you don’t, you find out.

Straightforward box-like buildings are the easiest, but there aren’t many of those at Neptune.”

They explain how building the Sims Hilditch interior design studio (run by our Creative Director, Emma) was probably the biggest challenge of them all because of its listed status and strict regulations.

More of that later though.

NEPTUNE.COM

What about the project of which you’re most proud?

Lukasz is first to answer again. Pav seems to be thinking it through more slowly.

“For me, Basel, Switzerland. It only took us six weeks, from start to finish. We worked so fast and achieved so much. The weather was on our side too.

September is often a good month to build.”

Then we look over at Pav. “Every store brings me pride. Every one is different. But Farnham was very beautiful.” Lukasz elbows his brother at this point and nods in agreement. “Oh Farnham for me too!” Pav explains how the biggest challenge, and therefore his biggest point of pride, was working in such a small area for such a long period of time. Even the logistics of storage space was a head-scratcher. It seems that for them to be able to talk about what they’re proud of, they can only really address it by looking at the challenges they’ve overcome.

Pav and Lukasz then went into more detail on the most challenging build they’ve ever worked on – The White Hart.

The White Hart is the official name of the building in which Emma Sims-Hilditch runs her interior design studio, Sims Hilditch. Once upon a time it was a working farm until it was converted into a pub. “It was so run-down, but I could see it had beautiful bones. They were just in a sad state that’s all.

There was cement in the pointings and horrible detail added post Second World War,” explains Emma.

The renovation took just over a year and would have been a spectacular Grand Designs special.

“We took the building apart and built it up all over again. We had to knock a lot down and build a lot of new structure. I made a new roof with big solid beams. It was heavy work,” Lukasz says before Pav takes over. “We spent many hours on stone masonry too. I did dry stone walling and pointing. I like doing that a lot. I used a limewater mix, which lets the stone breathe and means it can’t get damaged by frost.

And inside there was a lot of fine detail like soft edges to complement the Cotswold stone on the outside.”

It was John who suggested that Emma worked with the brothers on her build. “I’d worked closely with both Pav and Lukasz on the development of our very-first Neptune store,” explains John. “Of course, I’d seen what they were capable of over the years, but it was seeing our debut store come to life when I fully appreciated the extent to which they just ‘got it’. So we asked if they'd like to work on Emma's project with us. They make a fabulous team, although they’re like chalk and cheese. Lukasz thrives on the first phases of a project. He likes the high-energy aspect and building in a ‘big’ way. Pav on the other hand is more about impeccable detail, and careful thought. The White Hart was a spectacular project.

We couldn’t have done it without them.”

We asked what it was like, working that closely with John and Emma.

“John has laser eyes,” Lukasz laughs while Pav does some sort of impression. “He sees things in millimetres,” Pav adds. “It was a big challenge to make him happy, but that is a good thing.”

Together they explain how Emma is more involved in the finish of the job, caring about the paint, the colours, how it all looks. “But John is all over the detail too,” Pav says, and we all laugh.

By this point, we’ve been talking for almost an hour. Their ‘photoshoot’ for the interview awaits. So we ask one final thing, “what do they think of Neptune?”

Pav starts. “For me, it’s been almost ten years. 26th May this year I think it will be my anniversary. I will have a big celebration I hope.” He jokes saying he hopes people reading this will take the hint.

Now Lukasz. “I love Neptune. I love this company.

I learn a lot. I’m never bored. Every day is different.”

And then he nods and shrugs slightly, as though what else is there to say?

He looks at Pav, and he does the exact same thing.

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57

STORIES

SPRING 2017

T HE I N T ERV IEW A potted history.

Pav joined Neptune in 2007, and Lukasz a year later. They both work on our New Store Development team (or NSD as we call it internally).

Pav is a Finishing Site Foreman which essentially means he makes everything perfect. He oversees a team of 10, who do all of the furniture fitting in our stores, such as our kitchens, and ensures everything is left to the highest possible standard.

“He’s the very best at what he does,” Lukasz says about his brother.

Pav looks straight down, hands in his lap. He is the very personification of modesty.

Lukasz is a Site Foreman. He’s involved in everything that comes before Pav and his team arrive – any demolition, the structural work and the store fit out. He, quite literally, builds our stores. It makes sense. Lukasz comes across as the bolder one, the one who jumps straight in, with big ideas, big ambition and huge strength in character.

They’re rarely on the same site at the same time.

We started by asking what life was like when they first joined Neptune.

Between them, they take it in turns to explain how they would work on exhibitions all over the world, building house-like constructions for our stands in Paris, Norway and across the UK. This was a time when we hadn’t got a single store. It was early days. “It would take about five days to build a small house (referring to the stands). It was a lot to do in the time but we didn’t want ours to be like anybody else’s,” says Lukasz. “Then we built Neptune’s first store. It wasn’t too far from here.

We made a small showroom, but it was nothing like where we are now.”

We were sat at our Wiltshire head office. We asked if they' d been involved in that.

Lukasz answers first.

“Of course. We are there for every build.

I had a team of 30 who worked for us on it. It was a huge job. We started in July 2011...” At this point Pav interrupts to say that no, it wasn’t in July. Lukasz insists it was. Pav tells us it wasn’t.

They squabble. Then Lukasz continues, “It was June 2011 when we started. I was so determined to get it finished that I didn’t go back to Poland for Christmas that year. I wanted to be here. To be able to carry on easily. It was the first and last Christmas I spent in England.” He smiles.

We ask Pav if he stayed too. He laughs and says “no way, I went back to Poland.” And continues laughing away for a few seconds. Lukasz rolls his eyes.

“I can’t remember the exact date that we finished,” Lukasz continues. At this point he gets his phone out and starts looking through his photos, showing us images of computers being installed in January 2012. “We were definitely finished by February, because I went skiing.” Now it’s his turn to laugh, passing us his phone to see a picture of him in snow gear with both thumbs up.

We questioned whether this was the most difficult build they’ve ever worked on.

“They’re all easy!” Pav says immediately, followed by more chuckles. “Not easy, but you know what to do, and if you don’t, you find out.

Straightforward box-like buildings are the easiest, but there aren’t many of those at Neptune.”

They explain how building the Sims Hilditch interior design studio (run by our Creative Director, Emma) was probably the biggest challenge of them all because of its listed status and strict regulations.

More of that later though.

NEPTUNE.COM

What about the project of which you’re most proud?

Lukasz is first to answer again. Pav seems to be thinking it through more slowly.

“For me, Basel, Switzerland. It only took us six weeks, from start to finish. We worked so fast and achieved so much. The weather was on our side too.

September is often a good month to build.”

Then we look over at Pav. “Every store brings me pride. Every one is different. But Farnham was very beautiful.” Lukasz elbows his brother at this point and nods in agreement. “Oh Farnham for me too!” Pav explains how the biggest challenge, and therefore his biggest point of pride, was working in such a small area for such a long period of time. Even the logistics of storage space was a head-scratcher. It seems that for them to be able to talk about what they’re proud of, they can only really address it by looking at the challenges they’ve overcome.

Pav and Lukasz then went into more detail on the most challenging build they’ve ever worked on – The White Hart.

The White Hart is the official name of the building in which Emma Sims-Hilditch runs her interior design studio, Sims Hilditch. Once upon a time it was a working farm until it was converted into a pub. “It was so run-down, but I could see it had beautiful bones. They were just in a sad state that’s all.

There was cement in the pointings and horrible detail added post Second World War,” explains Emma.

The renovation took just over a year and would have been a spectacular Grand Designs special.

“We took the building apart and built it up all over again. We had to knock a lot down and build a lot of new structure. I made a new roof with big solid beams. It was heavy work,” Lukasz says before Pav takes over. “We spent many hours on stone masonry too. I did dry stone walling and pointing. I like doing that a lot. I used a limewater mix, which lets the stone breathe and means it can’t get damaged by frost.

And inside there was a lot of fine detail like soft edges to complement the Cotswold stone on the outside.”

It was John who suggested that Emma worked with the brothers on her build. “I’d worked closely with both Pav and Lukasz on the development of our very-first Neptune store,” explains John. “Of course, I’d seen what they were capable of over the years, but it was seeing our debut store come to life when I fully appreciated the extent to which they just ‘got it’. So we asked if they'd like to work on Emma's project with us. They make a fabulous team, although they’re like chalk and cheese. Lukasz thrives on the first phases of a project. He likes the high-energy aspect and building in a ‘big’ way. Pav on the other hand is more about impeccable detail, and careful thought. The White Hart was a spectacular project.

We couldn’t have done it without them.”

We asked what it was like, working that closely with John and Emma.

“John has laser eyes,” Lukasz laughs while Pav does some sort of impression. “He sees things in millimetres,” Pav adds. “It was a big challenge to make him happy, but that is a good thing.”

Together they explain how Emma is more involved in the finish of the job, caring about the paint, the colours, how it all looks. “But John is all over the detail too,” Pav says, and we all laugh.

By this point, we’ve been talking for almost an hour. Their ‘photoshoot’ for the interview awaits. So we ask one final thing, “what do they think of Neptune?”

Pav starts. “For me, it’s been almost ten years. 26th May this year I think it will be my anniversary. I will have a big celebration I hope.” He jokes saying he hopes people reading this will take the hint.

Now Lukasz. “I love Neptune. I love this company.

I learn a lot. I’m never bored. Every day is different.”

And then he nods and shrugs slightly, as though what else is there to say?

He looks at Pav, and he does the exact same thing.

58

59

STORIES

It’s funny to think that mealtimes can be ‘trending’. But it’s true. Brunch has become a staple world in our vocabulary, and is somehow almost fashionable.

“Let’s do brunch” is a phrase that certainly earns more points than meeting for lunch. Similarly, inviting friends for supper is a very different affair to inviting them to dinner. Supper has an air of conviviality. Dinner on the other hand feels a bit more formal. Polite even. It seems that in recent years, the general rule of thumb is to make an occasion out of the eating hours that fall just outside of convention. And when it comes to these in-between mealtimes, one of our true loves is afternoon tea.

Tea time When you’re invited to afternoon tea at somebody’s home, you always know that it’s going to be lovely. Somehow, it’s that bit more thoughtful and personal than any other meal. Hosting afternoon tea can of course be as formal as you like. If it’s just you and a close friend, then it might be nicer to keep things simple, although certainly more elevated than just tea and cake.

Afternoon tea deserves to be always considered a delicacy so that it never ever loses its sparkle. It’s also the loveliest of activities to share between mother and daughter, aunt and niece, grandmother and granddaughter, with a cherished teddy bear invited along too if your guest isn’t all grown up. There’s something inherently delicate and pretty about it.

Provence tea for two table £203 Provence dining chair £110 Winsford sugar pot £14 Winsford teapot £30 This is Sage. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

59

STORIES

It’s funny to think that mealtimes can be ‘trending’. But it’s true. Brunch has become a staple world in our vocabulary, and is somehow almost fashionable.

“Let’s do brunch” is a phrase that certainly earns more points than meeting for lunch. Similarly, inviting friends for supper is a very different affair to inviting them to dinner. Supper has an air of conviviality. Dinner on the other hand feels a bit more formal. Polite even. It seems that in recent years, the general rule of thumb is to make an occasion out of the eating hours that fall just outside of convention. And when it comes to these in-between mealtimes, one of our true loves is afternoon tea.

Tea time When you’re invited to afternoon tea at somebody’s home, you always know that it’s going to be lovely. Somehow, it’s that bit more thoughtful and personal than any other meal. Hosting afternoon tea can of course be as formal as you like. If it’s just you and a close friend, then it might be nicer to keep things simple, although certainly more elevated than just tea and cake.

Afternoon tea deserves to be always considered a delicacy so that it never ever loses its sparkle. It’s also the loveliest of activities to share between mother and daughter, aunt and niece, grandmother and granddaughter, with a cherished teddy bear invited along too if your guest isn’t all grown up. There’s something inherently delicate and pretty about it.

Provence tea for two table £203 Provence dining chair £110 Winsford sugar pot £14 Winsford teapot £30 This is Sage. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

SPRING 2017

We love it most though when it’s served for a slightly larger group, and better still when it’s to celebrate something special, like a birthday.

It’s the perfect excuse to turn it into a bit of an occasion, sending out invitations; using your finest crockery from fine bone china charger plates to dainty milk jugs and tea cups; experimenting with recipes you’ve been waiting to try out from home-made choux pastry to gorgeously light lemon scones. And if the weather is kind, you can take your afternoon tea party into the garden where you can have real fun decorating your space with oversized mirrors, cushions and lanterns to enchant your guests.

The real beauty of afternoon tea isn’t just down to its heritage, its gentility, its old-worldliness or the prettiness that touches everything from the setting to what’s being served. It’s the fact that both you and your guests will be looking forward to it in the weeks before the day itself. Afternoon tea is something to write in your diary, word for word, as opposed to ‘Seeing Jenny’ with the timeslot dictating the activity. It’s something to count down to. It’s an activity where you savour every last drop, every crumb, and every morsel.

Tea, cake, and company.

High tea or afternoon tea?

There’s a difference. High tea is often confused with the more refined afternoon tea which has aristocratic roots. Historically, high tea was served as either an additional meal to the much-later evening meal, or as a replacement altogether. It had the most substance, because it was consumed by the working class following a long day’s toil and would typically involve meat, bread, cheese and even potentially pies and crackers along with a steaming mug of tea.

There wasn’t anything fanciful about it, and the ‘high’ is thought to have come from the fact it would have been eaten on high stools rather than comfy parlour chairs.

Afternoon tea on the other hand was a mini-meal created and consumed by the upper classes as a way to bridge the gap between lunch and supper that began in the mid 1700s.

It has always carried with it the association of splendour and indulgence and is the ‘tea’ that we know to be served as a special treat in establishments across the world.

It’s one of the ultimate marks of Britishness.

Winsford teapot £30 Winsford milk jug £11 Winsford tea plate, set of four £32 Winsford tea mug, set of two £14 Winsford sugar pot £14

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SPRING 2017

We love it most though when it’s served for a slightly larger group, and better still when it’s to celebrate something special, like a birthday.

It’s the perfect excuse to turn it into a bit of an occasion, sending out invitations; using your finest crockery from fine bone china charger plates to dainty milk jugs and tea cups; experimenting with recipes you’ve been waiting to try out from home-made choux pastry to gorgeously light lemon scones. And if the weather is kind, you can take your afternoon tea party into the garden where you can have real fun decorating your space with oversized mirrors, cushions and lanterns to enchant your guests.

The real beauty of afternoon tea isn’t just down to its heritage, its gentility, its old-worldliness or the prettiness that touches everything from the setting to what’s being served. It’s the fact that both you and your guests will be looking forward to it in the weeks before the day itself. Afternoon tea is something to write in your diary, word for word, as opposed to ‘Seeing Jenny’ with the timeslot dictating the activity. It’s something to count down to. It’s an activity where you savour every last drop, every crumb, and every morsel.

Tea, cake, and company.

High tea or afternoon tea?

There’s a difference. High tea is often confused with the more refined afternoon tea which has aristocratic roots. Historically, high tea was served as either an additional meal to the much-later evening meal, or as a replacement altogether. It had the most substance, because it was consumed by the working class following a long day’s toil and would typically involve meat, bread, cheese and even potentially pies and crackers along with a steaming mug of tea.

There wasn’t anything fanciful about it, and the ‘high’ is thought to have come from the fact it would have been eaten on high stools rather than comfy parlour chairs.

Afternoon tea on the other hand was a mini-meal created and consumed by the upper classes as a way to bridge the gap between lunch and supper that began in the mid 1700s.

It has always carried with it the association of splendour and indulgence and is the ‘tea’ that we know to be served as a special treat in establishments across the world.

It’s one of the ultimate marks of Britishness.

Winsford teapot £30 Winsford milk jug £11 Winsford tea plate, set of four £32 Winsford tea mug, set of two £14 Winsford sugar pot £14

62

George large sofa in Isla Mallard. This is a new concept design that is made-to-order.

If it sets your heart aflutter, we’ll happily make one just for you through our Neptune Tailored service.

George large sofa in Isla Mallard £2,040 Tuscany eight-seater table £1,740 Asthall armchair £280

George large sofa in Isla Mallard. This is a new concept design that is made-to-order.

If it sets your heart aflutter, we’ll happily make one just for you through our Neptune Tailored service.

George large sofa in Isla Mallard £2,040 Tuscany eight-seater table £1,740 Asthall armchair £280

SPRING 2017

HENLEY Just look how you’ve grown

“Henley was the second kitchen that we ever designed.

We’ve learnt a lot since then and wanted to use that knowledge and apply all of those life lessons to it. So we rebuilt it, entirely.”

John Sims-Hilditch, co-founder of Neptune.

This is Henley, except it isn’t.

When we set about rethinking Henley, we didn’t want to undo everything we’d already achieved. It wasn’t that we felt it didn’t have a place anymore, quite the reverse. We just knew it could do more, so we wanted to build on what was already there because the foundations were infinitely strong.

Henley had a big fan base. People loved it for its juxtaposition of a classic material, oak, but with a contemporary outlook, and its way of feeling organic, homely and a little regal all at the same time. All of that’s still true in the new Henley. You can still create that same aesthetic, but we’ve opened its eyes to a whole world of other possibilities so it can be everything it can be.

This is Lead Light. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

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SPRING 2017

HENLEY Just look how you’ve grown

“Henley was the second kitchen that we ever designed.

We’ve learnt a lot since then and wanted to use that knowledge and apply all of those life lessons to it. So we rebuilt it, entirely.”

John Sims-Hilditch, co-founder of Neptune.

This is Henley, except it isn’t.

When we set about rethinking Henley, we didn’t want to undo everything we’d already achieved. It wasn’t that we felt it didn’t have a place anymore, quite the reverse. We just knew it could do more, so we wanted to build on what was already there because the foundations were infinitely strong.

Henley had a big fan base. People loved it for its juxtaposition of a classic material, oak, but with a contemporary outlook, and its way of feeling organic, homely and a little regal all at the same time. All of that’s still true in the new Henley. You can still create that same aesthetic, but we’ve opened its eyes to a whole world of other possibilities so it can be everything it can be.

This is Lead Light. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

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PAGE 65 Henley kitchen in Oak and hand-painted in Snow from £18,000 Browning small pendant light £265

SPRING 2017

PAGE 67 Henley kitchen in Oak and hand-painted in Snow from £18,000 Browning small pendant light £265 Montague bar stool hand-painted in Slate £175 Montague high back bar stool hand-painted in Slate £255

Back in July 2016, the Henley caused a bit of a stir at our press event (an annual event where we unveil our autumn/winter collection to the industry’s key journalists, bloggers and influencers). At this point, we’d been working on the redesign of Henley for some time. This incarnation was a more radical concept of what we’d been thinking, but we wanted to test the waters and to let it make some serious noise. Our Retail Design Team industrialised it, setting it against a concrete-skimmed wall with exposed copper pipes and a sultry matte black worktop and sink. It helped people to see Henley in a whole new light and it told us to follow our instinct, to be courageous.

The new Henley followed in its brave footsteps but has been tempered with the elegance that comes to it so naturally. It starts with the introduction of high-contrast painted cabinetry. We’ve echoed the classic style and shaping so it still embodies Henley’s spirit, but by adding tulipwood, we’re able to play with colour. Our crisp and cool Snow shade is what we feel works best with the oak and new Black-Bronze hardware, so Henley can now offer true versatility. It means you can blend oak with Snow, or oak with any of our other paints, or even two contrasting colours of paint and no oak. The sky’s the limit. The new Henley also offers upgrades on every existing cabinet where we’ve bettered the functionality. Take the pan drawers for example, one of the most-loved cabinets in the collection. We’ve created an organisational inner drawer that operates using a push-to-open mechanism, and inside it has removable Black-Bronze dividing prisms to help keep everything in order. The base drawer has been upgraded too to include Black-Bronze rods to stop any pains from scuffing the timber. And then there are the 12 new cabinet creations from broom cupboard to never-before-seen larder concepts.

And that’s just the start of the story...

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PAGE 65 Henley kitchen in Oak and hand-painted in Snow from £18,000 Browning small pendant light £265

SPRING 2017

PAGE 67 Henley kitchen in Oak and hand-painted in Snow from £18,000 Browning small pendant light £265 Montague bar stool hand-painted in Slate £175 Montague high back bar stool hand-painted in Slate £255

Back in July 2016, the Henley caused a bit of a stir at our press event (an annual event where we unveil our autumn/winter collection to the industry’s key journalists, bloggers and influencers). At this point, we’d been working on the redesign of Henley for some time. This incarnation was a more radical concept of what we’d been thinking, but we wanted to test the waters and to let it make some serious noise. Our Retail Design Team industrialised it, setting it against a concrete-skimmed wall with exposed copper pipes and a sultry matte black worktop and sink. It helped people to see Henley in a whole new light and it told us to follow our instinct, to be courageous.

The new Henley followed in its brave footsteps but has been tempered with the elegance that comes to it so naturally. It starts with the introduction of high-contrast painted cabinetry. We’ve echoed the classic style and shaping so it still embodies Henley’s spirit, but by adding tulipwood, we’re able to play with colour. Our crisp and cool Snow shade is what we feel works best with the oak and new Black-Bronze hardware, so Henley can now offer true versatility. It means you can blend oak with Snow, or oak with any of our other paints, or even two contrasting colours of paint and no oak. The sky’s the limit. The new Henley also offers upgrades on every existing cabinet where we’ve bettered the functionality. Take the pan drawers for example, one of the most-loved cabinets in the collection. We’ve created an organisational inner drawer that operates using a push-to-open mechanism, and inside it has removable Black-Bronze dividing prisms to help keep everything in order. The base drawer has been upgraded too to include Black-Bronze rods to stop any pains from scuffing the timber. And then there are the 12 new cabinet creations from broom cupboard to never-before-seen larder concepts.

And that’s just the start of the story...

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STORIES

Get the look THE FUTUR E CL ASSIC

Texture, natural light, and original and new features come together in this London loft conversion. The new Henley makes itself perfectly at home where the oak brings warmth and timelessness and the Snow cabinetry blends with the vaulted ceiling to create a feeling of space. Complete the look with accessories that pull the entire scheme together.

Honed worktop – our brand new work surface option is a blend of raw materials that’s incredibly high-performing (you can place hot pans directly on top) as well as offering subtle texture.

Contrast seating – choose seating that can be painted to create real impact. We’ve paired these Montague bar stools with the kitchen island to emphasise a key area of contrast.

Cooker hood – we suggest a very minimal, clean cooker hood to work with the new Henley aesthetic. It keeps the eye focussed downward onto the beautiful kitchen below. Our example is easy to recreate by a skilled builder. It’s a simple studwork frame.

Suspended lighting – pendants always bring a sense of drama to an interior when they’re suspended low over a core surface. The chain flex of the Browning pendants nods to industrial design and the strong lines of the blackened steel shade are cohesive with the overall palette.

Hardware – the Black-Bronze hardware is used throughout the new collection, from catches and hinges to rods and handles. Here we’ve used our Barlow cup handles on the drawers and the Henley button knob on doors.

Henley wall cabinet hand-painted in Snow £425 Henley pan drawer in Oak £1,970 Henley 4ft glazed rack dresser £2,330 Henley bespoke larder cabinet hand-painted in Snow from £1,175

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STORIES

Get the look THE FUTUR E CL ASSIC

Texture, natural light, and original and new features come together in this London loft conversion. The new Henley makes itself perfectly at home where the oak brings warmth and timelessness and the Snow cabinetry blends with the vaulted ceiling to create a feeling of space. Complete the look with accessories that pull the entire scheme together.

Honed worktop – our brand new work surface option is a blend of raw materials that’s incredibly high-performing (you can place hot pans directly on top) as well as offering subtle texture.

Contrast seating – choose seating that can be painted to create real impact. We’ve paired these Montague bar stools with the kitchen island to emphasise a key area of contrast.

Cooker hood – we suggest a very minimal, clean cooker hood to work with the new Henley aesthetic. It keeps the eye focussed downward onto the beautiful kitchen below. Our example is easy to recreate by a skilled builder. It’s a simple studwork frame.

Suspended lighting – pendants always bring a sense of drama to an interior when they’re suspended low over a core surface. The chain flex of the Browning pendants nods to industrial design and the strong lines of the blackened steel shade are cohesive with the overall palette.

Hardware – the Black-Bronze hardware is used throughout the new collection, from catches and hinges to rods and handles. Here we’ve used our Barlow cup handles on the drawers and the Henley button knob on doors.

Henley wall cabinet hand-painted in Snow £425 Henley pan drawer in Oak £1,970 Henley 4ft glazed rack dresser £2,330 Henley bespoke larder cabinet hand-painted in Snow from £1,175

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

PROFILE Name Henley First designed in 2009 Designed by Emma Sims-Hilditch (the aesthetic); John Sims-Hilditch (the specification and concept); Giles Redman (the development); and our former senior designer (the engineering). It was a huge collaboration.

The back story Henley is our only solid oak kitchen. Until now it was probably viewed as being our most refined design and recognised for being quite stately and truly elegant.

The revolution we’ve made over 1000 changes from introducing a painted finish for high-contrast to inventing brand new cabinetry design.

Project high seeing it all finally come together, in context, for the very first time in our Wiltshire showroom.

Project low no real dramas or low points.

Flagship design the 1120 drawer base cabinet and bi-fold countertop. They can be used together as a sort of deconstructed larder, or independently, creating a miniature breakfast-bar larder on top of your work surface with space-saving bi-folding doors.

In three words Versatile, classic and contemporary.

THE STORY CONTINUES The new Henley is now showcased in all of our extraordinary stores. Find your closest one at neptune.com

Henley bespoke cabinet hand-painted in Snow from £2,960 Wardley six-eight seater dining table £1,000 Wardley chair hand-painted in Smoke £270

NEPTUNE.COM

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

PROFILE Name Henley First designed in 2009 Designed by Emma Sims-Hilditch (the aesthetic); John Sims-Hilditch (the specification and concept); Giles Redman (the development); and our former senior designer (the engineering). It was a huge collaboration.

The back story Henley is our only solid oak kitchen. Until now it was probably viewed as being our most refined design and recognised for being quite stately and truly elegant.

The revolution we’ve made over 1000 changes from introducing a painted finish for high-contrast to inventing brand new cabinetry design.

Project high seeing it all finally come together, in context, for the very first time in our Wiltshire showroom.

Project low no real dramas or low points.

Flagship design the 1120 drawer base cabinet and bi-fold countertop. They can be used together as a sort of deconstructed larder, or independently, creating a miniature breakfast-bar larder on top of your work surface with space-saving bi-folding doors.

In three words Versatile, classic and contemporary.

THE STORY CONTINUES The new Henley is now showcased in all of our extraordinary stores. Find your closest one at neptune.com

Henley bespoke cabinet hand-painted in Snow from £2,960 Wardley six-eight seater dining table £1,000 Wardley chair hand-painted in Smoke £270

NEPTUNE.COM

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SPRING 2017

Our new homes By the time Stories for spring goes to print, we’ll have 18 Neptune stores open across the United Kingdom, with one more on the way in not too long at all. The furthest north is York, and the furthest south is Bournemouth.

To the right, we’ve included the details of three of our just-opened stores, and one that will open its doors any day now.

New. Just opened. And coming very soon…

Not too long ago, a guest at one of our stores described it as being ‘extraordinary’.

It’s the word that we feel best describes them – the look, the feel, the experience.

Some are in city-centre locations, some are a little drive out, but they’re all designed to feel like a real home, rather than a store.

Not only are they the perfect opportunity to explore our collections in-person, but they’re a way for us to get to know each other properly. After all, it’s so much nicer to put a face to a name, and that works both ways.

As much as we love our website and our printed literature, our stores are what truly put Neptune into context.

We’d love for you to stop by some time.

BR ISTOL Nestled away in the coveted Clifton suburb is where you’ ll find us.

C H E LT E N H A M Our restoration of a grade II listed, Georgian pub.

98 Whiteladies Road, Bristol, Somerset BS8 2QY 0117 246 4200

4 North Place, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 4DW 01242 330 420

HOV E Sitting ever-so-pretty on the coast, with Brighton just a hop, skip and a jump away.

W IMBLEDON Our third London-based property and perhaps our most contemporary store to date.

379 Kingsway, Hove, East Sussex BN3 4QD 01273 458 459

168-178 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London SW19 1RX 020 3362 8240

Find your closest one at N EP T U N E .COM/FI ND -A-S TOR E

This is Neptune Cheltenham

This is Powder Blue. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

Our new homes By the time Stories for spring goes to print, we’ll have 18 Neptune stores open across the United Kingdom, with one more on the way in not too long at all. The furthest north is York, and the furthest south is Bournemouth.

To the right, we’ve included the details of three of our just-opened stores, and one that will open its doors any day now.

New. Just opened. And coming very soon…

Not too long ago, a guest at one of our stores described it as being ‘extraordinary’.

It’s the word that we feel best describes them – the look, the feel, the experience.

Some are in city-centre locations, some are a little drive out, but they’re all designed to feel like a real home, rather than a store.

Not only are they the perfect opportunity to explore our collections in-person, but they’re a way for us to get to know each other properly. After all, it’s so much nicer to put a face to a name, and that works both ways.

As much as we love our website and our printed literature, our stores are what truly put Neptune into context.

We’d love for you to stop by some time.

BR ISTOL Nestled away in the coveted Clifton suburb is where you’ ll find us.

C H E LT E N H A M Our restoration of a grade II listed, Georgian pub.

98 Whiteladies Road, Bristol, Somerset BS8 2QY 0117 246 4200

4 North Place, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 4DW 01242 330 420

HOV E Sitting ever-so-pretty on the coast, with Brighton just a hop, skip and a jump away.

W IMBLEDON Our third London-based property and perhaps our most contemporary store to date.

379 Kingsway, Hove, East Sussex BN3 4QD 01273 458 459

168-178 The Broadway, Wimbledon, London SW19 1RX 020 3362 8240

Find your closest one at N EP T U N E .COM/FI ND -A-S TOR E

This is Neptune Cheltenham

This is Powder Blue. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

T H E O R I G I N A L S E C R E T G A R D E N Great Maytham Hall When we hear the term ‘secret garden’, many of us will find we automatically think back to our childhoods.

The great classic novel, The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is a tale that has been read by parents to children, and shared between siblings since it was first published in 1911.

The garden that inspired much of her writing was Great Maytham Hall in Kent, although she set the story in Yorkshire. It’s only open to the public a few times a year, and to enter, you have to tiptoe through the walled garden gate. In both fiction and reality, it’s a magical place that Burnett uses as a metaphor for the healing quality of nature.

Spring/summer openings 26th April, 24th May, 28th June, 19th July, 23rd August from 1-4.30pm.

T H E F I L M - S T A R ’ S G A R D E N Rosmead’s Garden

The not-so-secret gardens

In 1999, the film ‘Notting Hill’ made many of us fall in love all over again with the notion of a secret garden.

In the famous “whoops-a-daisies” scene, Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts’ characters clamber over the wrought iron fencing of one of London’s most private communal gardens where we bear witness to the prettiness, the peace and the sheer romance of this (then) lesser-known spot.

The garden is part of the Ladbroke Estate, which actually includes the Arundel and St John’s Gardens too.

Designed by Thomas Allom in 1823, he created generous spaces organised in a layout of concentric crescents.

It’s a secret garden that’s special to see (because it’s incredibly rare for it to open to the public), but there’s a touch of fun to it as well, especially if you cosy up to watch Notting Hill the evening before or after your visit.

Spring/summer openings as part of the Open Garden Squares Weekend, it will be open to the public for one day only on 18th June from 12-5pm.

T H E W O N D E R L A N D Christ Church college The idea of a secret garden is an enchanting one. And a secret garden hidden behind an old stone wall, or rusting door is somehow even more magical.

Secret gardens have been known and loved across the world for centuries. Some are now less hush-hush than they once were, having been shared and shared again until becoming, ironically, the worst-kept secret gardens. Happily, some have managed to maintain their mystery.

Without wanting to share too many secrets, we’ve chosen our favourite three gardens in the United Kingdom.

Be careful who you tell...

One of the most enchanting secret garden images of them all is that of the ivy-lined crumbling wall and little wooden gate at the University of Oxford’s Christ Church College. It signifies the door ‘wonderland’ in Lewis Carroll’s world-famous series of novels, Alice in Wonderland.

Much of the story took place in the city of Oxford and the secret gardens are part of the Deanery Garden and Cathedral Garden. The Deanery garden is never open to the public, which is what makes it one of the most special secret gardens as it’s maintained a degree of anonymity. The Cathedral Garden is in fact ‘wonderland’, where Alice wasn’t allowed to enter, although she was able to see into it from her nursery window. Instead, she stayed the other side of the gate in the Dean’s Garden. From the top of the curved staircase inside though, you can peer out and try to catch a glimpse of both ‘wonderland’ and the garden that Alice described as being “the loveliest garden you ever saw.”

Spring/summer openings the Cathedral Garden can be viewed only a few times a year at one of the Alice Mad Hatter Tea Parties at Christ Church where they hold a rare tour of the garden, as well as the Pococke’s Garden where you can see the tree that is said to have inspired Carroll’s Jabberwocky tree. The next two tea parties will be held on 5th April and 16th May and tickets can be bought on the Christ Church College website.

This is Lily. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

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STORIES

SPRING 2017

T H E O R I G I N A L S E C R E T G A R D E N Great Maytham Hall When we hear the term ‘secret garden’, many of us will find we automatically think back to our childhoods.

The great classic novel, The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is a tale that has been read by parents to children, and shared between siblings since it was first published in 1911.

The garden that inspired much of her writing was Great Maytham Hall in Kent, although she set the story in Yorkshire. It’s only open to the public a few times a year, and to enter, you have to tiptoe through the walled garden gate. In both fiction and reality, it’s a magical place that Burnett uses as a metaphor for the healing quality of nature.

Spring/summer openings 26th April, 24th May, 28th June, 19th July, 23rd August from 1-4.30pm.

T H E F I L M - S T A R ’ S G A R D E N Rosmead’s Garden

The not-so-secret gardens

In 1999, the film ‘Notting Hill’ made many of us fall in love all over again with the notion of a secret garden.

In the famous “whoops-a-daisies” scene, Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts’ characters clamber over the wrought iron fencing of one of London’s most private communal gardens where we bear witness to the prettiness, the peace and the sheer romance of this (then) lesser-known spot.

The garden is part of the Ladbroke Estate, which actually includes the Arundel and St John’s Gardens too.

Designed by Thomas Allom in 1823, he created generous spaces organised in a layout of concentric crescents.

It’s a secret garden that’s special to see (because it’s incredibly rare for it to open to the public), but there’s a touch of fun to it as well, especially if you cosy up to watch Notting Hill the evening before or after your visit.

Spring/summer openings as part of the Open Garden Squares Weekend, it will be open to the public for one day only on 18th June from 12-5pm.

T H E W O N D E R L A N D Christ Church college The idea of a secret garden is an enchanting one. And a secret garden hidden behind an old stone wall, or rusting door is somehow even more magical.

Secret gardens have been known and loved across the world for centuries. Some are now less hush-hush than they once were, having been shared and shared again until becoming, ironically, the worst-kept secret gardens. Happily, some have managed to maintain their mystery.

Without wanting to share too many secrets, we’ve chosen our favourite three gardens in the United Kingdom.

Be careful who you tell...

One of the most enchanting secret garden images of them all is that of the ivy-lined crumbling wall and little wooden gate at the University of Oxford’s Christ Church College. It signifies the door ‘wonderland’ in Lewis Carroll’s world-famous series of novels, Alice in Wonderland.

Much of the story took place in the city of Oxford and the secret gardens are part of the Deanery Garden and Cathedral Garden. The Deanery garden is never open to the public, which is what makes it one of the most special secret gardens as it’s maintained a degree of anonymity. The Cathedral Garden is in fact ‘wonderland’, where Alice wasn’t allowed to enter, although she was able to see into it from her nursery window. Instead, she stayed the other side of the gate in the Dean’s Garden. From the top of the curved staircase inside though, you can peer out and try to catch a glimpse of both ‘wonderland’ and the garden that Alice described as being “the loveliest garden you ever saw.”

Spring/summer openings the Cathedral Garden can be viewed only a few times a year at one of the Alice Mad Hatter Tea Parties at Christ Church where they hold a rare tour of the garden, as well as the Pococke’s Garden where you can see the tree that is said to have inspired Carroll’s Jabberwocky tree. The next two tea parties will be held on 5th April and 16th May and tickets can be bought on the Christ Church College website.

This is Lily. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

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STORIES

VOLUME 4

STOR IES FOR SUMMER

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This is Dove Grey. Available in eggshell and matt emulsion

STORIES

STOR IES FOR SPR ING

VOLUME 3 SPRING 2017

W E BELIEV E That sometimes, opposites attract An oversized plant in a small vessel. A Gustavian-inspired mirror leant atop a workbench-style console table.

A candlestick lamp, handsome and stately, topped off with a gathered lampshade, pretty and feminine.

And yet somehow, they come together rather beautifully.

Arundel console table, £820. Fitzroy large lampstand, £125. Lucile 15” Lara Sage shade, £34.

Lavenham Large mirror, £350. Ashcroft round basket, £72.

THE PR ESS PR EV IEW

neptune.com Stores nationwide