When you talk to Steve and Claire, the one thing that comes across is their passion for design. Vale Life caught up with the couple at their design studio in Cardiff.



Your reputation is for creating kitchens and living spaces. Why the move into bedrooms?
STEVE We've been meaning to for a while. We have designed bedroom furniture for clients but it's been based around our German kitchen furniture. We've been looking for the right bedroom furniture product for a while and have found an Italian company that manufactures the most beautiful bedroom furniture.

What's so special about this particular product?
CLAIRE As a woman, I probably have a different perspective, but I think the devil is in the details. The finish, the look, when you touch the material you can feel the love that's gone into the manufacturing.

Italians are passionate about design. Their whole philosophy and ethos is driven by design and style. Look at Lamborghini and Ferrari, they're much more than cars, they're art. We want people to feel good when they walk into a bedroom that we've created - we want it to lift their soul. Beautiful things have that effect.

STEVE Claire's absolutely right and, as a designer, I want the relationship between form and function to be seamless and this range is just so beautiful to work with. It's versatile in every way. Whatever and however the customer wants to store or present their clothes, this product allows you the flexibility and practicality to design free of constraint. It's an absolute joy to work with.



What's the next hot thing in bedroom design?
CLAIRE I think people have cluttered lives so simplicity will be the order of the day. Women want everything out of sight but accessible. Men have different priorities I think.

STEVE Absolutely, I think that applies to kitchens and living spaces too. This is the iPad age and I believe the integration of technology is going to be important. The skill is making sure that this is considered at the start of the design process. We take great care to discuss clients' lifestyles with them; what they want from the end product, and will it meet their needs?

CLAIRE Ultimately, it has to look beautiful and this new Italian range is gorgeous. Bellissima!