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OBJECTS OF DESIRE
The guys at Hamptons in Penarth are always an inspiration when it comes to trends and all things of a gorgeous nature. With this in mind, we asked them to predict this Summer’s...
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Andy and Peter admitted that they found selecting only a few products really challenging. “We have so many wonderful items within the store” said Andy, “that to choose just a handful was almost impossible. We’ve selected products from right across the store’s range so that anyone who may not have visited us yet will get an idea of what they might find at Hamptons.”
Cushions
Fabulous, fabulous and lets face it, they’re simply fabulous!
From the moment our American designed pebble cushions and rugs first arrived, our customers were grabbing them from the packing cases. They come in the most spectacular colours from zingy green to bubble gum pink and are made from the softest velour. We often find customers flinging off their manolos and squealing with delight as they sink into pure luxury.
The latest addition to the range is ‘Spiky’ which is just as wonderful as ‘Pebble’ and resembles exotic sea urchins. And for those who want a slightly more formal look, the ‘Executive’ range, which is ‘up-cycled’ from tie manufacturing, shouts class.
Furniture
If you say furniture and then add contemporary, you have to add Terence Conran. At Hamptons we are fortunate to be the only stockist in Wales of the Content by Conran collection. The designs are slick, relaxed and informal with an enormous range of fabrics. Our current favourite is the ‘59th Street’ which ticks plenty of boxes when it comes to good design.
Floating on chrome runners, the sofas and chairs are compact which may sound like estate agent speak for “tiny” but not so here. Perfect for apartment living, the mix of sizes makes it a much more flexible range. And using a variety of fabrics and textures from the same colour palette keeps the look sharp.
Lighting
Our favoured object of desire in the lighting arena has to be the ‘Bloomsbury’ which oozes sex appeal without even trying. The deep red glass base is perfectly contrasted with a red silk shade lined in black and the proportions are perfect. The ‘Bloomsbury’ works well as a statement piece or try using two either side of a sofa to inject colour into a neutral scheme.
Kitchen Charisma
At last we have found a range of kitchen accessories that combines fantastic design with practicality and fun. Imaging flipping pancakes with Herman, resting your spoon on Luigi or serving pasta with Gina - this range really has personality.
Koziol products, made in Germany are 100 recyclable and every single item looks exactly as it would if asked to design itself. The colours are vibrant and robust and with summer here you can enjoy swatting those pesky insects with McFly
Home Fragrance
The
days of whipping out the aerosol and filling the room with the heady aroma of Lily of the Valley are numbered. The new guys in town are scented reed diffusers. Simple but superbly effective they are just so much more desirable than a plastic igloo that smells of pine forests. Our latest collection from Wax Lyrical takes the diffuser to a higher plain.
Flowers
There was a time when just the mention of ‘artificial flowers’ conjured up visions of rather solid looking plastic blooms in garish colours. Happily, time has marched onwards and so have a talented team in Shropshire who have created the most realistic floribunda that we have ever seen.
Arrangements in ‘magic water’ are and will continue to be, the big one this year. They are so realistic that customers have asked us how to care for some of the potted varieties. From orchids to bonsai, olive trees to blousy peonies, no one will know that your skills as a domestic goddess don’t run to flower arranging. Our top tip is to have several arrangements that you change with the seasons to keep your display looking fresh. This wonderful time saver allows you more time to spend sitting in the garden with a glass of wine admiring your beautifully kept lawn or at least the guy who cuts it - now there’s an object of desire!
Bath Time
Now let’s face it, the last thing you want after you’ve run a luxurious bath is to find that as soon as the bath bomb hits the water it takes on a life of its own and bounces back and fore across the bath like a rather girlie torpedo. Happily at Hamptons our Bon Bombs and Bath Creamers have a rather more refined approach when it comes to water. They simply ooze gorgeous essential oils, cocoa and shea butters into the bath filling it with a subtle fragrance that leaves you feeling relaxed and pampered. Our collections look good enough to eat and actually a few have tried, but we guarantee that you’ll find the experience sublime and not ridiculous.
Cards
It’s time to blow our own trumpet as the cards at Hamptons really have proved to be objects of desire with our customers. So much so that we have made the finals for Best Department Store Retailer of Greetings Cards, 2009. Now the Retas, as they are affectionately known might not sound as impressive as the Oscars but the other four finalists include John Lewis on London’s Oxford street so we think that it’s pretty impressive for little old us to be up there with the big boys. We know it’s a bit of a ‘David and Goliath’ scenario but all we need is a sling and a small pebble...
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