A touch of Decadence.
Humans are cautious creatures by nature. You don’t get to be the top of every food chain and be the dominant species on the planet by taking risks. You do it by going slowly, being careful and by learning from your mistakes. The creatures that didn’t are now extinct.
But one wonderful thing about human beings is our ability to say ‘Ah, sod it’. This is usually followed by a wallet opening and a credit card being drawn. Or it is in my case at least (Natwest stop sending me letters!).
I love this side of us, this side that wants to celebrate our achievements, our skills and our craftsmanship. In essence, our humanity.
There are two sides to this decadent coin. There is scarred and leather beaten craftspeople that spend days, weeks even hunched over in a workshop building perfection with their hands. Then there are the people that buy them. And while the latter appears to have a level of shallowness, like thunder and lightning, one can’t exist without the other.
There are a million ways to celebrate this ‘human achievement’ in the home. Your house itself may even be one. But what I want to focus on in this instance is the smaller things. The tools we use and the small finishing touches. These can even be used as a design element. Using the same principle as a statement wall. If say, a room is bland (for want of a better word) a small touch of decadence and luxury will stand out ten-fold.
Owen is a blacksmith and welder based in Kent. He is incredibly talented at both of these and has worked on large scale film and TV in the past. But his heart and soul belong to bladesmithing, especially with pattern welded, or Damascus steel. Damascus is steel is made by forge welding two different grades of steel together before forging it into your desired shape or tool. While Damascus does not necessarily have any technical advantages over modern steel. It is absolutely stunning.
His kitchen knives are true works of art. But, like a true bladesmith, he makes them to be used. He forges them slightly thinner and sharpens them to a razors edge. But using high quality steels and a six stage heat treatment process they retain their toughness, and are easy to get back to the shave ready sharpness when they do blunt.
Little Greene is an independent manufacturer of luxury paints and wallpapers. They date back to 1773 when they were founded just outside of Manchester as the Little Greene Dye Works of Collyhurst Wood. Little Greene use traditional methods and materials to produce their paints and pride themselves on their depth of colour. They contain up to 40% more pigment than other ordinary paints, and more pigment means more character. They have undertones that shift subtly in different lights revealing character that was previously hidden. We are fortunate enough to carry a range of Decorshade Blinds painted with a special edition range of Little Greene paints.
Tetrad started forty five years ago with the aim of becoming the finest furniture maker in the country, and so far they are doing a sterling job. They take genuine pride in what they produce, using only the finest and most suitable materials. All Tetrad frames are built with air dried beech to their exacting standards. Beech is a hard wearing, easily worked wood which makes it perfect for furniture making.
They also use Harris Tweed as a covering for their sofas. Not only do they exude quality and style, but they are quintessentially British. To use genuine Harris Tweed is quite a statement, it is the only fabric in the world governed by its own act of parliament. The Harris Tweed act of 1993 states that the fabric must be ‘Handwoven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.’
Though the majority of Chesney’s income now comes from wood burning stoves, they were founded on restoring and building Marble Chimneypieces. An incredible touch of decadence a marble chimneypiece is a huge statement in a home. Prices of marble chimneypieces are currently soaring. This is because, in the words of Paul Chesney himself: ‘The quarries are quarried’. No more can you buy a new chimneypiece made from flawless white statuary marble, there simply isn’t large enough pieces left. Instead you can expect to pay anywhere up to £5000,000 for a genuine 18th century piece. But, you can still purchase bespoke Chimneypieces from Chesney’s in more contemporary styles.
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