An Open-Plan Entertaining Space in Sale
An open-plan room in Sale holding a bar, a pool table and a television area, and still comfortable to sit in.
Sale is the closest of these towns to Manchester and about fifteen minutes from the showroom. Its housing is dominated by Victorian and Edwardian terraces and semis, with larger detached property around Brooklands and Ashton on Mersey.
Terraced and semi-detached houses are the most rewarding rooms to design and the least forgiving, because there is no spare space to absorb a mistake. Storage has to be designed rather than bought, narrow rooms benefit from mirrors placed to move light rather than to decorate, and a rear extension usually needs its lighting planned as several separate schemes so the room works at breakfast and at nine in the evening.
Sale projects are often single rooms done well rather than whole houses, and that suits how we work. There is no minimum, and a rug, a pair of curtains and the right lighting will change a Victorian back room more than a much larger budget spent badly.
The showroom is at York House, Vicarage Lane, Bowdon WA14 3BA, open Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm. More about the showroom.
Terraces and semis, where nothing is spare
A Victorian terrace or semi is the least forgiving house to design, because there is no surplus space to absorb a mistake. Storage has to be planned before anything decorative is chosen, and it usually has to be built rather than bought: alcoves either side of a chimney breast, under a stair, into a return.
Light is the other constraint. Rooms that face one way only need reflective surfaces, mirrors placed to bring daylight further in, and window treatments that stack completely clear of the glass. A curtain that covers part of the window in a room like this is a real loss.
Rooms rather than whole houses
More work in Sale is single rooms done well than whole properties, and that suits how the studio works. There is no minimum: a rug, a pair of curtains and the right lighting will change a room more than most people expect, and it is a perfectly reasonable place to stop as well as to start.
Fifteen minutes from the showroom also makes it easy to bring samples back and forth while a scheme settles.
Questions we get asked
Can you do one room at a time?
Yes, and often that is the sensible way: finish one, live with it, then decide about the next.
What helps most in a small room?
Storage designed for the space, and lighting at more than one level. Both do more than colour.
Do you design fitted storage for alcoves?
Yes. It is designed here and made by our partner workshops. See fitted furniture.
A project in Sale
An open-plan entertaining room in Sale, holding a bar, a pool table and a television area.