Life

Cherry Tree Interiors opens its doors in Harborne

Posted by Andrea on April 20, 2012
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After months of negotiation and weeks of building and decorating (and moving furniture and stock from two different locations) Cherry Tree Interiors finally opened its doors on Wednesday.

Ok, so the sign still isn’t finished (our builders were very good but slower than we anticipated but by Sunday, this will look so much better!)

We are so proud of it, it’s a small business with a big heart and a real passion for creating beautiful soft furnishings, giving new life to old furniture and providing some rather gorgeous lifestyle accessories from the likes of Wood & Willow, Dora Designs, Pip Studios, Parlane, Riverdale, J-Me and Westgate Clocks. Art and photography by yours truly, Tony Shill and This is a Limited Edition.

Here are the first images of the shop as we opened on Wednesday.

Gorgeous glass pendant light in the window, attracting lots of attention (and rightly so!)

Traditional renovated Welsh dresser displaying pretty lifestyle products and silk cushions designed and made by Maxine in-store.

Wood and Willow and Dora Designs sit side by side atop traditional renovated pine coffee table and a post modern extendable dining table.

A stunning, renovated Regency dresser displays Pip Studios vibrant wares.

The walkway from the front to the back of the shop entices with flashes of retro furniture, furnishings and artwork.

Stunning Harlequin wallpaper and soft furnishings are perfectly complimented by a renovated 1950′s retro cabinet displaying Westgate clocks, handcrafted scrapbook albums and gatefold albums covered in Orla Kiely papers (by yours truly) and photography by Tony Shill.

A renovated retro rocking chair and fab bubble clock by Westgate.

Harlequin wallpapers and fabrics, cushions made by Maxine in-store and stunning silk curtains and pelmet – so luxurious!

Black Villa Nova ‘Naples’ wallpaper, a stunning renovated Regency sideboard, plum cut velvet cushions and ghostly art by Geraldine Georges show how to decorate with black.

The entrance to my new home at the back of the shop, compact and bijou but perfectly formed and working out just fine!

We’ve had a trickle of people of the last 3 days, lots of interest in what we are doing. A few sales, a few bookings for consultations and a potential craft class booked for June.

The future’s looking very bright!

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Taking advantage of the great weather,…

Posted by Karl on March 25, 2012
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Having grown up in Harborne, I have a strong affinity with it. So when the girls at Cherry Tree Interiors secured a lease for a shop at the foot of the High Street, coupled with Andrea setting up a studio in the new shop, it gave me cause to visit Harborne more often.

Yesterday, I popped in to the shop to check on the refurbishment on the way back from Greta’s weekly streetdance class in Digbeth. The sun was shining and it was actually warm. In March. With The Plough situated directly opposite, it would be a crime to not go in for lunch!!

When I was young, the Plough was a ‘locals’ pub. I remember going there with my Dad for the occasional lunch of sausage, egg and chips during the school summer holidays; everybody knew everybody, men drank pints, women drank half pints. Nobody knew what a cappucino was and bar snacks were peanuts attached to cardboard with a semi-clad model behind them; the more you bought, the more you saw.  Everybody seemed to smoke and the nicotine stained anaglypta wallpaper reflected that!

It underwent an eclectic but stylish refurbishment in late 2008. The locals didn’t like it and begrudgingly moved on elsewhere. My late Dad would not have liked it!

Harborne is renowned for its pubs, they come thick and fast along the relatively small High Street. But the stand-out pub has to be the Plough in my opinion. It has been voted as one of the UK’s top 20 pubs and it’s not hard to see why.

It’s an eclectic place, the inside is intimate and the outside area is superb. It has a great selection of beers, and their food is fantastic. Pizzas and burgers form a large part of the menu, but are delicious!

Children are made very welcome. A selection of toys and games are available and sweets are sold behind the bar. The staff are extremely friendly and there are plenty of them, so you don’t need to wait long for service.

But what stands out for me is it’s incredible attention to detail. No stone has been left unturned in their attempts to maximise their customers’ experience. This list of ‘nice touches’ is vast, but the ones that stand out for me are:

There’s a display cabinet near the bar which displays original Star Wars figures (not the recent figures with the bending joints, the original ones. They been played with and aren’t pristine).

When my burger was brought out, it was serviced on a wooden board (not uncommon these days I admit), but the chips were served in a mini stainless steel frying basket.

It was the warmest day of the year yesterday and the rear garden can be a bit of a suntrap. The manager brought out suncream and left bottles on the tables so parents would ensure their children were protected.

Tea cosies on all teapots. Great touch.

Condiments are placed on small wooden shelves so are lifted above the table, giving more space.

There’s a large tub by the back door with 10-15 umbrellas, so the smokers don’t get wet.

I could go on, but I think it would be better to see it for yourself if you’re ever in the area! I’m looking forward to spending quite a few summer afternoons and evenings there, highly recommended!!

Written by guest blogger: Karl Daniels

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The Scrapbooker is (finally) on the move

Posted by Andrea on March 21, 2012
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Some years ago, my sister and her business partner sought to relocate their expanding soft furnishings/interiors business (The Cherry Tree UK) to the beautiful leafy suburb of Harborne in Birmingham. After months of legal to-ing and fro-ing, hold-ups and money invested, the rug was ceremoniously pulled from underneath them (by a dodgy landlord) and left them without both premises and further finance to try again. It devasted them and knocked their business back 5 years –  a sad reality for small businesses in the UK.

Over the following 7 years, the girls (Maxine and Nicky) kept their eye on the High Street in Harborne. Their business continued to grow, not only surviving the worst recession for decades but thriving in it and it soon became very apparent in 2011 that new premises was very much a necessity. Randomly on one of her frequent drives along the High Street, Maxine noticed a lovely 3 storey building at the top of the Hight Street, the first shop in fact, you see as you enter the Village from the City. It held the space and the light needed to host their new ideas and product ranges. Now there was just the small matter of securing it.

4 months later after much negotiation, hold ups and legal BS, the lease was signed and the keys handed over. There was enormous relief and huge excitement here on Monday.

So what’s my involvement here? Well, my relationship with the girls has been long standing – we all worked together 20 years ago,  so we all go WAAAAY back. I worked for them as an interiors consultant a few years ago before I set up on my own; I also designed and manage their website and have produced their marketing and advertising material for many years now too; I  know their business very well and could add value to it by providing hand made products that compliment their hand-made soft furnishings and renovated furniture. Having an extra pair of hands was also a pre-requisite for them should they ever move or expand – I gladly obliged.

As I said, we were all VERY excited here on Monday. After years of trying, the girls had finally secured a premises in Harborne and I would be moving with them. It has been incredibly hard not to blog about this little achievement for many months but after the failed attempt years ago, I simply didn’t want to jinx anything.

But not anymore. As a little taster, here’s an artist’s impression (that’ll be me playing in Photoshop then) of the new premises – as it is now and how we hope it will look after much painting and decorating. More details will most certainly follow …

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Caravan envy

Posted by Andrea on July 27, 2011
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Leonard Maltin once said “timing is everything’.

Case in point …

Randomly and completely out of the blue, a friend mentioned last month that she was looking to sell her caravan in Aberystwyth. Now, I’d never considered owning a caravan; a holiday home abroad – most definitely, a quintessential English country cottage somewhere in the Dales – preferably, but never a caravan. Don’t get me wrong, we had plenty of caravan holidays when I was a kid so the experience wasn’t new to me, just never considered ‘owning’ one. Not until I realised money would be a tad tight over the next few years and holidays would be the first to be cut.

My head began doing cartwheels – cheap holidays in a lovely resort as and when the weather and time permitted, weekends away to just drop out, long hot(tish) summers filled with Cath Kidston bunting, floral fabrics and geranium filled flower pots. I needed to see this caravan before I lost myself in nostalgic clichés.

(Meet Constance – isn’t she adorable? And no, this isn’t our caravan … )

After a beautiful drive through the Welsh hills and valleys, we arrived in Aberystwyth late Thursday evening.

We found the caravan and were pleasantly surprised. Yes, she’s a little dated (the multi-colour velour seating will HAVE to go), she is also a static caravan so she doesn’t have any seductive curves like Constance here, but she has been well maintained, is spotlessly clean and has a lovely feel about her.

Also, with views like this over nearby Borth, she would definitely do us very nicely, thank you very much!

Now all I have to do is find the cash to buy her!

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What’s in the wine?

Posted by Andrea on June 27, 2011
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I get the fair pricing on wine people are talking about; it can seem as though wine is hugely overpriced sometimes, but hacking the price of wine up purely enables restaurants to make some profit. There is almost no profit on food in restaurants, this is a well-known fact. All restaurants will do if forced to reduce their wine costs, is put the mark up on their food, then people will be complaining that they’re paying over the odds for prawn cocktail!

What you are indeed paying for is ambience, atmosphere, quality of produce, skill, talent, convenience and for a bloody good excuse to go out with friends and loved-ones. Don’t get me wrong, not all restaurants are good but at the end of the day it’s about choice. If you can’t afford the Chateaubriand, don’t order it – can’t afford the wine, ask for table water!

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Crimes against curly hair – my journey

Posted by Andrea on April 14, 2011
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I recently read, with much interest, an article written by the fabulous Priyanka Gill on her Estylista blog. The article: Curly hair and all things fair discussed the trials and tribulations of living with curly hair, not just soft waves, but full-on ropy, ringlety, unruly curls.

I am in complete sympathy. It has taken me almost 45 years to seriously come to terms with my curls. I have bleached, dyed, ironed, straightened, cut unbelievably short, permed (you heard me, I had my already curly hair, permed!) and blow dried straight to within an inch of its life. But this wasn’t always my fault.

When you have curly hair and your mother does not, their ability to ‘cope’ with it is negligible. To prove a point:

Haircrime #1 – Do not cut curly hair when wet. Please feel free to roll about on the floor laughing, I know I did. I’m on the right, by the way. I can’t make my mind up which is worse, the attempt to give me a fringe (the wonky line is due to it being cut wet and not dry) or the attempt to straighten it, neither has worked.

Haircrime #2 – Do not attempt to curl already curly hair.

In trying to give me this wonderful look, my mother made me sleep with wet hair in really painful tiny brush rollers (anyone growing up in the 70′s will sympathise!) and then spent the following morning trying to remove them and brush out the mass of curls – I can’t imagine why I am smiling in this photo, my head was sore for days after. If you think I look bad, have some sympathy for my two sisters sat either side of me, at least I was winning the dress war – just!

All things said – you grow up repeating the hair crimes your matriarchs imposed on you simply because you don’t have the skills to look after your curls yourself. I continued my mother’s crimes, I even added a few of my own…

Haircrime #3 – Do not have a fringe. Living in South Wales for almost 6 years, 4 miles from a beach and swimming all year round did nothing to preserve my curls. Constant salty air simply caused my hair to frizz, frizz, and frizz some more. An attempt at blow drying has been made here, not that you’d notice. Again, a fringe is simply wrong!

Haircrime #4: Do not blow dry without a diffuser. The result is a mass of hair resembling a cotton wool ball – exhibit 4 highlights this issue and again my fringe looks dreadful.

Years later, after I had my first daughter in 1994, I noticed my hair had become less curly (a common factor in pregnancy) but after I had my second daughter in 2005, it was back with a vengeance. At this point my hair was relatively short, great for post-baby maintenance but not exactly flattering. I have been growing it ever since, with some success, but have still been fighting my curls. I even considered having a Brazilian Blow Dry recently but, to be honest, it costs a ridiculous amount of money and I simply don’t suit straight hair.

Then, last week whilst searching for curly hair shampoos on the internet, I came across The British Curlies, a fab website dedicated to the world of curly hair – they were championing a revolution in curly hair started by Lorraine Massey (she of the Curly Girl Handbook now residing on my bedside cabinet). I sat down, read the book, read the posts on the British Curlies forum and am now, in short, converted!

My first task was to throw out all of my ‘offending’ shampoos, conditioners and hair styling products (except my Kerastase Oleo Curl, it simply cost too much money for me to just throw away – if this experiment fails, at least I’ll have old faithful to fall back on!). I then trundled into town and hit Boots for all it was worth, for my ‘non-offending’ replacements. Much to my amazement and surprise, the total for shampoo, conditioner, styling gel, creme and serum came to a mere £19.35 – bearing in mind I currently pay this for my Oleo Curl conditioner ALONE, I already feel rather smug!  (Shopping list is available under this post).

I am now armed with the tools for the job and the CG method for looking after my hair, and my children’s hair. I will now be able to educate them on loving and looking after their own curls! They say it takes a few weeks to get results but just by applying the method today my hair looked like this, this afternoon, and I’ve been out in the rain – some change eh? Don’t get me wrong, it still has loads of frizz, needs a colour and a cut and I need to learn how to style it but boy, does this ever look better than it did yesterday!

Will keep you updated on my progress! (P.S. I’m not THAT grumpy!)

SHOPPING LIST

  • Naked Bounce Shampoo £4.07/250ml
  • Naked Bounce Conditioner £4.07 250ml
  • Umberto Giannini Curl friends scrunching gel  £4.79/200ml
  • Boots pink curl creme £1.32/250ml
  • Naked Style frizz fighter £5.10/50ml
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Investing in ‘Value for money’ products

Posted by Andrea on March 30, 2011
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When my mother suggested to me over 3 years ago, that I try Eve Lom cleanser, a cult classic in the beauty industry, I baulked at the price and could feel my heart stop and my husband’s wallet shriek in despair – £80 for 200ml is an awful lot of money to pay for a product that simply cleans your face. Seeing my reaction she ‘gifted’ me a sample pot one Christmas.

I loved it and was instantly hooked. I bought my first pot in Space NK in Stratford-upon-Avon, came home and marked the bottom of the pot with the date in permanent marker. If I was going to continue using and buying this product, I needed to know how much I needed to save and how often. Fifteen months (yes, fifteen months) later it finally ran out; I calculated the cost (because that’s the way I am) and came to a startling discovery – Eve Lom at £80/200ml is exceptional value for money, and here’s why:

Eve Lom cleanser removes eye-make and face make-up eliminating the need for separate eye make up remover (this is your first saving). You only use it in the evening and only need to wipe your face with a warm cloth in the morning, eliminating the need for a morning cleanser (your second saving). Now for the maths:

£80 over 15 months is equal to 456 days or 65 weeks, or thereabouts. £80/456 days is £0.175 pence a day or £1.23 a week.

Now, my daughter is very fond of eg. Simple face wipes at £3.99/25 (generally considered entry-level for cleansers)- these work out at £0.16 pence each and you usually need 2 to do the job. These are already way more expensive than Eve Lom per day (a saving of £67 a year by the way) and I haven’t even got onto the savings compared to cleansers at the higher end of the market.

This is my justification for continuing to buy this product and yes, it is needed. When you are investing in beauty products (a lot of which, let’s be honest, are a complete rip off) you need to check their ‘value for money’ criteria and this cleanser certainly meets mine!

Read more about Eve Lom cleanser

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Using your home to promote your business

Posted by Andrea on March 29, 2011
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Whenever a client calls at the house, the first thing they always comment on is the large (and I mean LARGE!) creative canvas hung on the wall in the dining room – it is 36″ x 24″ and is of my darling 5-year-old DD…

Its reason for being there is three-fold. Firstly, I love the canvas (in fact I love it so much it forms the basis of nearly all my advertising postcards and leaflets), secondly, it looks fabulous against the rich red walls, and thirdly, when clients visit me and are waiting for me to make them their tea/coffee, they casually walk around the dining room browsing the quirky paintings, drawings, photos, paper crafts and arty bits and pieces that are on display. The canvas always attracts attention. I have sold more creative canvases this way than any other form of advertising or marketing.

A neighbour was in our home for a BBQ last year and fell in love with it too; she booked a photo shoot with her 2 gorgeous kids, ordered an album, several prints, a framed montage, and this week, on the back-end of that initial enquiry, a creative canvas – this one is 30″ x 20″. Simply gorgeous.

Opening your home up to clients can be tricky, you always have to have it looking clean and tidy and smelling sweet for a start! (I was up at 6.30 this morning doing just that as I had a client meeting me at the house straight after the school run). But it also has huge advantages; being able to work around my kids’ timetables and my husband’s job, being able to dash upstairs to grab a client’s file and discuss their requirements whilst stirring a risotto also has its merits. More significantly, it allows me to adorn my home with my unique personalised pieces, whether it be photos, canvases, paper, photo and word art montages, paper crafts, hand-made books and ornaments – even knitted handbags (yes, I have been known to don a pair of knitting needles). It also allows my clients to view items ‘in situ’, not in some cold, white-walled, impersonal studio. Framed photos and prints line my walls, stairways and hall, canvases sit on shelves and are hung from walls, albums, WordArt, PaperArt and PhotoArt pieces are casually placed around the house along with handmade books and arty pieces. All are used and looked at and ‘lived in’ within my home – this, in my opinion, is why I get the response I do from clients.

To prove a point, my client (from the school run this morning), booked a photo shoot, placed an order for a 36″ x 24″ creative canvas and asked whether I would be interested in running a craft afternoon for her daughter’s forthcoming birthday bash – all this, before I had even passed her her coffee.

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Been so long….

Posted by Andrea on January 11, 2011
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I can hardly believe that it has been nearly 12 months since my last post. It has been one very busy and very manic year, especially coming up to Christmas. I swear there must have been someone walking around London with a big placard advertising my little company.

Lots has happened too on the home front, Amber spent most of the year out from racing due to a fractured foot but is now up and running again. Greta has taken up Street dancing and has been involved with 2 stage shows – you can see her here at the Positive Steps Dance Showcase at the CBSO Theatre, Birmingham strutting her stuff – she’s the one in the cap!

I have been really busy with weddings, photographic shoots, craft courses and scrapbook albums for most of the year and will be posting the results later this week. It has been amazing to see how it has grown from strength to strength over the past few months.

There has also been a new addition to the Etsy pages and Facebook pages to incorporate my crafts. Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook HERE and Etsy HERE. Will keep you posted on developments this week as I try to bring everything up to date – phew!

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Being had!

Posted by Andrea on February 9, 2010
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I have to say that having someone or some company ‘do’ me out of money, sell me something duff or simply dash with my cash has my blood boiling and comes second on my hate list only to rude and ignorant people.

This little gem of a company Crazy Cameras (yes, here’s a link – order off them, go on, I dare you!) offered to sell me a wonderful little camera I wanted to get my husband for Christmas.

I was delighted with the price (I should have heard the warning bells then…) ordered it and waited … and waited … and waited … and NOTHING. No confirmation email, no reply to the multitude of emails I sent them asking for confirmation. Nada, zip, nothing!

I was gutted. It was then I started to search for reviews on the site and to my horror found hundreds and I mean HUNDREDS! Read them for yourself! Almost all of them negative. I felt sick. I spent the next few days with that awful churning sick feeling at the pit of my stomach and then my blood started to boil. I could think of nothing else. I drafted an email stating that I had heard nothing, I was cancelling my order as the camera would not arrive in time now for Christmas… and then I waited some more. Determined I would become the bane of their lives if I didn’t get my money back… I, unbelievably and to my complete amazement, was refunded.

Lucky? Oh yes! Stupid? Oh yes! Buy again without checking the review forums? OH no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Lesson learnt!

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