Best Boutique Stay - and the winner is...

I am so pleased to be able to bring you this blog post, all about how the Manor House Quorn, with bedrooms designed by Pink Couch, has received the 2019 Muddy Stilettos Award for Best Boutique Stay in Leicstershire and Rutland.

A big thank you from me to anyone who voted!

It was a few years ago now that I started working with Kara and Phil, the owners of the Manor House Quorn in Leicestershire on the first phase of their bedroom design. With a successful pub right across from the Great Central Railway, they had decided to make use of the extensive selection of outbuildings and transform them into a set of boutique bedrooms.

As a designer for me it is very important that my clients feel like they are involved every step of the way with their project. I spend a lot of time listening to their requirements and likes and dislikes and make sure I get to know them so the final outcome is exactly what they want. When assisting a client with a personal design project, it is obvious that their personalities are going to be within the design of a space in their own home. However with a commercial property it is a little different. The design should most definitely have elements of the personalities of the owners, it is their business after all and one which they have put many years of hard work into, yet it is important to achieve a balance as the space also needs to appeal to all the potential visitors, of all ages and their different requirements - families, couples, single travellers, business men.

Initially at the Manor House, we created seven rooms together (click here for more information on this part of the project and here for a full photo gallery) which have had excellent reviews and feedback. At the start of this year we began work on four more bedrooms. When I first began the project a little imagination was needed for how the rooms would look as they weren't even built yet! Some of the structure was there but for many years these buildings had been used for storage and for the old tennis clubhouse, so some reconfiguration and building was needed to make them into the beautiful rooms they would become.

The new rooms were to be in-keeping with the original seven from the first phase. This meant that the original mood boards (below) were brought out again to refresh our memories, as well as a little wander around the first phase of rooms. In some further meetings, we discussed the chosen names of the new rooms and how these might feed into their design - The Rabbit Hole, The Scullery, Fallow Fawn and Lizzy Rose.

T H E R A B B I T H O L E

As with the original rooms, all of the new ones were painted Cornforth White by Farrow and Ball as the backdrop. The Rabbit Hole features a long private corridor leading to the main room, so I just had to suggested using our accent colour of Stiffkey Blue (also by Farrow and Ball) to paint the walls to make you feel like you really are heading down the dark rabbit hole! The colour was continued into the room to link the spaces. Also, I couldn't resist the lamp from Graham and Greene, too perfect not to don't you think?!

T H E S C U L L E R Y

For The Scullery, my idea was to use copper jelly moulds as a fun decoration for a more subtle kitchen theme. After a bit of searching in the local antiques shops I came across the sweet pair that I used on the walls. The framed artwork is named "Yoga in my Yogurt" which not only keeps to the theme, hints at the other job of one of the owners, a yoga teacher! I used copper ceiling lights which mirrored the jelly moulds and lead to accents of orange being added elsewhere in the room.

F A L L O W F A W N

Fallow Fawn was named as such due to the close proximity of Bradgate Country Park (known for its deer) to the Manor House. After discussing a few deer themed pieces of artwork, my client decided on this print of a Pink Couch machine embroidery of a stag (which you can buy here or get in touch if you are interested in the original).

L I Z Z Y R O S E

The final room, Lizzy Rose, was named after a regular customer of the Manor House who had recently passed away. He used to bring in roses from his garden as a gift to the staff, which had been planted in memory of his wife. I sourced and framed vintage images from a book on roses to create a feature piece of artwork for this room.

So which is your favourite? I can't decide. I am really pleased with them all and luckily the clients are too and they are already receiving great feedback from visitors. Head over to their website to book your stay! Some of the first phase rooms have had a few edits too (you can now sleep in a giant gold bed in The Hayloft!), and if you do go for a visit, I'd love to know what you think of the rooms.

A full gallery of all the rooms can be seen here.

R x