We love seeing Pooky lamps and shades out of the showroom and in people’s homes – not least when they’ve been put there by top interior designers! Here’s how Helen and Jane of the Cotswolds-based JH Designs have been using our lights in their projects...
Helen Holmes and Jane Lanyon of JH Designs have a lovely approach to interior design. Rather than telling their clients what they should have, they find out all about the people they’re designing for, and help them create spaces and rooms that they’ll really enjoy and feel connected to. As they put it: ‘We don’t want to sell you the latest trend or tell you what style to choose. We want to discover your preferences and lifestyle, then offer you choices.’ That might be why their style, though recognisable across their various projects, is quite hard to categorise. There are elements of English Country and touches of shabby chic, but also lots of contemporary colours and some very smart stuff. Helen says: ‘We both have our own styles but it's our job to give the client what they want, and guide them through the huge choices available. Our inspirations are fed by constant research into what's available and we always have our smart phones at the ready to take pictures of everything related to design.’
Pooky's Verona table lamp in burnt wood with a black zig zag ikat linen shade - Unfortunately the black zig zag ikat linen shade is no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of lamp shades here
Anyway, luckily for us, the choices they offer their clients quite often include Pooky lights and shades. We love, for example, the way Helen and Jane have used our Verona table lamp in burnt wood in this Cotswolds cottage (above) – renovated for holiday lets by a London-based client. The brief was a design that was ‘cosy and comfortable with lots of added touches to make guests feel at home, but with an eye on furniture and fabrics that will stand up to the test of time.’ The Verona here goes beautifully with the wooden flooring, narrow beams and the lovely, slightly distressed cabinet by the dining table – and they’ve matched it with a straight empire printed linen ikat shade in black zig-zag, which seems to meet that idea of cosy-yet-timeless.
Cotswolds country cottage living room by JH Designs
Being based in the Cotswolds themselves, Helen and Jane know how exactly to get the country cottage look, but their projects include smart Bristol pubs and London townhouses. For an Edwardian house in Dulwich Village they went for a more ‘masculine, club-like’ feel in the sitting room, while the bedrooms – which feature Pooky’s tall Whistler brass table lamp in antique silver– have a contrasting calm and restful colours. Helen said: ‘The lights we used were perfect for the rooms they were in, elegant but affordable.’
Edwardian house in Dulwich Village - sitting room by JH Designs
The Dulwich Village bedrooms feature Pooky's Whistler table lamp with linen ikat shade in eau de nil zig zag - Unfortunately the Whistler table lamp and linen ikat shade in eau de nil zig zag are no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of table lamps here and lamp shades here
Jane and Helen began their careers in law and hotel management respectively, but both had always had a real love of interior design and a hankering to do it for a living. They each built separate design businesses, combining to form JH Designs in 2007. And they keep going from strength to strength. One of their recent interiors – again including Pooky’s Verona wooden table lamps (this time a pair in the chocolate colour with a 'grey fern' block printed cotton shade) – featured on the front cover of 25 Beautiful Homes magazine.
JH Designs' sitting room featuring Pooky's Verona wooden table lamps in chocolate with shade in block-printed cotton - Unfortunately the Verona wooden table lamps are no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of table lamps here
Currently they’re working a range of projects including an annex cottage to a Manor House, a 1980's Cotswold farmhouse, a new-build home and a lakeside cottage with a-mid century design for London clients. With any luck, we’ll keep seeing a few Pooky lights popping up in Jane and Helen’s very varied designs...
Pooky's Mandaly table lamp with a straight empire shade in blue silk styled by JH Designs
Pooky's Amity ceramic table lamp with a straight empire shade in ivory dupion silk styled by JH Designs Helen said: ‘We like Pooky because they have a wide range of different styles of lights that can fit into most projects and they are always adding new products. And they have an extremely useful website that is stylish with excellent visuals that can show the client what the light will look like. It's a great resource.’
We love JH Designs' approach of helping people discover their own style - it's exactly what our ethos is all about. You can have a play with our designer light and shade mix-and-match website yourself here – and view more of the interiors by JH Designs on their website here.
