Oxfordshire Limited Edition – August 2019

106 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition|August 2019

AsthemanbehindTobiasOliverInteriors,

TobiasTriggwantstomakeinterior

designaccessibletoeveryone.

HetalkstoSarahMillington

MASTER

OF STYLE

I

nteriordesignisonlyfortheelite,

right?NotasfarasTobiasTriggis

concerned.Theegalitariandesigner,

whorunsTobiasOliverInteriors,

hasjustopenedashowroomin

Berkhamsted.Itsaimistoturnthis

notiononitshead.

“WhatIwantedtodowasmakeinterior

designmoreaccessibletosavvymiddleclass

customers,”saysTobias, 32 .“Thereare

peoplewhowantaccesstointeriordesignbut

don’thaveaccesstothetrade,whichmeans

thatfantasticdesignisn’taccessibletothe

generalpublic.”

Theshowroom–which,bycoincidence,is

closetoTobias’soldschool–onlyopenedlast

month,butithasalreadygarneredsupport

frombignamesuppliers.Asheexplains,it’s

morethanjustashop.

“We’relikeaminiChelseaHarbourbut

wherepeoplecancomeinandhaveaccessto

products,”hesays.“Ithoughttheyneededto

beguidedandhelped–thatwastheideato

startwith–andithassortofspiralledfrom

there.Onesuppliercameonboard,then

anotheroneand,beforeweknewit,wehad

thesefantasticsuppliersthatallwantedto

comeonboardwithme.Forexample,for

accessories,themainbrandthatweuseis

L’Objet,whichyoucanonlybuyatHarrods.

Anotherbrandthatwe’rerepresentingis

BaobabCollection,whomanufacturea

uniquerangeofcandles.Wehaveexclusive

rightstoselltheminHertfordshire.”

Setoutlikeanapartment,theshowroom

worksintandemwithTobias’sinteriordesign

service.“Whenwecompleteaprojectthe

clientmayrequestweaccessorisethewhole

house.Wethenleavethemforfourweeks

and,attheendofthisperiod,theclient

willtelluswhichitemstheywanttokeep,”

hesays.“Theshowroomisverymuchlike

that.Thereisaretailelement,butourmain

purposeistoofferinteriordesignideasand

tohelpourclientschoosewhatstylesuits

theirtaste.So,theshowroomservesasa

retailshopthough,atthesametime,exhibits

whatcanbeachievedwhenworkingwitha

professionalinteriordesigner.Thefurniture

andlightingintheshowroomareallbespoke

andhencedemonstratewhatmaybepossible.

Often,thegeneralpublicarenotsurehowto

specifythesethingsandsowe’llguidethem

throughtheprocess.

“Wehaveashowbaronthegroundfloor

andashowkitchen,andashowbathroomon

thefirstfloorwherethedesignstudioisalso

situated.Thesedemonstratedifferenttypesof

finishthatyoucanincorporateintodesigns.

Thenthere’sthee-commercesideonthe

website.Everythingyouseeisavailabletobuy

instore,soifsomeonesawavaseorlampon

thewebsite,theycancomeinandtouchit.”

‘Iwasalwaysafanatic

ofart,Iwouldspend

mywholelunch

breaksintheartroom

creatingart’