General News
Case study: furnishing an old building with modern furniture
Fuji teppan yaki bar - Quadrato bar stools
Danetti products were used to bring an old building screeching into the 21st century to create the gorgeous interior of Fuji restaurant in Stratford Upon Avon. We caught up with the Managing Director Marcella Conner, to see how she achieved the look…
DANETTI: What look were you trying to achieve at Fuji?
Marcella: We wanted to highlight the traditional features of the 17th century building and incorporate a contemporary element, creating an aesthetically pleasing design yet keeping it practical.
D: What pieces did you choose?
M: The Elma bar stool and Quadrato bar stool.
Fuji sushi bar - the Elma bar stool
D: Why did you opt for Danetti furniture?
M: The first piece that we chose fitted perfectly within the design of Fuji and the second piece contributed to it. We used a lot of reflective surfaces and masculine lines to introduce the contemporary and elegant element of the design within the traditional building. The Elma introduced the feminine curves that we were looking for and the Quarato was in keeping with the masculine lines of that particular area within the restaurant.
D: What do you think of the finished look?
M: We are very pleased with the finished look and moreover extremely pleased with the response from our customers.
D: Did you find Danetti a good company to deal with?
M: I found Danetti extremely helpful, Daniel [the owner and founder of Danetti] in particular. We had an extremely tight deadline and he pulled all the stops out to get our furniture to us on time.
D: What has the customer response been?
M: The customer response of the overall design has been phenomenal, we are the first within our area to attempt a contemporary design within a traditional building.
Fuji food
If you want to see the furniture at Fuji, pay them a visit (we can recommend the Chef Special Cherry Blossom Sushi while you’re there!).
Fuji Restaurant, 27 Rother Street, Stratford-Upon-Avon, CV 37 6NE. Tel: 01789 267916
We wanted to highlight the traditional features of the 17th century building and incorporate a contemporary element, creating an aesthetically pleasing design yet practical.
The first piece that we chose fitted perfectly within the design of Fuji and the second piece contributed to it. We used a lot of reflective surfaces and masculine lines to introduce the contemporary and elegant element of the design within the traditional building. The Elma introduced the feminine curves that we were looking for and the quarato was in keeping with the masculine lines of that particular area within the restaurant.
The Elma bar stool and Quarato bar stool.
I found Danetti extremely helpful, Daniel in particular. We had an extremely tight deadline at he pulled all the stops out to get our furniture to us on time.
> Q: What do you think of the finished look?
We are very pleased with the finished look and moreover extremely pleased with the reponse from our customers.
> Q: Do you have a favourite product?
No.
> Q: What has the customer response been?
The customer response of the overall design has been phenomenal, we are the first within our area to attempt a contemporary design within a traditional building.
A perfect pink modern home office
Modern home office furniture
Work in style…
Office spaces needn’t be boring and corporate-seeming. With the use of bright colours and a little imagination, they can be places you’ll actually want to be.
We’ve styled this pink, white and black home office with Danetti furniture, and a few plants and accessories to show you how to get a modern look – whether you want to create an office for your home, or for a more formal, commercial environment.
HOW WE GOT THE LOOK:
DESK: The Fern white desk, available from Danetti. BUY
CHAIR: Pink and white Sweet office chair, available from Danetti. BUY.
POSTER AND CLOCK: The flower clock and ‘Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff’ poster, both available from Hunky Dory Home
PLANT: Available to hire or buy from Interior Plant Scapes.
SIDEBOARD: The Santino 3-door sideboard with gloss finish black doors. BUY
Product focus: The Kool plastic chair
The Kool plastic chair for outdoor or indoor use
If you want a designer look for your home dining room, or for your restaurant or cafe, then we think the Kool chair is a stunning choice.
The seat is made from a translucent polycarbonate material – and if you choose the clear option, it’s completely transparent, which gives a great feeling of space and is very contemporary, as you’ll see from our picture of a chic modern cafe where the Kool is being used.
It comes in a fresh and funky range of colours: yellow, red, orange and clear – and we love the idea of mixing them up, perhaps going for a zingy orange and yellow colour scheme.
If you’re buying them for a commercial setting, then it’ll be very important to you that they can be stored away easily when not in use – these can be stacked up to eight chairs high!
The Kool plastic chair for outdoor or indoor use
They will keep looking good, as they’re made from a material that’s light, shock and UV ray resistant (so no fading of the colours if they’re left out in the sun.
The steel tube frame is available with a satinized or chrome finish.
Our matching bar stools and chairs
Sometimes only a co-ordinated look will do for your home or business. Danetti’s Charlotte Laing highlights some great matching bar stools and dining chairs…
If you want a slick, expensive-looking interior scheme, you want you pieces of furniture to be from the same range so that everything looks harmonious.
It’s especially important if you’re furnishing a commercial space like a bar or restaurant – having matching bar stools and chairs, for example can make the difference the place between ’so-so’ and ‘wow’.
Below are some of our most popular matching chairs and bar stools – from the ultra modern acrylic to the more traditional upholstered leather.
Coco A Frame bar stool, matching chair available
1. The Coco range
This retro-styled modern classic is a friendly shape which would look amazing in a bar or cafe. The gantle curves make it really comfortable, and the stainless steel frame / base makes it a very designer-looking choice.
Coco A Frame chair, matching bar stool available
The Coco A-frame seat (which features on both the chair and bar stool versions) features an attractive retro-styled UV-resistant multilayer composite technopolymer shell. Available in solid black acrylic or transparent red, orange, green or smoke acrylic.
Domi chair, matching bars stool available
Domi chair, matching bars stool available
2. The Domi range
The Domi is a chic, sophisticated and very glossy-looking range, with a padded back and seat and an elegant chrome frame. The bar stool has foot rests all the way around.
Domi bar stool, matching chair available
It’s the perfect choice for a really classy bar or club environment, and could really help to set the tone in your venue. It’s also a great choice for a home breakfast bar or kitchen seating.
The upholstery is faux leather, a serviceable and practical choice, and is available in a huge range of colours.
This is Italian furniture at its best, and very hard-wearing – just what you want in a busy commercial environment, or in your home for that matter.
Candess bar stool, matching chair available
3. The Candess range
We love the stylish elegant curves of this modern gas lift bar stool and the matching chairs.
If you are looking for a comfortable seat and don’t want to compromise on quality then this range ticks all the boxes.
Available in quality faux leather or real leather.
Candess chair, matching bar stool available
Samba bar stool, matching chairs available
5. The Samba range
A stylish modern range which we’ve sourced from Italy, the Samba is the perfect piece of seating to add the WOW factor. Available with highly polished chrome legs and technopolymer plastic seat (which is available in a variety of colours) both the chair and bar stool would look great in any domestic or commercial environment. Because the chair has a stackable function it would definitely suit a restaurant or cafe.
Samba chair, matching bar stool available
Creating a contemporary wine bar interior: Danetti case study
We always like to champion our commercial customers, large or small. We love being able to help them create stylish and functional interiors and will happily showcase the end result on our blog.
We’ve just caught up with a recent client of ours, Andy, who runs Champers wine bar in Eastcote Middlesex.
He did a partial refurbishment of Champers using Danetti furniture, with sofas, chairs and bar stools in a combination of mulberry and cream upholstery, and says that the result is chic and sophisticated.
“We didn’t want to do a full refurb, just an update – we kept the same bar and flooring, so we wanted new furniture to give the place a new look.
“We chose the mulberry and cream colour scheme to compliment the Farrow & Ball paint we were using on the walls, and the result is a sophisticated interior, which we’ve had very positive feedback on from our regulars.
“We think the Danetti furniture definitely creates a good first impression at Champers, which is really important to us.”
If you want to check out the new furniture at Champers, or enjoy a cocktail or a bottle of wine and some live music (which is probably more likely, if we’re honest), then you can find out more about the place here, or visit them at 184 Field End Road, Eastcote.
We’ll try to get a few pictures of Champers on our blog in the near future.
Our fantastic range of bar stools for commercial use
Modena Bar Stool from Danetti - suitable for commercial use
If you’re the owner of a bar, or an interior designer charged with decorating and furnishing a bar, we think you’re going to like what we have on offer.
We’ve trawled the furniture fairs and hunted down all the best European and high quality furniture makers and gathered together a selection of commercial quality bar stools that’s second to none.
Whether you want free-standing bar stools with fixed height legs, gas lift bar stools that can be adjusted to suit different table heights, or floor-fixed bar stools that will remain exactly where you want them, then we’ve got lots of options for you to choose from.
Colour is also our speciality – many of our bar stools are available in a host of modern and classic colours – from black, red and cream, through to purple, royal blue and yellow. Whatever the style you’re looking to create in your bar, restaurant or club, we’ll have something suitable.
Another benefit of shopping with Danetti is that we can often supply chairs or short stools in the same style and upholstery as our bar stools, which allows you to create a co-ordinated look.
For advice on making your space the most popular in town, just give us a call.
SEE OUR FULL RANGE OF BAR STOOLS
How to become your own interior designer
If you want a quiet place to read, make sure you include a comfy chair in your plans. Pictured: the Leo armchair
Follow our ten steps and you won’t need to go to the expense of hiring an interior designer to make your home beautiful – you’ll be able to do it all by yourself
1. The first thing to do is to focus on what you like to do in your home – think how it gets used, or how you would like to use it if it was designed differently. Perhaps you’d like a cosy TV and games room for the kids, perhaps you want a quiet spot where you can sit and read, but don’t want to shut yourself away in the bedroom. All these considerations can form a ‘wish list’. This is really the kind of brief that you would give to an interior designer, so it’s a good place to start even when you’re doing it yourself.
2. Don’t be afraid to borrow ideas. Make a list of things you have seen that you love and would like to copy. Don’t just take inspiration from TV shows, exhibitions and magazines, but think about art galleries and museums you have visited, friends’ homes you have loved, even shops that you have felt at home in. Remembering these places and ideas can help you understand how form, texture, colour, scale, lighting and space can be combined to create something you like.
Take inspiration from everywhere, even shops. Pictured: Gieves & Hawkes shop interior on Saville Row, London.
3. Try to bring out the best in what you have and work with it, not against it. What are its best features? Perhaps it’s a view or a high ceiling? If so accentuate these features with lighting and furniture arrangement. If you have a modern house, there’s no point trying to make it ornate, or trying to create a ‘heritage’ look – you have to work with what you have.
4. Although it’s tempting to get carried away with thoughts of the fun stuff like wallpaper and soft furnishings, you really need to think carefully about the basics first. Consider flooring choice and colour, furniture shape and colour and practical things like where the plug sockets should go first – lamps and cushions can come later.
Measure up your available space and draw a plan
5. Just because you like the look of a piece of furniture does not mean it will look good in your space. Make sure you always measure your room before investing in furniture. To really make sure there are no errors, you could draw out a plan of the room to scale on squared paper, then you can draw in the furniture, so you can see exactly how it will look. At Danetti we make this easier, by always providing full measurements for our products. It’s also worthwhile measuring your doorways and stairwells – the last thing you want is for your furniture to arrive and then not to fit through the door.
6. Think of your house as a whole. Too many people isolate one room, give it a certain vibe and colour scheme, and then chose something that jars with this in the room next door. Rooms shouldn’t all be decorated the same, but it does help if there is some harmony. This is a particular skill of an interior designer, but it’s a useful habit to get into. A major advantage is that it allows you to move furniture and accessories between rooms when you fancy a change.
7. Don’t forget lighting. In most people’s homes the lighting is a ‘hidden extra’ it’s not the prominent thing you see when you walk into a room. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to the atmosphere and usefulness of a space. Always consider what you want to do in a room, for example, in a bedroom you need to make sure there is bedside lighting to read by and overhead lighting to dress by.
Furniture and flooring is worth investing in. Pictured: Luca square dining table
8. Keep your budget in mind at all times. You don’t want to run out of money half way through a renovation project, so be realistic from the outset. Some things are worth spending on – in particular flooring and furniture, while some things, including soft furnishings, will only look up-to-date for a few years, so there’s no point spending loads on them. Remember when spending on any electrical appliances and gadgets that new technology soon becomes old technology, so it’s probably not worth spending that much on the latest fad.
9. Be professional in your dealings with tradesmen. You could ask for references and ask to see their previous projects – if they are good, then they shouldn’t object. It’s useful to put your objectives in writing, this can be a useful document fall back on if things do not turn out as expected.
10. Ask for help. Independent furniture retailers such as Danetti are very familiar with the process of furnishing a home successfully. We would be more than happy to help you find the pieces that will work well together and bring out the best in your home.
Check out our products in more detail
We thought you’d like to know about a special feature that’s available on some of our products – a video so you can see the product from all angles and in more detail. Below is the video for our ever popular Coco bar stool. Shop for it here.
A must watch for fans of modern furniture
The Davonte chair from Danetti - made using tubular steel
Some of you reading this blog may be as obsessed with modern design and beautiful furniture as we are.
If you’re one of those people, you may like to know about a programme we watched recently on BBC2 which looked at the origins of modern furniture and architectural design. It was part of the ‘The Genius of Design’ series and was called Designs for Living. It was packed with historical trivia like who invented the first fitted kitchen and the tubular steel furniture which is so popular today.
If you missed it, don’t worry, you can catch up on the BBC i player
The top ten furniture trends for 2010
Here at Danetti we’re constantly keeping our eye on emerging furniture trends coming from the big European furniture shows and glossy interior design magazines.
We keep these in mind when buying our furniture, always making sure that we can offer you both cutting edge options and simple contemporary classics.
If you need a little inspiration, then these are the top furniture trends which we see coming through strongly during 2010.
Soho modular chair
1. Sectional and modular sofas
Once upon a time modular, configurable seating was the preserve of commercial premises. But this year it’s proving popular as a great flexible option for cost-conscious home-owners too. Modular sofas are great for people who like to move their furniture around a lot because these items can be easily reconfigured to give a new look. The other advantage of modular seating is that often it can be assembled on a curve or a tight angle, to make the most of your available space.
2. Bright sofas
While neutral sofas will always be popular, we’re seeing the growing popularity of zingy, brightly-coloured sofas, teamed with neutral cushions – a reverse of the old look. It’s certainly a modern look and can look really striking with plain white or even clashing colour walls.
3. Leather upholstery
Still as smart and classy a choice as ever, leather furniture is a purchase that just doesn’t disappoint and keeps its appeal even when it gets old. In particular we’re seeing a rise in the popularity of coloured leather on bar stools, dining chairs and sofas.
4. Grey as the key neutral
Most colour schemes need a neutral shade to tie them down, ground them a bit. This year it seems to be grey that’s the perfect antidote to the bright colours. Chose your shade to complement the tone of your colour scheme – from elephant grey to pewter, there’s one that will look great.
4. Suede or microsuede
In these harsh economic times, we all want a bit of luxury and comfort. That’s what you get from suede or the faux alternative, microsuede. It’s soft, comfortable and sophisticated at the same time. As with leather, bright colours will be dominant.
2. Winged chairs
… or armchairs to you and I. This year, this classic style is hotter than ever. We approve – winged chairs are comfortable and cozy and look elegant at the same time.
5. Media centers
Perhaps because television design is changing, the furniture we use to house our TVs and other media is changing too. The trend is for chic, modern furniture to tidy everything away.
Harris arm chair - a return to the traditional
6. Traditional furniture design
Maybe it’s the economy that’s causing this trend – we’re hankering after a little security and buying into traditional, classic design What’s happening is a reinterpretation of the past – traditional with a twist if you like – manufacturers are taking old styles and using modern fabrics and quirky features to bring them up to date.
7. The chaise
We’re seeing a new interpretation of the traditional chaise longue with clean lines and modern fabrics such as leather taking the place of more ornate, fabric-covered versions. They’re great for a home setting – every living room should have one, but they also work well in a commercial space, perhaps in a shop or hotel lounge.
8. Round ended tables
A move away from the hard edges of the traditional table, towards a curvier, more interesting table shape. Materials include glass, wood and laminated plywood.
9. Green fabrics
Maybe to reflect the trend towards eco furnishings, it seems that the colour green has become trendy too. From bold block colours to fun leaf patterns, there’s plenty to choose from.
10. Stools
Perhaps because we’re living more casual lives these days, with informal seating areas in kitchens and kitchen-diners becoming the norm, the popularity of bar stools is on the rise. Opt for quirky, brightly-coloured stools to make this a modern look.