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14 Jan 19

Designer Spotlight: 2LG Studio

interior designer Sophie Robison interveuews the inspiration 2LG Studio about their business in interior design

So hello and welcome to this month’s Designer Spotlight. For anyone new to my blog this is where I get to shine a light on a designer who I think is particularly inspirational and to kick the new year off I bring you one of my most favourite interior design powerhouses; 2LG Studio. I first met the boys back in 2013 when Jordan entered in the very first series of The Great Interior Design Challenge which was on BBC2. He slayed the competition all the way up to the final where he was pipped to the win by vintage supremo Sarah Moore (now of Money for Nothing fame). But in the true tradition of runners up Jordan, along with his husband Russell, have carved out an astonishingly successful business as an interior design studio, product designer and general media whore! Success couldn’t have come to two nicer, and more talented folk. So let’s find out what their magic is!

Based in London 2LG Studio have carved out an extensive portfolio of residential, commercial and collaborative projects, all with their unique approach and style. They rent out their stunning home for photoshoots, regularly appear in the press, create some astonishingly cool product ranges and dress some of the most fabulous homes in London. They are big on colour and have a very real sense of individual style. If you don’t know them already, I think you’re going to love them.

Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead aka 2LG Studio, standing in front of their wallpaper design for Graham and Brown.

Before your appearance on The Great Interior Design Challenge you both had previous careers in acting, and ran a coffee shop. How easy was it to make the transition into a totally new business?

It was a transition over a period of five years before we actually launched our interior design business 5 years ago, so it was a long process. At times it was very difficult, but we went with our instincts and slowly got to a point where we knew we were ready to dive in. No one talks about the hard times, but we have had many knock-backs and faced many obstacles along the way. We are very grateful to have each other to keep on track and get through the tough times. We both wanted to be actors from a very young age and loved working in that profession for almost ten years so it was a major wrench to move on from that, but we love what we do now, so it was worth it.

What advice would you give someone embarking on a 2nd career?

Allow yourself to do all the things you didn’t let yourself do the first time around. It can be incredibly exciting getting the chance to do it all again with hindsight. First time around we took it very seriously and judged ourselves too harshly sometimes. A second career can be a chance to do it for you and to be more kind to yourself. That is easier said than done sometimes but we try. You can also draw on so much of your experience from your first career, they may be totally different but many things can be applied to help you, so don’t think you have to wipe the slate clean and start off as a new person. All of your experience will help you and is valuable to you.

The boys joined forces with CP Hart for this exclusive installation at the Waterloo showroom, showcasing new bathroom design for 2019

You have quite a distinctive look and colour palette on your Instagram feed, why is this important in terms of marketing your business?

Our look and colour palette have evolved with us as designers. It is not something we focus on. It just is. It’s where we are at right now and we try not to overthink that. Some of the strength is in the fact it is flowing with us as we create new work. The Instagram feed 2LGStudio, is great in that way because it’s fun to look back and see patterns and you can transition through different phases. In terms of marketing, we hope that our followers have come on that journey with us and that new followers can dive in where we are now. It is important to be true when marketing your business and that’s what we try to do. Instagram is an amazing part of our life and has been from the beginning of our design business. We love it. We are all distinctive and we love to follow lots of different people on insta to keep it fresh and exciting.

You were invited to design a garden office pod at The Ideal Home Show, with an environmental approach, was this a challenging project?

This was so much fun. We love to work with sustainable materials and this project gave us the chance to showcase some amazing new products. Like cork flooring, vegan leather, recycled plastic surfaces, and cork cushions. That’s why we decided to take colour out of the equation for this one, to let the textures and different surfaces be the star. It was an interesting exercise for us because we love colour and so we got a lot out of trying something completely different. We also got to show off our latest wallpaper collection for Graham & Brown with an exclusive sneak peek. We had the challenge of working with an arc space, the ceiling was curved, so we wrapped it in our London Plane mural, based on our photography of tree bark. It tied together themes of nature and sustainability in a visual way and connected the whole pod to its supposed outdoor setting. It was a live-work studio space but we like to call it a ‘Love/Work’ space. Plus we had the chance to work with you, Soph, so we jumped at it. We just want to spend our time working with people we love, and you are one of them.

 

The Garden Pod at The Ideal Home Show

Awe, shucks, sending the love right back at ya! I’m bringing my office home, it’s been epic! What are your top tips for a successful home office and getting the right work/life balance?

This is a really interesting one because we have always worked from home. Even before we started 2LG Studio, we worked on learning scripts and audition material at home as actors. So it comes very naturally to us. I think we would feel like fish out of water in an office environment. Generally, home and workspaces are becoming more and more alike. People want to experience nice things at work as well as at home. We took a long time working out the positions of our studio space in our current renovation. At one point it was going to be a separate space downstairs with extra breakout storage in a writing room upstairs. We were going to keep the dining room and kitchen blocked off from the studio. This would have meant the studio was in the middle of the house where there is the least natural light. Then we stopped and thought, work is our life, we love our business. Why put it in a separate room. So now the whole of the back of our house is open and we work, cook, dine, entertain in one big studio space that transforms for different needs. The key to that has been storage. Enough storage to transform the space from office to dining when we want to. It is so lovely to spend our working day in the best part of the house with a view of the garden and a bed for Buckley, our wonder dog, of course. We have kept the front sitting room separate and put in a log burner and a big soft comfy sofa. So at the end of the day we can retreat to that room and feel like we are in a totally different place.

This fabulous pop of colour inside the hideaway office is genius. Part of the Rise collection at John Lewis of Hungerford

How does your relationship work – working and living together, what’s your secret?

We are very lucky to have each other and feel that working together is a total privilege. It has taken time to understand our different approaches and learn ways to communicate our ideas effectively to each other, it was easy at first to assume we were on the same page because we know each other so well. So that took time to evolve. But the strength comes from the fact we are completely different and have very different aesthetics. It has been amazing to put those two styles together and come up with our own visual language. Sometimes we argue like cat and dog of course but that is because we both care so much about it. It’s a necessary part of the process sometimes, but we have learned to pick our battles and we ultimately respect each other massively.

You’ve smashed it in terms of press publicity and have your own column in the Metro, what are your top tips for media success?

Yes, we love writing our weekly column for Metro because it is completely different from our design work. Seeing the questions come in is always fun. People are obsessed with kitchens and bathrooms, that’s for sure. The rest of the press that we get is a slow burn. We try to let it happen and we do all of that ourselves so it can be overwhelming sometimes. We are always so grateful to be thought of and included. The past year has been incredible and we have had some major milestones that we used to dream of. But several of those pieces began life over 2 years ago. It takes time to deliver new products and new projects so we try to keep our heads down and focus on the work as much as possible. If the work is good then the rest will follow.

Your distinctive style has resulted in some fabulous brand collaborations.  Where do your ideas come from and how to you pick companies to join forces with?

We like people and are fascinated by the process. Some of the collabs have come from simply meeting someone we love, often when we have specified their product for a client interior design project. Others have come about because we were looking for a product and could not find what we were looking for so we went out and found someone to make it with. Collaboration as a concept is something we learned working for 10 years as actors. Theatre, TV, and film are about as collaborative as it gets. From the writer to the director, the actor, the dresser, the lighting designer, the sound team, the set designer, the front of house staff. All are important and all have a part to play in making this one thing come to life. It is a way of working that comes naturally to us and we love being around lots of creative people. It is fun.

The collaboration with John Lewis of Hungerford resulted in this fabulous Rise kitchen collection

What does a typical working day look like?

No two days are the same and that is how we like it. Today we are in the studio with our team, working on designs for a new project, writing (this Q&A) and answering emails. Tomorrow we have a new client meeting and then a site visit for a project that is halfway through. The end of the week we have a shoot at the house and then a meeting for a product we are working on. As well as daily insta updates and many many WhatsApp messages with people we are working with on joinery for products or new product throughout the day. We have built our business to be multi-faceted deliberately so that we keep mentally active.

What’s big for 2019?

Veganism! All the way – it extends beyond diet.

You can contact 2LG Studio on the website or following them on Instgram

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No decorations are allowed in the house until the No decorations are allowed in the house until the first of December and we start the morning with Arthur’s advent Calender! That’s as far as I’ve got in the hallway I’ll be honest as this grid post is a hark back to a previous year. But I’ll be decorating it the same way I do every year. I like to use a mixture of colourful baubles I’ve collected over the years, paper  honeycomb balls for maximum wow and plenty of foliage. I keep the ribbons year on year and rarely buy anything new. The repeated tradition is part of the charm. 
On the podcast @mad_about_the_house and I talk all things Thrifty Christmas. It’s been a really challenging year for most so we invited guests @rocketandsquash and @hazelgardinerdesign to share their money saving ideas to make sure you don’t bust the bank account and yet still have a lovely treaty time. Ed has some lovely ideas for feasting around Christmas that crucially cuts down on waste and avoids unnecessary expensive ingredients. And Hazel loves to use foraged foliage in her floral displays so has plenty of ideas on that. 
It’s a peach of a show jam packed with creative inspiration. Listen on your podcast app, and why not leave a comment below on how you will be being thrifty this Christmas 👇 

#1stdecember #itsbeginningtolookalotlikechristmas #hallway #hallwaydecor #christmasdecor #thegreatindoors
Who is looking forward to the weekend! 🙌 Welc Who is looking forward to the weekend! 🙌 

Welcome to a rare tour of my home! Since every room looked tidy, I grabbed my phone to show you around. 

You can see how I have lots of colour and pattern in every room but still the house has flow. I use the same palette of colours through which helps make it all hang together. But it takes more than that to make a maximalist home sing. Repeating the same materials, design motifs, styles and shapes helps to create a feeling of cohesion.

For the ultimate insight into how to decorate in a way that supports you emotionally, flexes your creativity and leaves you loving your home, check out my interior design school where I teach you  everything you need to know. 

- how to harmonise colours
- How to plan and budget
- How to source all the materials
- How to save time and money
- How to burst open your creativity

And this weekend you can enjoy 25% of ALL COURSES across my entire design school by using the code BLACKFRIDAY25 at check out. Click on the link in my bio or visit courses.sophierobinson.Co.uk ☝️

#housetour #banthebeige #bbbinteriors #colourlover #colourfulhome #maximalistinteriors #eclecticdecor #onlinedesign #designschool
It’s podcast day on The Great Indoors and we hav It’s podcast day on The Great Indoors and we have a very special guest! @banjo.beale is a BAFTA award winning TV star, winner of series 3 @interiordesignmasters_tv , interior designer and recently adding author to his rosta of talents. While reality TV launched Banjo’s stellar interiors career we managed to bag him for a chat while he took a short beak from sourcing vintage for his second series of Design The Hebrides. 

This is an opportunity to listen to this whirlwind of a design mind, with insights into what it takes to win a TV completion, how living on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides has made him ultimately resourceful and his unique design process. 

Listen to The Great Indoors, whoever you get your podcast. Hit that subscribe button and come back here to let us know what you thought! 

#thegreatindoors #banjobeale #designingthehebrides #interiordesignmasters
This is the perfect time of year to up level your This is the perfect time of year to up level your bedding. With the autumn chill on its way I’d rather hike up the tog count than whack up the central heating. 

Beautiful bedding and linen is the ultimate luxury and at this time in my life 👵🏻 my bed is up there as my absolute favourite place to be and my sleep is honestly my favourite pastime! So making it the most comforting, soothing, replenishing experience possible is my priority. 😴

I recently up-levelled my duvet and pillows  to @naturalmatuk goose down products and here is my unbiased review. The pillows are the like sleeping on an actual cloud! Along with the 9 tog duvet I’ll stay cosy all winter, and leave the thermostat turned down.  @naturalmatuk only use natural, sustainable materials, organic cotton and responsibly sourced feathers, which all support a good nights sleep. With a hectic lifestyle, my bed is my ultimate sanctuary 🥱

What’s your self care routine and secret to the perfect pampered night sleep? 

#ad PR product 
#naturalmat #bedroom #bedlinen #bedroombliss #bedlinen #pillows #bedding #bedroomdecor #bedroom #pamperyourself #pampernight
What a dress! When @benjaminfoxdressmaker spotted What a dress! When @benjaminfoxdressmaker spotted my new collection with @harlequinfw they wanted to make a dress in it! Now I actually match my decor! 

This dress shape is so perfect. I love the big sleeves, that goes so well with a fine knit underneath and the long gathered skirt looks perfect with boots, both of which I bought recently at @cosstores . Team with my signature big earrings ( these are old ones from @anthropologieeu ) and I feel a million dollars! Happy Monday folks! We can do this 👊

#ad - pr product. 
#dresslikeyourhome
I hosted an event this week to show off all the ha I hosted an event this week to show off all the hard work we’ve done in the house and showcase the new collection with @harlequinfw . It was a wonderful opportunity to fill the house with laughter, great conversation and celebrate our mutual love of colour! Since the pandemic I work more and more from home and it felt good to open the door and let people in. 

The guest list was a mix of writers, artists, gardeners, cooks, designers and fashion stylists but one thing we have in common is embracing the joy of colour and celebrating how our homes are the foundation for a happy and fulfilling life. 

However getting the house ready for such a group of discerning eyes was rather exhausting! I had to hide under the duvet yesterday! But I’m so grateful to everyone who came, their positivity and inspiration. Most of whom I met here on instagram. This is a special place to make like minded connections, yet it was great to actually have an excuse to get together in real life! 

And this weekend Tom and are are celebrating not doing any house DIY for the first time in ages! 

Special Thanks to @mad_about_the_house @erica_davies @hillhousevintage @andrea_childs_journo @theottohouse @clairevallis @michelleogundehin @mollymahonblockprinting @sophieabbottartist @gemswholesomekitchen @edwardrobinsonid @dahliabeach for making it such a wonderful day 

 Thanks to @gemswholesomekitchen fir feeding us! 

thanks to @benjaminfoxdressmaker fir the custom made dress!

#harlequinxsophierobinson #athome #colourlover #banthebeige
#AD Admit it! I can’t be the only one beginning #AD Admit it! I can’t be the only one beginning to plan for Christmas. Conversations about the menu for the big day has started with gusto in my family. But my focus is always around creating a magical table setting. This year I’ll be incorporating these classic Christmas tree plates from @by_spode  that set the festive scene without the need to add loads of other fiddly decorations. I’m all about maximum impact, minimum effort this time of year, and I love how this traditional design (85 years old this year) is the perfect touch of nostalgia to accompany my bright Paper straw stripe tablecloth and colourful gloss candle sticks. I then just add simple flowers by snipping some hydrangea heads and popping them in tumblers dotted along the table. Finally bring it all to life with plenty of candlelight. And voila, it’s the perfect table setting for a fantastical festive celebration. Oh, how I wish the Christmas lunch was this easy to prepare! 

#byspode #spode #christmasdecor #christmastable #christmastablesetting #layingthetable #tablescape #christmastablescape #christmastree #christmasdecor #christmasinspiration #banthebeige #colourfulchristmas
I’m so excited to present my new ready made cush I’m so excited to present my new ready made cushion collection, in collaboration with @harlequinfw sold exclusively at @johnlewis 
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Cushions have long been an obsession of mine and I’m so thrilled with this capsule collection for @johnlewis because it combines all the pattern and colour so you can get an instant hit of maximalist spirit by creating any combination that works for you. There is the iconic Sherbert stripe, sitting amongst luxurious embroidered designs and heavily patterned velvets. My personal favourite is the deeply colourful jewel bug design🪲 Which ones yours?!

#cushion #cushioncover #maximalist #maximalistinteriors #bbbinteriors #colourmyhome #colourfulinteriors #colourfuldecor #sofaupholstery #sofaupgrade #livingroomdecor #interiorstyling #interiordesign #harlequinxsophierobinson
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