Tell me about you and your family…

I have two grown-up daughters, Katie and Charlotte. We moved to Cookham High Street 26 years ago, and before that we lived in Beaconsfield, which is where my husband's business is. 

​

Tell me about your background in interior design…

When we moved to Vine Cottage, we bought the cottage next door and opened it as a design-led gift shop called Crundles. It was very successful and I traded for 10 years. I also ran a wholesale business alongside it, making hand-painted decoupage trays, lamps and all kinds of desk accessories. We exhibited at Top Draw, Pulse and NEC and supplied a lot of shops and companies. We supplied the  V&A, Orient Express, Sax, American Kennel Club and many many more UK shops. We had a lot of famous Cookham people who bought from us, including Lorraine Kelly, who mentioned us in the Sunday Times as her favourite shop. 

​

What prompted you to decide to change direction and go into house staging?  

After 10 years of trading, I decided to change direction as it was very difficult to find unusual things and every gift fair had the same things. I had always loved house staging, so I applied to Alexander James Interiors for a job. I joined them in 2002 as a freelance interior stylist and have worked for them ever since. They are a fantastic company and I have worked on a number of very different projects – from Nottingham housing association to SunSeeker boats to a 30,000 sq ft house in Hill Street, Mayfair. I also work for a number of other interior designers. I travel miles to do the job I do and I love every minute of it. I have worked for clients abroad and all over the uk. 

 

What can you offer local mums?

I do a lot of de-cluttering for clients in and around the area. I also take people shopping to London or wherever they want to go. Many people don’t want to spend a fortune but want to change their look or move the room around for a change, and I help them to do that. I also decorate trees for Christmas, or change colour schemes for a more modern twist. There are so many ways to help people with their homes. It doesn’t
need to cost a fortune. Changes can sometimes be done on a shoe string. I also help clients who can’t sell their homes and need a little tweaking so that the property is more appealing.

 

What do you love most about your job? 

I love every part of my job and my favourite is helping people make the best of their homes, so they are right for them and give them the confidence to make the changes, so they end up with the look they want. I go to a show in Paris every January and see all the new colours and looks, but at the end of the day, you have to please the client and that is the best bit of the job. 

​

To get in touch with Jane, email JBriggs4@sky.com

 

​