Lisa Sansom Interiors

The selected work placement was with a local company; Lisa Sansom Interiors, I have always liked and have a personal link with, via family members already working there, so the placement was set up through them. It was clear that I was to work with them for a week whenever they were short staffed; this was to be the first week of June. I wished to learn how the company works, where all the stock is from and why those specific brands. As also previously discussed I would help out with producing photos for their portfolio that would later by put a digital frame, therefore showing customers previous projects. Lisa Sansom is the head of the company however on days she did not work with us then I would report of the other employees. The hours that we had agreed on for me to work were to be based mainly at the shop which is open during the day from nine am to five pm. Regarding other benefits such as meals & fares as the company is close to home travel costs were not a problem. I thought it best to do some research into the company before I did my first day in order to develop my knowledge of the relevant business involved in the company, so that I was fully prepared. As the shop is local I had already visited a few times previously in my own personal time, therefore I researched to see if they had an internet based site. This however was not present and the company was only listed on a third party website just supplying the address. Nowadays everything is based online or has some sort of social advertising, so I presumed that the company was just using word of mouth and business cards to promote business. I then later found out that they wished to redesign their business cards, this would have been a good opportunity for me to enhance my skills, however this did not take place during the placement as I was assigned to other things. Nevertheless it would be a good challenge as the shop face on the high street is a grey/mauve colour with Comic Sans as their selected type in white. So maybe in the future I might revisit and suggest some designs out of my placement hours. From a previous work placement at another interior company in Winchester I thought it a best to revisit those reports, just to refresh my memory about the procedure and see if I would apply any improvements that I wished I had done then to this new placement.

Other than the learning outcomes provided, I made sure to bear my own personal aims in mind for when I started; help out with the technology as previously discussed in planning for the placement, learn the fabric books and brands that are stocked and study the interactions with clients wishing to buy her experience to help design their houses or selected rooms. I feel that I managed to do these aims to the best of my ability, as due to the manger’s health condition I was not able to shadow her in the cliental basis as much as I was hoping. Although just talking to her about the process did help my awareness of the legal considerations within the interior environment. As not only does Lisa own the shop; which supplies home accessories and the occasionally unique item of furniture designed by herself, she mainly gets profit through her cliental basis. This is a joint business with her partner, they have a separate workshop/warehouse where they invest in old antique furniture and are able to refurbish it to the selected client’s desires, or buy in items specifically for their current client. So from this the shop floor does not get as many items of furniture in as most gets brought and goes straight into the clients homes.

To begin with it was just a case of showing me around the shop to help my understanding of the professional relevant business by showing me the brands and products that are stocked on the shop floor. The shop has four main displays of popular brands such as Paul Smith, Mulberry & Nina Campbell. And another local business called Baker & Gray, which is also very popular and sometimes requested by a client. The designer; Sarah Baker is a “British designer who has spent many years living and working in Africa, with decorative embroidery a feature of her work. Inspired by the flora and fauna of the plateau continent, this unique collection of embroidered textiles is featured on both silk and linen”. She is a friend of Lisa’s, so it is beneficial for both designers to advertise a selection of the “beautifully designed fabrics and furnishings

deeply rooted in an African heritage”. The shop is also one of the biggest suppliers of Mulberry products in the south west, so they supply the shop with free new products and postage. To apply my learning to the environment I studied some of the many books within the fabric library for research. Although the practical implications from doing this were that it made the shop crowded when customers came in, as they have had problems with other businesses coming in and just using the books for their own personal research. Even though it did help my knowledge when and if a customer asked about certain brands.When new stock comes in it’s the staff’s task to value it up and then place it around the shop, so when an order came in from Culinery Concepts of their new products it did not however come supplied with price lists for the items. The brand have been in business sine 1999 and produce a range of high quality, innovative stainless steel and silver plated tableware, along with other home accessories and lanterns. As the prices were not supplied we had to research to see if the prices were on their website but as it was new upcoming stock they had not been released yet, so we had to discuss it with the company. Once we had received these prices, one of each item is placed out into the shop, in this case they were laid out onto the Nina Campbell display on the table. Applying my learning from the course to the employment practical experiences with a relevant professional context I was asked to create a portfolio of photos. These were then to be transferred onto a digital frame and a personal iPad, this was so that customers and clients can have a look at Lisa’s previous projects and current furniture. Firstly I had to sift through three folders of photos; Furniture, Furnishings & Projects. After I selected the best photos it reduced the selection to about half as a few that had the flash on which reduced the quality of the original colours in the photo.

page 3 before photospages 4 &5 after photos

I would have liked to have taken the photos myself so that the best angles could be noted, but with what I had to work with I selected the ones I thought were the most creative. On the other hand I was then faced with another challenge as to what software to edit the photos, I normally work with Adobe Photoshop but all I was presented with was a Apple Mac with iPhoto. Although I am used to working with apple software I had never used iPhoto before, as it can only do the basics. After some cropping, editing of colour adjustments and contrast levels I had a good selection for each folder. Feedback from Lisa was positive but I did have to change a few photos as the adjustment changed the colour of an item too much, once they were edited I transferred them to the digital technology supplied. The biggest task of the placement was to rearrange to shop floor, where we worked as a team and I helped with ideas of layouts. On the first day of the placement I took photos of the whole shop floor so when we moved everything and needed something to reference to so that we could see where a few items were laid out it proved very helpful. The new design was to display all the Baker& Gray fabrics and move the Nina Campbell items towards the back of the shop. (see photos for before and after)Out of the clients that came into the shop the client one ordered paint and wanted to view our selection of curtain poles, for this we supplied them with the best brand and gave them a book of all the products and a colour sample. Working with my colleague Hattie on this day it challenged our professional approach to this client as they were rather impolite when talking to us even though they had the given products to their specifications, so they arranged a meeting with Lisa to discuss it with them when the paint was ordered into the shop.In previous work experience and my part time job I have learnt how to communicate with the appropriate professionals.

From this I brought these skills to my placement and served a few customers who came into the shop on my own. Although client two wanted a specific design of wallpaper; modern small flowers, I pointed out a few designs and then my colleague Hattie also pointed out a simple design from Sanderson, however she did not find anything that suited her idea, this experience did develop my knowledge a bit more of the fabric library.As Stockbridge is a small village you do not get very many walk in customers, so when the shop is quiet it is a good opportunity to the displays and re organise the stock room as the size of the items fill up the room when it is meant to also be the office. Lisa was not always in so clients need to make appointments with her so client three came in for their appointment with Lisa to discuss what other colours and arrangements can be done in their dinning room, as the previous example they did not think suited the style of the room. In preparation for this we looked through lots of fabric books and wallpaper samples and came up with some nice selections. Although Lisa did not think that they would go for them as the couple have very different taste, once they were shown these options they decided on looking through Kate Foreman’s designs, which are very unique vintage styles on French influenced linens creating versatile and relaxed designs. Client four wanted a specific colour and amount of lampshades four with a width of 30cm and two with the width of 41cm, all in slate colour. This took away all of lampshades off of display around the shop, which meant we needed to order in more of that colour and replace the ones on display. Within the last couple of days of the placement I was starting my own little project to decorate

a room at home; this helped my ability to place my own relevant style and interests towards the outcome. To re-design a room of that style meant that no wallpaper could be used as not all the walls are straight, due to the old fashion style of the house. Therefore I just looked into paints, and other small items that added together with a patterned fabric on the blind and bedcovers would be the main feature to the room. As this project was not to be started at the moment I was just left with a sketch and references to the items that would be featured.

When the placement finished I did not get copies of the photos that I edited as the Apple Mac that I used was a personal laptop but I did however still have the before and after photos of the shop redesign. I have been into the shop since so have thanked them in person for the experience. Making notes from the skills that I improved on from my log book I then updated my CV with this information that added to my knowledge of the industry. Out of the aims that I approached the placement with I applied my learning to the tasks that I was assigned and developed my knowledge of the relevant business. Relating my transferable skills to the workplace I feel that my skills have broadened within the use of Apple software, and dealing with customers in a different work environment compared to my previous work experience and part time job. However I would have liked to, in the future shadow Lisa in other environments of the business; such as going to client’s houses to measure up and advice about certain styles to design, or go to the warehouse to have a look at the practical side of the business.