OUR STORY

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My sister and I (Elizabeth Sachs and Catherine Cornish) started our small business in 2007 with a shop at the Paddington Antique Centre. For as long as I can remember we have both always had a love of unique pieces (like our husbands).

 

I think our business has evolved to what it is today by listening to what customers needed to help them add to their homes. We are unique in that we hold an extensive range of vintage, remnant and new interior design fabrics in stock, which makes our job so much easier.

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We feel the process of adding to your home should be a slow one and always use beautiful and unique fabrics. Using a mix of vintage and new fabrics is easier on your budget and always means you end up with something that is unique.

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We have built up a fabulous range of hand made lampshades, antique porcelain, paintings, interior design books, lamp bases and taxidermy. 

 

We also really have a lot of fun helping people make decisions with our custom made lampshades, cushions and recently added Cafe Curtains and Blinds using both our vintage and new interior design fabrics.  Our fabrics are from all over the world and we have been sourcing and collecting them from the earliest stages of our business. 

 

My sister and I work well together, she is essentially very bossy with an intense work ethic and I am fun, ageless, and a joy to be around (in short,  she can be a fun sponge but thankfully keeps us on track).

 

We think that your home is very important. It is one place that you should be able to be completely releaxed and fully expresss yourself. Your home should be something that evolves over time.

 

We love retail and have a fabulous time with our customers helping them choose things for their home. Everything is so impersonal with shopping these days, we wanted to make it something fun and enjoyable, which is how it always used to be.

 

 

Sachs and Cornish – Words of Wisdom

 

• When decorating your home it should always be a reflection of you and your family – in today’s stressful world our home is a very important place and should provide great comfort to you.

 

• If you can, always use a mix of new and vintage or antique and one off pieces to decorate as is more affordable way to go and the mix adds a one off look that can’t be copied. You don't want your home looking like everyone else's.  

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• We hate to say it but when if comes to Inteior Design textiles you quite often hear us say "they don't make things like they used to'!!  and quite often with vintage textiles that is the truth.

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• Don’t show off, that’s bad taste and will stress out guests and pets

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• if you are having trouble starting off with decorating your home a good interior designer (or psychologist) is always a great starting point for layout and guiding you in the right direction as to what you really like and how to implement it.

 

• Your house should be filled with things that you love, inspire you, make you happy or bring back good memories.

 

 

• It is never bad taste if you love it

 

• If you follow a trend that you see and love that is great, but always make it your own

 

 

• You can always buy cheap second hand furniture (one great piece is always helpful) but interior design textiles must always be good quality. To save money a mix of vintage and new top quality textiles can help reduce costs.

 

• There is nothing wrong with a theme at home as long as it is not illegal or scares children or pets. Have fun with your house.

 

Some rules to help build your textile scheme and achieve a buildable layered look that can evolve over time

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• Layer, don't match - A scheme should feel collected over time, not bought as a set - mix weights, textures and origins for depth

• Start with your hero fabric - Choose one standout pattern or colour first - often the boldest or most colourful - and let it dictate the palette everything else pulls from

• Can't find a hero fabric??  If you can't find the fabric you love, we quite often get our customers to choose a painting, book cover that inspires them or a photo of a country, lovely hotel  or place they have been that they really love and we build on that. 

• Vary your pattern and scale - Pair a large-scale 'showstopper' print with smaller, denser patterns so the eye has both drama and detail to rest on

• Mix pattern types, not just colours - A classic combination is one large-scale pattern, one small repeat, a plain and a stripe - each playing a different role in the scheme.

• Repeat, don't isolate - Let a key fabric or colour reappear in two or three places (cushions, lampshade, trim) so that the room feels tied together rather than scattered

• Balance heavy with light - Pair denser fabrics like heavy weaves with something lighter like linen and cotton, so a room feels rich but not heavy

• We've never met a stripe we don't like - Stripes are the easiest pattern to layer against almost anything and they NEVER date - use them as a connector between bolder prints

• Geometrics earn their place - A strong geometric grounds your scheme and gives the eye a place to rest between fun loving chintz or organic patterns

• Geometrics include - Stripes, check, plaids, chevron, houndstooth, Ikats, block prints

• Traditional patterns don't date - Techniques like Indian block print bring hand-stamped, often geometric repeats - grids, lattice, dots, indiennes 

• Mix your tones, not just your colours - Within one colour family, combine different tones rather than a single flat shade - it's what gives your room richness

• White needs off-white - Pure white against pure white flattens a room - pair cream, ecru or bone to add warmth and dimension

• We love to borrow from other cultures and times - Fabrics that nod to other cultures and times that your love also add so much depth to your scheme (Persian, Indian, Turkish, British, Japanese, Chinese, Moroccan, African,  Scandinavian, Latin....  or cultures you love Victorian, Jacobean, Art Nouveau etc

• Vintage earns it seat at the table - A worn or vintage textile brings a sense of history that new new textile can fake - always leave room or one

• Forget the old 'two to three colour rule' - Follow looser, more expressive schemes (in the gorgeous spirit of Robert Kime and Kit Kemp), a room can carry many colours and patterns at once if they're not tied together by tone and repetition, not restricted by a strict palette count.

• Build it to evolve - A good scheme has a room to grow - leave space to add a cushion, a throw or a new fabric as your taste and life change

• Big Space? Break it up - One large undivided room is harder to design and can feel cold - splitting it into smaller sections often makes it feel more homey

• Small, ugly or awkward space? - Go for it!!! Hit it hard with strong pattern to make it fun, rather than try to make it something it is not 

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Follow us on Instagram @sachsandcornish to keep up to date with new stock and unusual behaviour (it will make you feel better about yourself if you thought you were on the spectrum)

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