Design services range from simple consultancy sessions to project managing entire concepts from the ground up, from inception through all design and practical stages to completion. With the ability to call in a team of craftsmen (and women!) that is second to none, we never say no (well almost never).

Clients include: Fab Guest, Gillian Wadden and Metro Deco.

We’re very excited to be a part of the second Cultural Traffic – only this time it’s full on festive!! come and shake a bauble or two and find some amazing gifts…self giving never looked so good…

A massive thank you to everyone that came and visited us at Pick Me Up this year. Thanks go of course to Somerset House for hosting such a great event as always. It was good to see some old faces and meet some new ones too. And of course a HUGE thanks go to Daisy Emerson, Claire Powell, Louise Madzia, Felicity Marshall, Silver Spur, One Must Dash and Corpo Sancto. Such a talented bunch of ladies. I must also thank those behind the scenes without whom I couldn’t have done it Judith at Delicious Industries and of course Kate.

The Best Web shop will be up dated over the new week or so with all manner of new goodies if you missed out at Pick Me Up. If you would like anything in the meantime, don’t hesitate to email niki@nikibest.com

Felicity Marshall

Louise Madzia

Claire Powell

Infinity Foods Cafe Interior

This is the I visual put together for the Infinity Foods Cafe Refurb. More on the project in the news section..

Having taken part in the wonderful Pick Me Up at Somerset House last April. We had decided to look at ways of taking illustration and putting them on different media. So came about using the very wonderful illustrations of Danny Sangra in particular his Birds and Banana print. We first made a limited edition screen print in three colour ways and then decided to make this into a printed fabric. Although I am a true believer in Screen printing, with digital printing as it it today you can really achieve some amazing results.

This year we are looking at producing more illustration based home wares and using different production techniques and different media…meanwhile to whet your appetite here are some shots of the chaise longue and two seater parker knoll sofa we made for Pick Me Up. We will have new items up on our website in the next couple of weeks including some fabulous cushions and new screen prints.

When I met Laetita (who owns FabGuest) I was amazed at her capacity to take on such a huge project on her own – she had done many renovations, but nothing quite on this scale.

Originally I was asked to provide the art for the hotel but I was soon asked to be more involved. I came up with a concept including making all the bespoke items for sale. Then my role grew – making more items with different artists. In the end I helped design and manage the whole thing.

The goal was to create a comfortable, stylish, upbeat slightly playful feel, but already knowing that behind whatever door you chose to open the room would have something different to the others, but always high spec, super comfortable beds, and some cutting edge design!  I really wanted to carry this design ethos right through the house, even to the emergency signs on the back of the door- no laminate for me! They were designed by a graphic artist and then printed locally before being framed in oak- works of art in their own right.

Part of the brief was that everything and everyone had to be local (not easy unless you like driftwood sculpture) but I have a strong network of outstanding artists around Brighton. Quite a few I got to produce stuff especially for the house, and each one has excelled in what they do (screen print, woodblock, paper cut etc.)

The architect plans had created really interesting modern wetroom’s, curved walls, very contemporary Formica covered over height doors, but the house lent itself to somehow keeping its heritage amongst all the high spec bits. So I saw in my mind alongside all these super slick lines, some really lovely lived-in battered furniture – a bit like the house itself.

I learnt a lot about ducting, architrave, extractors and stair carpet along the way(!), but each obstacle only brought on a better and more interesting solution, down to the bathroom waste bins being 1970’s dead stock enamel bread bins.

I’ve spent much of my working life – and quite a few vacations – travelling to some of the world’s best hotels and luxury apartments, I was inspired not just by what I’d experienced in places like New York’s ACE, LA’s Standard or London’s Shoreditch House but also by what I hadn’t seen.

Seeing my ideas rendered so beautifully in the end result has been truly fulfilling. Continue Reading for more images, or visit the Fab Guest website.

Continue reading “Fab Guest” »

Metro deco is a Brighton institution  – a 30’s inspired tea room and antique shop in Brighton’s Kemptown.

They approached me about ideas for their basement refurb, wanting to make the interior, into a true representation of a 30’s house which would be truer to it’s era’s origins rather than the glitz and glamour of the golds, reds and blacks that were already there. So I put them together a true 30’s colour palette, providing ideas and inspiration for their wallpaper, furniture and general decor.