DESIGN INSPIRATION
HOW KNIGHT FRANK CAN HELP YOU STYLE YOUR HOME
Caroline Raeside Knight Frank Interiors
+44 7557 382747
Knight Frank Interior Services is the award-winning design arm of the world’s largest independent property consultancy. They operate worldwide, delivering inspirational projects and helping investors, developers and private homeowners realise the potential in their property.
Caroline Raeside explains the myriad advantages of working with them whether you want to introduce high-end bespoke style to your home or expedite a sale or rental.
1. How can Knight Frank Interiors help?
We work with private clients, landlords and investors to deliver carefully considered interior furnishings and property styling. Our work has three main strands. Our Signature Interior Architecture and Design service provides bespoke interior design for private clients. The award-winning Luxury Interiors & Show House service advises on preparing a property for rental or sale. And Turnkey Furnishing Solutions provides tailored furniture packages for landlords, investors and owners, within a week if necessary. At every step, we aim to be best-in-class whether that’s through styling a fabulous individual home for high-net-worth clients or staging a property for sale or rental.
2. What does staging a property involve and what are the benefits?
Staging involves preparing a property for sale or rental to help tenants or buyers fully appreciate the potential. It can be as simple as rearranging furniture or, in an empty property, temporarily adding a partial or full furniture package. If the existing furniture doesn’t complement a room we can help, streamlining personal effects and introducing a neutral palette with a few pops of colour through artwork and styling.
Home staging is well established in the American market and is becoming popular in the UK too as people realise the importance of making their property stand out in a highly competitive market. Viewers on property portals tend to pass over empty or cluttered properties while one that’s stylishly furnished will get noticed. It may seem counter-intuitive but adding furniture tailored to fit makes a space seem larger. In bedrooms for example, it is helpful to demonstrate that a double bed will fit. When we dress a property we find that 70 per cent of tenants and buyers opt to keep the furniture package as well.
A well-presented property will attract more viewings, sell or rent faster and command a better price. That means fewer void periods for landlords and a quicker sale for owners. Staging a property is proven to increase the number of viewings by 94% while 86% of staged homes sell faster than those left untouched.
We advise our clients to spend 0.5 to 1% of the property value when preparing it for sale, a small investment that can generate a large return. We found that 77% of clients who had their homes staged saw a return on their investment and have many success stories where properties sat on the market for months yet sold within weeks of being thoughtfully dressed.
3. How does the process work for private clients? Do you have a house style?
High-net-worth clients expect a high calibre service and our bespoke service is world-class, aimed at delivering beautiful homes and ensuring a streamlined process. We start by meeting clients to understand how they live and use their property. Do they entertain formally or informally, will they live in the property full-time or visit for only a few weeks a year, do they like open-plan living? Then, throughout the project, we act as a single point of contact. From the first sketch to the final reveal, our aim is to turn exclusive spaces into exceptional homes with no hassles for our client.
We carefully tailor the design scheme to each individual client brief. Some clients come from a design background and follow the latest trends, some will have an inherited art or furniture collection that they want to incorporate while others rely on us for informed suggestions. Our designers are open and flexible, able to create anything from on-trend contemporary city interiors to traditional country styles.
High-net-worth clients expect a high calibre service and our bespoke service is world-class, aimed at delivering beautiful homes and ensuring a streamlined process.
4. What is your recent incentive for private clients?
We recently launched a complimentary design consultation for private clients. They receive vouchers for up to £5,000 to have a one-to-one service with an allocated designer, either in person or via Zoom, to work through designs for their property, including concepts, key pieces, CAD plan and fabric boards. The first vouchers were delivered this month in Fortnum & Mason hampers given to purchasers of certain landmark homes.
5. Do you work only in the UK?
Our service is truly international. We assist clients throughout Knight Frank’s global network of over 500 offices and are equally comfortable working on a villa in Marbella, a chateau on the Cote d’Azur or a Swiss chalet. We’re currently completing work at The Royal Atlantis Residences on the Palm in Dubai, one of the most inspirational architectural projects in the Emirates. The apartments have spectacular views over the Arabian Sea and city skyline which we have balanced with calm, sophisticated interiors. Our team of 15 dedicated designers is small enough to offer a personal service yet also part of a trusted international company big enough to offer a multitude of property services under the Knight Frank brand.
6. What are some key UK projects?
Our work is so varied. We completed a bespoke design on a large country estate in Hampshire purchased by a private client from the Middle East, taking care of every detail right down to embroidering his initials on all the linens. Meanwhile, in central London, we worked on two neighbouring apartments in Ebury Square for the family of a Knight Frank client. We created an atmospheric bachelor pad for the son using a dark, smoky palette while the daughter’s home was light, airy and fabulously feminine.
Caron Place, London was another favourite project, an exceptional country-style manor house with landscaped gardens. The nineteenth century building was renovated into a seven-bedroom home and we dressed it for sale. The final result was magnificent: comfortable, sleek light-flooded interiors that showcased the Grade II-listed property and facilitated the sale.
Contact Knight Frank Interiors on info@knightfrankinteriors.com or +44 2032 861009. For UK referrals call Caroline Raeside on +44 7557 382747 for UK referrals or for KFI International and New Homes, contact Tara Welsh on +44 7776 513107.