It’s that moment when you can breathe a sigh of relief. The mortgage is approved. Contracts have been exchanged and it’s time to decorate your new home. But where should you start? Marylebone High Street is bursting with independent shops and top-notch designers. Here we round-up the best stores to kit out your new home or simply give it a mini makeover. You will find The Conran Shop, Designers Guild, Farrow & Ball, as well as lesser known designer stores. And they are all nearby our pick of the best properties for sale, or to let in Marylebone.
Designers Guild, 76 Marylebone High Street, London, W1U 5JU
Since the Seventies, Designers Guild has been a byword for striking, bold fabrics and on-trend homewares. It was the brainchild of Tricia Guild, a young interior designer seeking exciting textiles designs. Her first store was on the King’s Road, Chelsea, in south west London and now there are 80 showrooms around the world. There is plenty of inspiration to take home from her Marylebone store; from sofas and chairs, to cushions to the latest lighting. And home could be just a short walk away: this two-bedroom flat in Upper Wimpole Street is on the market for £1.5m.
The Conran Shop, 55 Marylebone High Street, London, W1U 5HS
Terence Conran started his retail reign with Habitat in 1964. The Conran Shop dates from the Seventies and has always sought to inspire its customers with simple, functional furniture and exciting innovations. The Marylebone store has three floors of contemporary and timeless design, as well as gifts, books and fashion accessories. If you like the designer classics here, you’ll love this three-bedroom duplex in Paddington Street. The luxury development has the same clean lines and attention to detail. This flat is on the market for £5.4m.
Farrow & Ball, 64-65 Paddington Street, London W1U 4JG
If you can tell Sudbury Yellow from Babouche, Farrow & Ball has dripped its characteristic charm into your subconscious. Started by a chemist and an engineer, the brand leapt to prominence in the Nineties with its adherence to historical accuracy, original recipes and age-old methods. In 2010, it went green - not Vert de Terre or Calke Green, but changing its oil based paints to eco-friendly water-based finishes and, introducing recyclable paint tins. You would have lots of opportunity to experiment with colour in this five-bedroom lateral flat in Transept Street. It’s on the market for £1.9m.
Lewis & Co, 54 Paddington Street, London W1U 4HU
This Marylebone boutique reflects its founder’s penchant for organic fabrics, a neutral palette and natural materials. Wood, stone and metal are accented with plush throws and small bold colours. Whether you pick from the range within the shop, or go bespoke, there is plenty of choice. They are perfect to personalise your home, especially if it’s this two-bedroom flat in Ossington Buildings. You can rent it for £745 a week.
Skandium, 86 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4QS
With its cabins mirrored in silent lakes and classic modernist furniture, this designer store offers a way of life. The Marylebone outlet opened in 2004 and has achieved cult status among Skandiwegian aficionados. This rental apartment, painted throughout in Norse white, would be a perfect setting for the furniture and accessories sold here. It has two bedrooms and costs £860 a week.
Diptyque, 68 Marylebone High Street, London, W1U 5JH
Paris perfumer, Diptyque, is pure perfection – and simple for the dedicated shopaholic to sniff out. Its legendary scents tiptoe out of the store and capture your senses. A repertoire of fragrances is available but, best of all, you can create your own, too. The luxury candle range will give an olfactory lift to any home. Here is a one-bed apartment in Chiltern Street near the Diptyque store on Marylebone High Street. The property is on the market for £1.1m.
Daunt Books, Daunt Books, 83 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4QW
One of the best ways to get interiors inspiration is to spend a few nights away at a hotel. Learn designer secrets, take in new ideas and introduce them to your own home. Alternatively, take a visit to Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street and flick through the pages of the latest books on the world’s most beautiful houses and hotels. This lovely Edwardian building is one of London’s finest book shops.
The famed travel section can be found in a galleried hall with oak balconies, an arched, stained glass window and top lit by conservatory roof lights. Yet Daunt Books dates back not to 1910 when the building was constructed, but to 1990. If you like the modern approach to history, you might feel at home in this Bickenhall Street flat. It’s on the fourth floor of a red brick mansion block, but has been brought bang up to date. There are three bedrooms and the price is £2.995m.
