insideKENT Magazine Issue 81 - December 2018 | Page 62

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE A Different Perspective: HOMES, NOT STORES INSPIRATION STARTS FROM THE OUTSIDE-IN FOR US. YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO WAIT TO GET THROUGH THE DOOR BEFORE YOU FEEL IT. AND THAT ALL BEGINS WITH LOCATION, BECAUSE NEPTUNE STORES ARE USUALLY CONVERSIONS OF OLDER PROPERTIES – AND THAT’S EXACTLY THE CASE AT NEPTUNE CANTERBURY. 62 A working oast house up until the 1960s, The Oast on Wincheap had previously been used as a pine furniture warehouse but had dated and since fallen into disrepair. The industrial heritage of the building was still evident, and original features such as the winch mechanism in the roof, gantry structure and arched openings provided key visual clues for our design. The aim was to blend what we could find on site in terms of materials, colours and features with what is typical for a Kentish oast house, to create an authentic showroom that would stand the test of time. homes – they’re all home perspectives that Neptune Canterbury aims to reflect. In an older property like The Oast, you can make the most of beams and nooks to build a country cottage area, but can equally pare the character back to show a more contemporary, city apartment interior. Adding character in is doable, but it’s always more convincing when it’s the real deal. That’s another quick perspective point worth mentioning too. Country cottages, modern townhouses, sprawling barn conversions, smaller city It’s the way that the store is styled too. One of the ways a customer once described it was how their shoulders go down as soon as they come in through our front door. People relax. They feel calm. And, most importantly, that they can leave our store understanding more about how to create that atmosphere in their home too, through colour, lighting and texture as much as through their furniture choices. Inside is where that real sense of home can be felt though. We create the same rooms you’d have in your own home. Not nods to rooms, not a living room- like or bedroom-like setup, but full rooms. The living rooms have proper fires, the kitchen cabinets are fully stocked and at least one is a fully working kitchen (oven and all). The bedrooms don’t have PJs under the pillow, but it certainly feels like nobody would tell you off for getting into bed and nodding off. We want people to feel as though they’ve had an easy-to-consume interior design session, and that they leave us with inspiration in one arm and confidence to fulfil those ideas in the other. “Places for you to feel inspired” is the aim with a Neptune store. That’s the point. It’s the combination of decoration, design and atmosphere. That warm welcome, that make-yourself-at- home message, that feeling of wishing and wanting to move in, that energy from the ideas running round your head for your own nest. Words can only do so much though. Stop by to experience it for yourself. Neptune Canterbury The Oast Wincheap Canterbury CT1 3TY 01227 209300 www.neptune.com/canterbury