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.
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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