Some years it’s about the journey, others it’s about what you do to make a difference, and some it’s about just frantically keeping all the balls air bound and the plates spinning. Remembering to stop and stamp the memory to long term – make it a ‘core memory’ as my son says. For me the ‘core memories’ of 2024 are special bike rides, baking with the children, bedroom teenage chats with my daughter and her friends, school plays and carol services, moments with the grandparents, skiing, camel rides, and body-boarding holding hands with my son.
And at French Bedroom HQ our highlights and core memories were a trip to Paris in February, exciting photoshoots, the expansion of our Love Story furniture collection, launch of the Gustavian Dark furniture collection, launching our ‘In Bed With’ podcast, growing the expanded team into our new office, winning even more awards (our Customer Experience team are unstoppable) and designing more bed linen and bedspreads.
My all-out appreciation during 2024 is for our customers. Your reviews, brimming with kind comments, kept the team & I smiling, and they encouraged us to go even further to make your French Bedroom interaction and purchase so special and seamless. We always go on the journey with our customers, knowing their new home completion dates, baby due dates, etc. I often liken the purchase of a bed to a wedding dress – something you’ll quite rightly take a while in choosing, and something that you hope to do only once in your life! So the excitement you feel, we feel. Thank you for being so wonderful to chat to – these are the connections that really fill our days with joy.
Looking ahead to next year, the Pantone colour of 2025 has been named as Mocha Mousse, a ‘warming, brown hue imbued with richness’. The chocolaty tone is predicted to dominate the fashion and design industries, and captures the mood of connection, comfort and harmony. Mocha Mousse highlights the relationship between colour and culture – the global ‘zeitgeist’. At French Bedroom we’ve been loving rich browns for a few months, not least with our Gustavian Dark furniture collection, but also in our bedspreads and cushions, our photoshoot styling and even our head office design!
And 2025 will move the dial further towards those warm and comforting hues, with even more Love Story furniture gracing our photoshoots, together with a very special collection of bed linen, and a whole new wooden furniture collection – Claire de Lune, hand made in a female-owned factory. Expect exposed wooden frames, beading and carving, paired with rich browns and soft natural linens that effortlessly draw inspiration from nature, bringing the outside in, harking back to nostalgic easy-going times, and creating a connection to Mother Earth.
As the curtains draw on 2024, I’ll take time to remember and be grateful for what we enjoyed as a family and appreciate what we achieved as a team – making space to create more of those core memories. However you end 2024, I hope it’s filled with relaxation and joy, sipping the mocha latte and enjoying the mousse, taking comfort from the simple pleasures and connections we can share with others.
Thank You...
Thank you for shopping with us this year. With your help, we have supported: Papyrus (Prevention of Young Suicide), International Rescue Committee, Pickups for Peace & State Orphanage in Ukraine. Plus, Dreams Come True, who help fulfil dreams for children and young adults with serious and life-limiting conditions.
Sunday Discoveries
Wildflower Quilted Bedspread
Made from 100% cotton with polyester wadding, our much loved Wildflower Quilted Bedspread features a vibrant blend of yellow, orange, green, and pink that merge and muddle into a charming floral print. It’s the ideal gift, offering both warmth and comfort to any home.
Gustavian Dark Bedside Cabinet
Elegantly crafted from dark solid ash wood, this bedside cabinet features simple gold metal drawer pulls that beautifully complement the timeless hand-carved fluting. The fluting continues down the sides of the tapered legs, creating a harmonious and symmetrical design. Part of our new Gustavian Dark Collection, this piece honours the visual dialogue and shared heritage between French and Swedish furniture styles.
Romance Ruffle Cotton Bed Linen Set
For the romantics. A pure 100% cotton bed linen set with a delicate ruffled Oxford edge trim. Produced using a special relaxed look fabric, the bedding becomes softer with each wash. Pair with your French Bed to add a touch of femininity and elegance to any bedroom.
Brunch With Kelly
Kelly is the newest member of the French Bedroom team, joining us as Purchasing and Finance Manager. She particularly loves that the areas she's working in go hand in hand. She says "The magic part is the way each of our roles interlink and together, each of our parts become one moving piece. This excites me, as without each other the company would not be the unique and creative success that it is." We caught up with Kelly to delve into her background within the fashion industry, and to hear how she spends her time outside of the French Bedroom office.
Describe Your Perfect Sunday
The perfect Sunday would be to wake up at home in our bedroom, the outside world would be waking up, the sun rising around the tones of blue in the sky. I love that we get to experience each season, so it could be anytime of the year. Our children would still be sleeping, and I would make myself a cup of green tea and cherish the stillness of the home and be grateful for our day ahead. The best Sundays are the slow ones; a late cooked breakfast with homemade bread and a lovely seaside walk or bike ride. Those moments to me are just truly wholesome.
How Did You End Up Working For French Bedroom?
We inherited some French Bedroom furniture from my husband’s parents and wanted to find a French Bed. One that matched the bedside tables and chest of drawers, upholding the integrity of design and timelessness of the pieces, something that we could pass on to our children in the future. Following a Google search, we discovered French Bedroom; I was in awe of the collections and I saw a bed that would fit perfectly. I colour matched the gold in the bedside drawers and made the purchase of the Palais Royal Avenue Linen Upholstered Bed and Vispring Traditional Luxury Mattress in September 2017. I fell in love with French Bedroom, its products, values, and ethos. Due to some of the imagery I took of our bed it enabled me to work freelance with the company over the following years and now I am very humbled and proud to say that I am part of their everyday team. I love that I can be part of the passion and drive that brought me to French Bedroom in the first place.
What Are Your Favourite French Bedroom Goodies?
Of course I am still in love with our bed, however, I adore the Gustavian Collection. I love the cohesion of the Scandinavian style with Classic French Style- it evokes warmth and traditional design.
Tell Us About Your Time Learning About Fashion In London
I started my career in John Lewis, Oxford Street. I took some time away from the partnership and worked for BMW Park Lane creating a lifestyle shop within the showroom, it was here that I grew my passion and excitement for product. I went back to work for the partnership opening Waitrose Canary Wharf. It was an exciting time and high-end product was a key component to its success.
I was hungry to learn more and went on to study at The London College of Fashion, completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Buying and Merchandising. It was such an exciting time to be in London. Fashion was evolving and the concept of fast fashion was being generated, with ZARA and Topshop pathing the way, as well as bringing affordable fashion from top end fashion houses to the High Street.
How Do You Relax And Unwind After A Busy Day?
It’s lovely to have a catch up with the children to see how their day has been over cup of tea, before the craziness of bedtime starts! Once they are in bed I love to read or have a candle lit bath, sometimes some evening restorative yoga helps to settle my mind and sleep well.
