Coffee with... F&P Interiors Founder Emma Vans Agnew

After creating such a successful online shop for fabrics and wallpapers, what has led to you developing the range of products available and launching your new interior design showroom?

It was a natural progression to add cushions, throws and rugs, the furniture has always been on the back burner, and now that we are an established brand the time was right to create the F&P Furniture range, this led to having a showroom – so customers can come test the comfort of our furniture.

Which designers do you feature in your rug collection, what are your most popular designs?

At the moment we have the William Morris collection, together with Designer Guild and Sanderson, and some stunning plain Mohair rugs from Zoffany – every home should have one! We are hoping to expand the range this later this year.

What inspired the designs in your furniture collection?

As we have a varied customer base, in both retail and commercial, we wanted to make sure that we had items to appeal to all, I feel the beauty of the pieces we have chosen is that they work in most environments, whether classical or contemporary, it will really depend on the fabric choices. We have put together a house range of fabrics which reflect this too, but we can upholster in any of the fabrics on our site.

You have exciting collaborations with select design houses to produce bespoke fabrics for your furniture range, how did you choose who to work with?

Well, we had to like what they are doing with their own collections, and the setup to cope with short runs. We currently have bespoke fabrics available from Rapture & Wright, Gainsborough and Bernard Thorpe and we will be constantly working with exciting design houses to bring you unique upholstery fabrics.

Who is your furniture collection designed for?

Everyone and anyone who appreciates well made, good quality furniture that will last a lifetime, and at a sensible price.

What are your tips for choosing furniture pieces for your home?

It will always depend on how you are going to use them, so if you are looking for a new sofa for a family sitting room comfort is going to be top of the list. Make sure of the size – lay out a sheet on the floor where you are going to put the furniture to make sure the proportions are right for the room. If it is a hall or bedroom chair then it needs to look good but won’t be sat on much. We have different cushion options so you can decide which is best for you.

Which pieces from your collection would you most like in your home?

Difficult – I would happily have all of them! We live in an old Sussex farmhouse with low ceilings, so nothing too big – but I would love an Ashurst corner unit in our TV room.

What is your favourite thing about living and working in Sussex?

The countryside is beautiful, but we are still close enough to London. I also never like to be too far away from the sea.

What is your favourite online shop?

Fabricsandpapers.com of course!

Where is your favourite holiday destination?

I haven’t done as much travelling as I would like, and haven’t found a favourite yet, we love going for city breaks, but also I love the coast, we tend to hire a car and just drive along the coast finding hotels/inns in small fishing villages – mostly in Europe.

 

Visit Our Sussex Showroom

Our wonderful interiors showroom is located at the foot of the South Downs, in Woodmancote, 20 minutes north of Brighton. It is an Aladdin's cave of fabrics, wallpapers, paint, rugs and home accessories from over 70 design houses, both international and independent designers.

Visiting our showroom gives you the opportunity to view a number of designs from our exclusive F&P Sofas and Chair range. You can try out your preferred cushion filling, browse our extensive upholstery fabric collection and of course discuss any design or bespoke size changes.

All items, including samples, can be ordered to collect in store or can be delivered to your door.