The design of the shop was a collaboration between ourselves and Hannah Bullivant, a stylist from Faversham who is all about nurturing spaces. We thought you might like to know a bit more about her process and how the shop came to life.
Tell us more about yourself...
I am Hannah Bullivant, and I am a stylist and a writer and I live in Kent with my husband and our 7 and 2-year old. I am a stylist primarily and I help people to style their homes or events or their retail spaces. I also have a hat on as an influencer where I work over on my blog and instagram in that capacity as well. Generally, I talk about embracing the seasons and living a bit more in tune with what’s happening outside, even in a town if you don’t happen to live in the middle of nowhere. I talk quite a lot about interiors and wellbeing, and soulful styling, not following trends for the sake of it but really trying to tune into who you are and what your home says about you and how your home or retail space holds who you are and what you’re passionate about.
What have been the defining moments of this collaboration for you?
I think for me, the first meeting in any collaboration is always the defining one. I often go along with some very broad initial ideas just to see how close I am to the mark. The second biggest defining moment again in any project is feedback on the full styling presentation - once I’ve met with the brand I then go away and design the space, find the purchase links and then get feedback on that and it often involves a round of changes and tweaks. With Mama Owl, we had a bit of a job trying to find our main piece of furniture for the shop as we had a relatively awkward space to manoeuvre within: a narrow doorway through which to get a vintage piece of furniture. Initially we were looking at the value of getting something custom made from salvaged floorboard (so that it looked vintage but would fit) so we explored that but ultimately decided that we really wanted a vintage piece. I have never flexed my vintage finding muscles more! I spoke to all my local dealers (I live in Faversham, which has a long history in antiques), and in the end it was a final Etsy search that, fruitfully, brought up a massive white vintage cabinet, which was perfect for the space. We had such a tight deadline, and it was coming right up to the end - we had given it 24hrs. All hands were on deck, and that’s when I finally found it.
How do you dress and style your kids?
I’m generally quite drawn to neutrals and a relatively calm colour palette, although I do love colour. For me, it’s just about what kind of colour it is - I like a pop of colour. I love a bright lip! Kids-wise, I let them have quite a lot of say over what they wear but where I do have a say I try to encourage the same sort of thing - neutral colours, linens, cottons, breathable fabrics. We often buy a lot of our clothes second hand, too.
By Anna K