#homegrowndaisy
Making Your House A Home With Att Pynta
We sat down with Kai Price, co-founder of the interior design company Att Pynta, and chatted about everything from starting an interiors business to affordable home styling. Grab yourself a tea or coffee and dive into the world of Kai Price.
How did you and Amanda meet and start Att Pynta?
“We met through working in fashion PR, we were there for about 5 years together. We always had a huge interest in home interiors and loved everything to do with home décor. We were planning for a long time to go off and do our own thing and set up what is now Att Pynta. I’m half Swedish and Amanda is Swedish so the idea was to bring this Scandinavian brand together from our own heritage.”
Here at Daisy we had our Christmas party at your showroom. How did you find such an amazing space?
“We were actually really lucky! We were on the hunt for a long time for a show room and with London its obviously so hard to find space and a location that will be easy to get too.After lots of digging and lots of research we came across this space and it was perfect’ ! The bold colours and the velvet worked really well; everything has such a nice balance. It’s really an amazing space!”
How have you adapted to selling furniture & home decor during lockdown?
“Before we even had a showroom it was always a big topic for us, how do we give people a sense of the furniture if they are not able to come and see it? One thing we did before we had the showroom was to have loads of visual aids. We tried to be as agile as we could. Our pictures and videos would have people sitting on a sofa so they could see the depth and the width of the piece. We have been trying to do a lot more video content, so before lockdown was official Amanda and I did loads of videos and we offered up the idea of doing Facetime appointments. If someone wanted to chat to us semi face to face, we can talk through the design, show the fabrics and share videos all virtually. It’s something we have done in the past that works quite well. It is strange though because we love meeting our customers and it’s nice to connect with someone in person.”
Why is it that small tweaks can make such a big difference to the feel of a room? Especially now we’re all spending so much time at home!
“I think a lot of people are making small changes.Normally you get into a set routine where you come home from work put your keys and bag down and you have complete tunnel vision. But now people are in their homes more and they’re using and seeing the space in a different way. So maybe they’re seeing where the light comes in during the day and thinking ‘oh that chair is really lovely, I can sit and have lunch there’, which can lead you to think ‘maybe I’ll put a picture above the chair’. People are thinking of their homes differently and really appreciating them. Feeling very lucky to have a space they can decorate or a garden to sit in.”
I have definitely found myself walking around room to room and looking at each one slightly differently because when you’re going into work every day you don’t think about these things. I’ve been trying to find almost a balance in each room as I’ve been hot-desking around the house. You find yourself thinking ‘That would look better there or that placement looks rather strange’. One thing we tell people to do is if they’re feeling frustrated with a room, is to simply take things down that are already in the room and move them around. It’s a nice way to refresh a space without spending any money.”
What is your favourite room in your new house?
“When we viewed the property, I fell in love with the living room. It’s not a huge space but it has a lovely big window, a ceiling to floor sash window so when you open it and it takes you out to the garden. It feels quite secretive and cosy.”
Do you think comfort is more important than style?
“That’s a really tricky one because it’s such a personal thing comfort and style. Something that might seem really ridged and cold to somebody else might be what that person feels most comfortable in. Comfort can sometimes be thought to mean clutter and I don’t think it means that at all, it means a balance. A good example is Soho home, they’re very comfortable and tactile, there’s loads of texture but it still looks very styled. It’s about finding a balance – try to dissect why you love a certain space and figure out how that will work in your home. Do as much research as you can as to what makes you excited or happy about that space every time you see it. Lean into that idea and that will help create a space you feel most comfortable in.”
Tips for learning how to style a room?
“If you’re doing loads of research don’t forget to look out for what doesn’t tick your boxes. Knowing what you don’t like is almost as helpful as knowing what you do like. Try to think about what feeling you want to evoke out of a room. Don’t be afraid to switch it up if the room needs a little change.”
What colours will never go out of fashion?
“It depends on what shade of a colour it is. I often lean towards green; I feel shades of green are really lovely and it’s a very calming colour. I also love burnt orangey yellows and mustard tones, which you might not want splashed on a full wall, but I often have little touches around a room. As a fail-safe, white will always look lovely on wall but make sure you’re picking the right white. It’s the perfect base colour. Muted tones of colours tend to not age as quickly, and you tend to not get as tired of them but at the same time if hot pink gets you really excited then go for hot pink! It’s only paint you can always paint it back!”
Where do you get your inspiration?
“Lots of little things. On our blog we do a lot of tours of Swedish homes that are properly styled, and I love it because you’re seeing real people’s homes and how they work with a space. I’m also always looking at magazines and Pinterest, sometimes you might go to a gallery or an exhibition and be inspired by something you see. I might pick up a book I haven’t looked at in a while and see something someone done in a room and want to recreate that now. Nature is also a big inspiration for me. There’s a big trend in thinking about nature and being sustainable which has definitely impacted my interior style. I’m trying to buy pieces that have longevity, rather than going for the quickest, cheapest piece. I’m trying to save up and purchase one good piece that we will have for years to come.”
Best tips for affordable interior design?
“I think it depends on what you want. I used to be really obsessed with wanting a dark blue wardrobe and couldn’t find one anywhere that wasn’t really expensive. I ended up going to a charity shop and bought a wardrobe that looked similar and splashed out on a nice paint colour to decorate it. Get an idea of what sort of pieces you want and see if there’s a way you can upcycle a piece you already have. Have a look on eBay and at charity shops.
One thing which will save you money is make sure you do your research before you make a big purchase. Have a look at homeware blogs and influencers and see what they’re doing. We can often buy an expensive piece that doesn’t end up being right and then you have to spend more money to fix your mistake. Put together moodboards and floorplans, there’s a great app called ‘Roomstyler’ where you can do 3D floor plans, put in a rooms measurements and drag and drop different pieces you like into the plan. Just make sure you do your research!”
Quick-fire questions!
What are you watching at the moment?
“Well obviously like everyone I have been watching ‘Tiger King’ which was amazing. We watched a show called ‘Quiz’ which was definitely worth the watch. The National Theatre have been releasing shows for free you can watch on YouTube, so we watched ‘One Man Two Governors’ which was incredible.”
Most unusual quarantine purchase?
“In our new house we have a little spare room, so I was looking at loads of utility racks to best fill the space and before I knew it, I had bought myself a wooden ironing board with a linen cover which I definitely don’t need. I haven’t used it yet, but I really love it.”
Velvet or linen?
“That’s a really tough one. I have a velvet sofa at the moment in a deep emerald green so I would probably say velvet.”
Scented candle or a vase of fresh flowers?
“These are tough! I’d say a vase of fresh flowers just for the visual and how lovely it is to have fresh flowers.”
Stripes or polka-dots?
“I do love them both but I’m going to have to say polka-dots.”
Drink in or drink out?
“Well right now I could do with a drink out! In my normal day to day I would say a drink in. I quite like the intimacy of having dinner and drinks at someone’s house or at my own.”
Be sure to check out Att Pynta on Instagram @attpynta for loads of interior inspiration!