Designer Chic - A White Room
Making Milancashire
Inside their shop it’s all designer products, clean lines and a modern outlook; five minutes away, beautiful countryside is there for the taking.
Kellie and David Riley have the best of both worlds.
The couple set up their business A White Room in Colne five years ago.
Their vision was clear, as David explains: “People think you need to go to the big cities to get designer furniture but it’s not true.
Over in Europe every little town has a shop like this one, it’s just the norm.We’re trying to bring a few of those European ideas over here.
The things you see over in Milan at the annual Furniture Fair are the things that we have in the shop. We’re bringing that bit of European and Italian culture to Colne and making it easy for people to have a little bit of that in their own homes. We’re creating a ‘Milancashire’!
They also showcase work by local designers and artists.
Colne is their home town and they’re confident of its enduring appeal:
“We made a conscious effort to stay around here. We have a lot of people who come up and see the old buildings and the cobbles, everything you’d expect in a Lancashire mill town, but then they see the shop and it’s modern, maybe they don’t expect it. We like to think we’ve got contemporary products with traditional values.
You can go to the big cities but here it’s a bit more relaxed. You can find shops that are that little bit different, shops you won’t find on every high street.
In Colne itself you can get designer clothes and lovely gifts, there are lots of little shops and we all help each other out, it’s real community here. After all, we’re like-minded people with the same interests at heart.
Our business is here, the kids are in school. Everything we want is here and it can only get better with the aspirations that are out there – they just give people more excuses to come to the area.”
For leisure the couple admit they’re spoilt for choice:
David says: “We like getting out and about, whenever we can. every Sunday morning I go out on my bike and then we usually all go walking in the afternoon. Last week I did 15 miles on the bike and then we walked some of the same route later that afternoon. It sounds a bit weird, because there are loads of places to go but it was so lovely.
You do just stumble on some really nice places and some lovely views. Every day when I’m driving my daughter to school in Rough Lee I see this gorgeous view.
It is pretty much my favourite time of the day. I never tire of it; it’s just stunning. The whole view just opens up in front of you.
We know how great this place is; it’s everyone else that needs to catch on.”
www.awhiteroom.com