MEET THE DESIGNERS Burley and Field and hear the soundtrack to their room!
Meet Craig Field and Richard Burley AKA Burley and Field. A male couple that relocated to Margate and ended up designing a bedroom for us here at The George & Heart House, supporting us on this journey and becoming good friends.
Tell us about yourself and the brand, what brought you to Margate and why do you love it so much?
We met in 2004 and have been together ever since, Craig originally from West London and Richard from Egham in Surrey. In early 2017 Craig lost his mother to cancer which prompted a chain of events which ultimately ended with us selling our London flat and relocating to glorious Margate just in time for Christmas the same year. Why Margate you ask - well the answer is nothing more complicated than Craig remembering some great family days out there in the 1980s (Bembom Brothers, golden sandy beach etc) and after a few initial weekend visits Burley was hooked. When we first relocated Craig was still commuting to his corporate job back in the big smoke, never imagining that only a couple of years later we would have such a well received interiors business. We both love meeting people, a good drink and a good time and have made so many new friends in this South Coast melting pot, we couldn't have moved anywhere more suited to us, and somewhere where we are becoming part of the community more than we ever did back in London.
The furniture side of things all started when we inherited an old family piece of furniture (actually a small glass display unit we named ‘the rickety cabinet’) that at first glance was outdated and came with an ugly water damaged finish. We couldn't simply discard it however, and so decided to give it a makeover - shabby-chic is not our style and we wanted an individual and alternative look to that of adding a distressed layer of chalk paint! We played around with ideas, adding some mirror, black painted accents and repairing the water damaged veneer. Once finished the rickety cabinet lived in the hallway of our new Margate home and we began to receive such great feedback from visitors with comments that were always along the lines of how unusual it was and where did we buy such a piece. And that's literally what kicked it off. It snowballed from us doing similar makeovers on friends bits-n-bobs to the actual birth of Burley and Field in March 2019 when Craig quit his job (hurrah) and we opened a pitch at Petticoat Lane Emporium in Ramsgate.
Fast forward a little and the Burley and Field brand was gaining pace, customers were really buying into our designs and the mindful water-based zero (or low) VOC products we were using. Our business grew further and after outgrowing our pitch in Ramsgate moved to a retail unit in central Margate in November 2019.
Describe your perfect weekend in Margate (Including a stay in your room)
Very simple - jokes and laughs with friends, be it times with old friends travelling down from London, or our newly found Margate crew. Drinks, dancing, good food, chatting being silly - good old fashioned (seaside) fun.
Describe your interiors style and inspirations and how this has influenced your room here at Heart House
Our aim is to bring you vintage pieces that have been brought back to life, restyled in the Burley and Field way whilst still keeping its narrative. Burley and Field brings together the old and the new, taking influences from styles such as Hollywood Regency, Art Deco and the 1970s / 1980s. Think natural wood finishes, restored original hardware and hand painted accents generally in black, gold or jewel like tones. There is so much well made vintage furniture out there that is forgotten and unloved because it either looks dated or has become damaged over the years. We aim to bring these pieces back to life with care and adding a flourish of fabulousness - be that a refinished wood veneer or hand-painted accent, sometimes also adding extra flourishes such as wallpaper decoupage or gold leaf etc. The aim is to reuse, restore, update and make characterful pieces of statement furniture by rescuing unloved vintage items. Four our room at Heart House we felt that a scheme that was respectful to the building whilst also having an element of glamour was most fitting. Something that wouldn't feel too out of place and having a nod to the past without actually being 'themed'. Simple in colour and design but with characterful interesting flourishes.
At Heart House we are big on sustainability, we like to reuse, re-purpose, and recycle. How did you manage to bring this element into your room?
For the Burley and Field room all of the major fixtures and fittings are vintage items that we have reused and reloved in our own way to suit the space. We have preloved vintage furniture that has been restyled by us using zero VOC paint (such as Fusion mineral paint) and FSC (or equivalent) approved wallpapers.
Who would be your perfect overnight guest to stay with in your room designed for Heart House ?
Blimey - what a question. So for Craig it would be any down to earth, decent human being who likes a laugh and a drink. For Richard, it would be Tom Hardy - i'll leave you to make your own conclusions on that one!