Designing a new first floor for the shop
When my homeware and gift shop first moved to a new home at 217 North Street, Bristol we only had the lease of the ground floor. Although it was a great space and was so much bigger than my first little shop, I jumped at the chance to take over the rest of the building in September 2024. As well as being able to create an extra floor of retail, increase the storage and add office and studio space, most excitingly we got to design the new shop interior! I wanted to reflect some of the elements of the ground floor to keep things consistent but also create a new identity for the fist floor The extra space meant that the shop could be divided up into different areas "rooms" to really feel like a home and showcase the products.
We often get asked about the design details in the new first floor of the shop. We thought we would take the time to put together a blog to let you know all about it, in case you are considering using some of the design details in your own home - we think they would look just as great in any design scheme as they do in the shop.
"The building we are housed in was built in the 1800s and was originally a shop with dwelling above. I wanted to extend the feeling of distinctive home areas upstairs so the new first floor shop design incorporates a bathroom and bedroom"
Visitors to Mon Pote will already have seen how the shop was divided up into mini departments. On the original ground floor there is a fitted kitchen to show off kitchen ceramics, an area for soft furnishings, a home fragrance and bathing area and a room for kids.
It makes so much sense in a homeware shop to enable customers to shop with rooms in mind and to try and give a sense of those rooms. As we moved to occupy a larger space in the building I wanted to continue this particularly as the first floor in this Victorian building which would once have been a dwelling. The space was already divided up into a larger front room and two smaller rooms (previously treatment rooms). I opted to split the two treatment rooms into one room to act as a bathroom area for our home fragrance and skincare and bathing products.
I added a vintage pink sink sourced from eBay, beautiful hand painted tiles by Sasha Compton for Ca' Pietra and used reclaimed floorboards for the worktops and shelves above the cabinetry. Instead of solid doors on cupboards we hid our storage areas behind pink curtains to add softness. I opened up the fireplace and added a checkered tiled floor in the brand colours. These are from Claybrook.
I wanted the display furniture to be as sustainable as possible so I sourced a vintage medicine cupboard, a vintage drop leaf table with barley mow twisted legs and a pretty vintage wardrobe for towels and bath mats. The table and wardrobe came from a lovely local vintage shop called Dear Old Thing on West Street nearby. We love the overall impact, it is a calm and feminine space and is a great place to show off and display all the beauty and bath products we have to offer. It makes shopping for yourself or a gift so easy.
"The larger upstairs room has been transformed into a beautiful bedroom-inspired space showcasing our soft furnishings "
The larger upstairs room has been transformed into a beautiful bedroom-inspired space showcasing our soft furnishings - from cushions, quilts, and rugs to our new TBCo pyjama collection. It’s the perfect spot to discover all your bedroom essentials in one place.
We kept this space very simple, just adding an open fireplace with the checkboard tiles to keep consistency. The product range in here can be very fun and colourful - at the moment we are showing striped fabric lampshades and striped curtains - so it is importnat that the space stays clean and bright and does not conflict with the products.
This part of the shop has the largest blank wall so we are able to display all of our prints and frames in this room. You will find prints dotted around the shop - for example, tablescape and food inspired prints in the kitchen and also usually used in our window displays. However, most of the range is kept up here.
"I'd live here"
'For the stairway I wanted to something really impactful. I chose the lucky leaf (in small) wallpaper to keep the design cohesive throughout the shop. A lot of customers don't realise that this wallpaper was initially in the arches since we opened in 2020. '
If you have visited the shop over the years you will have seen the beautiful Lucky Leaf wallpaper in the archways shelves on the ground floor. I put this up with my colleague one evening in 2022 as we wanted to introduce some layered pattern to the shop. The green leaf pattern felt timeless and although introduced an element of maximalism - sometimes the products clash with the pattern - it felt similar to having plants around the home, the clash works without being too much.
When we opened upstairs in September 2024 I wanted to use the green leaf print to guide customers through the shop so we used it in the stairwell - in some places it runs from the double height ceiling so it looks very cool as you go up the stairs. We paired it with a Valspar green paint called Roof Garden on the staircase woodwork.This was also brought into elements of the new first floor such as a painted beam and window seat.
I am obsessed with checkerboard design and I wanted to use checkered tiles in the new entrance to the first floor. I already mentioned that this design element was added to the fireplaces in the bathroom and bedroom but it is the first thing that greets you when you come up the stairs and covers quite a big area! It reflects our brand colours and the entrance area doesn't have a fixed purpose so can be used quite flexibly. I also wanted the first impression of the new floor to be impactful. The checkerboard tiles with the green are actually inspired by a lifestyle shot of Claybrook where they have used a similar colour combination in a kitchen.
I am so happy with how the design of the shop has turned out and it really feels like the idea in my head has translated to you, the customer too. It's so lovely hearing how you react when you come up the stairs, saying 'I'd live here' or 'wow, it's like a home!'.
