Meet the Team – Louise
Renowned for our bold designs and stylishly versatile collections, Libra Interiors has been designing luxury homewares since 1972, but we wanted to share with you a little more about the team behind the scenes, what makes them special and what gives them joy in bringing you the very best of luxurious furniture and accessories.
Introducing: Assistant Buyer, Louise Richardson
Q: Where do you get your theme inspiration from?
A: For me, I always start with colour. I am always gathering colour references that I love, so I like to lay all my colours out and find which ones speak to me the most. Colour is closely followed by textures – I’ll often know which materials might lend themselves best to certain colours, imagining the hues coming to life in blown glass, or glazed ceramic – perhaps in velvets or painted woods. Then we work behind the scenes making an entire theme come together – which can take up to a year.
Q: Tell us a little about your buying habits
A: I really enjoy sourcing from all over the globe, and we have some relationships with manufacturers that go back over 40 years.
We are always thinking about planet-friendly ways to source, and more often than not, our suppliers are already working towards the same goals too. We’re currently developing some more eco-friendly candles which we hope to launch later this year, and we’re working with our rug supplier to develop more recycled rugs – which are often much more hardwearing too, a real bonus!
Q: Which products are most unique to Libra?
A: Our recently launched ‘Made To Order’ products are not only unique to us but they’re made just for you too – available in an array of finishes, you can choose styles, colours and materials which match your own personal style, should you wish to. If you don’t know exactly what you want, that’s fine too – sometimes it can be tricky to imagine a whole sofa from a little swatch, so we’ve picked our favourites and placed them in our showroom, which is open to the public from mid June. We are based in Newmarket, Suffolk, and we can’t wait to welcome you – the kettle will be on!
Q: Is there a look which is hugely popular with Libra customers?
A: Our elemental theme is really popular at the moment. We have lots of organic shapes and neutral tones in here, which are super trendy at the moment, with our beautiful Valentina sofa in Fumee Matt Leather sitting centre stage.
Q: What is your ‘must have’ product for the summer?
A: For me I think the any of our Lanterns are a must have for those summer evenings, they look really striking with a candle in and they just remind me of being sat out on the patio with friends long after the sun sets. My personal favourites are the Lalique Gold Metal Hurricane with Glass Insert, and the Catalan Bronze Gilded Floor Hurricane, available in three sizes, for more of a statement piece – Teamed with one of our candles, the Ombre Pillar in black is a great one to set the mood.
Q: What’s your favourite Libra product?
A: I’m always discovering new favourites, but I’m torn between two at the moment – our Konevo Recycled Leather rug – a bold design which I’d have under my dining table. It’s hard wearing and perfect for a little family like mine. Also love our Organic Mirror – of which there are three sizes and two different finishes available. I’d have our largest in the ‘Oak wood’ finish, it has a beautiful corrugated edge, so it’s a statement without being too flashy.
Q: How did you get into Buying & Merchandising?
A: My background has always been in ‘making’ – with a degree in Decorative Arts, I’ve always been hands on, learning how products are made – and being a sucker for detail too. I started in retail buying for a large independent retailer in Suffolk; it was great fun curating collections and choosing exciting products for our customers, but I was itching to be more creative and wanted to be more involved in making those creative decisions at development level.
Q: If you could live in any design era, which would it be?
A: I would probably go back to Arts and Crafts. I am always drawn to moody, earthy colours so I think I’d feel at home here. I’d also love to get hands on, and spend weeks block printing my own wallpaper or hand carving a chair – life moves very fast here in the 21st century!