January at Shag Interior

Birthdays, parliament and feature walls... Shag Interior's busiest month yet!

Welcome to the Shag Interior monthly round-up! It’s a new year, and yesterday we entered the Chinese New Year of the wood snake, which brings with it new opportunities for growth and change.

Shag Interior turned 1 on 5th January which made me reflect on my first year in business. I feel incredibly lucky to be a year in and making a living from what I love. When I first started out my only aim was to earn enough to cover my half of the bills and mortgage, but now I’m actually running a profitable business!

And although I’m not landing contracts designing YSL flagship stores (yet!), I am gaining more clients and growing the business into a trusted, recognised brand, which I’ve been working very hard towards achieving. 

Let’s dive into Shag Interior’s busiest month to date and unpack everything I’ve been up to!

Limewash in the snug. Shag Interior

Limewash heaven is complete!

I kicked the month off with my last visit to this beautiful, newly renovated semi-detached property in Wolverhampton. 

Having already completed the limewash throughout the entire first floor – walls and ceilings – and through the hallway, stairs and landing, it was now time to finish off the last doorframes upstairs. 

I used Bauwerk limewash paint for the limewash and the results are just stunning. For the doorframes I used Zinsser Bullseye 123 and Zinsser Allcoat, the application was perfect – highly recommend!

If you are interested in finding out more about limewash and its suitability in your home refer to my guide here

I joined the pilot cohort for the 'Women in Business' programme, ran by Staffordshire County Council

Staffs CC piloted a business support scheme in January for women in the area to help launch and grow our respective businesses. 

As a founder going into my second year of business I found this programme extremely useful to refresh my memory of some financial basics, network with the other amazing founders and access further support to help with my ongoing strategy.

Women in Business - Shag Interior

As well as gaining confidence and knowledge I was also asked if I would like to exhibit at the upcoming event in March, which I excitedly said yes to!

This will be my first time promoting Shag Interior at an event, if you would like to come along and support myself and the other brilliant businesses tickets can be booked here

Faux limewash by Shag Interior

I booked a gorgeous faux limewash job

I returned to a property in Stoke for the third time, this time to do a faux limewash feature wall in the dining room!

I absolutely love to do faux limewash, the delicate, soft blends of colour provide such a gorgeous backdrop for artwork, or subtly command attention on their own without competing against other elements. 

It is such a versatile finish and looks good in any room. If you’re looking to have a faux limewash finish in your home or business get in touch here – I am now booking for March and filling up fast so make sure you reach out today!

Find out more about my services below:

 

I was invited to the House of Lords!

Yep, you read that right! After completing a brilliant course last Autumn curated by Small Business Britain I was invited to the House of Lords, along with the other founders, for a private lunch & networking!

Shag Interior at the House of Lords

As well as this being a really cool opportunity to have a nosey inside one of the most famous buildings in the world, it was wonderful to connect with other business owners from all over the UK, and hear from the mentors who delivered the content of the course. 

Colour blocking by Shag Interior
Colour blocking by Shag Interior

My first commercial job of 2025!

I was so excited to be asked to do a colour-blocking design for Francesco’s Hair Salon in Stafford!I sketched some initial design on my ipad to get an idea of what salon owner, Jo, was looking for. 

Once she was happy with the rough idea she purchased the paints in the company colours and I brought it to life through a combination of freehand and using painters tape to get super clean lines.

Shag Interior design
Colour blocking by Shag Interior

Other bits and pieces...

Here’s the other things I’ve been up to this month:

  • Completed my self assessment – definitely going to hire an accountant for next year, I’m so over the gov.uk website!
  • Turned 35 on 29th January and will be celebrating with friends and family on Sunday.
  • Had some really exciting site visits which have resulted in booking some super cool commercial jobs.. watch this space for some more creative feature walls!
  • Filled my diary until March – hurry if you want to book in with me to grab a slot! Email me!
  • Started the Couch to 5k Challenge! I’m not a natural athlete by any stretch of the imagination so we’ll see how long I can keep it up for… I’m on week 2 at the moment, feel free to send me good vibes and words of encouragement to keep me motivated!
I’d love to hear from you if you have a project I could help with. I am dedicated to transforming properties into maximalist, soulful spaces and I love to paint limewash, textures and finishes, murals and feature walls, so please get in touch using the button below to enquire!

Sophie x

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