Online interior design services: get home styling tips via phone or laptop from leading experts

Television is one long interiors reality show right now.

Lockdown means we can snoop the rooms of politicians and stars, from Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s red-painted picture gallery to singer Taylor Swift’s swirly wallpaper — while video-chatting friends and family also put homes on show.

All this has sparked ideas in viewers’ minds.

Online design sales are booming, with doorstep deliveries of tableware, cushions, lighting and small furniture.

Larger pieces such as beds and sofas are somewhat stalled, but stores can “hold your hand” by video as you assemble kits and flat packs.

Garden stuff is flying out, with online sales more than double this time last year. Most brands can assemble bulky outdoor furniture if there is access to your outside space.

Home interiors stores are creating new ways to help customers.

To the rescue come new-style video briefings on multiple platforms, including Zoom, Facetime, Snapchat and Microsoft Teams, plus innovative website “hubs” packed with ideas and information.

“We’ve got to serve a new virtual Britain,” says Peter Cross, customer experience manager at John Lewis.

Each with their own Instagram handle come 11 consultants, taking bookings direct for one-hour “live” and free interiors briefings, with follow-up styling notes, a moodboard and shopping list. Also on tap are nursery advisers — “a baby won’t wait” — and wardrobe stylists.

Lottie Monk (@jl_lottie), usually based in the John Lewis White City store, is now working from a dining table in her shared flat in St Albans.

“Demand is crazy, she says. “I’m fully booked for a week now. People are at home to explore new looks and put them into place. They like our flexibility and convenience. And many feel more comfortable and less shy.”

Stylist Bethan Harwood (@jl_Bethan), also at White City, says many clients ask for relatively small tweaks.

“People used to social media adapt easily to our service, but it’s very simple for anyone.”

Customers want a nice background for their Zoom calls with friends, says OKA of Chelsea, with 11 more stores nationwide for rattan furniture, a huge choice of table lamps, ikat textiles and fab faux flowers.

A “staging and styling” chat is free, for example on setting a pretty table, updating cushions, restyling your balcony or adding a table lamp, while garden furniture sales are booming.

A “remote” whole-room interior design service is now £150, down from £350.

Email designservice@oka.com or call 03332 400744. OKA is doing safe deliveries, with the first one free, and 60 days for returns.

Oozing relaxed chic, Neptune offers furniture, low-key paint shades and impeccable kitchens from 26 stores nationwide, including three in London.

“Our virtual doors are wide open,” they say, “whether it’s a video session with a designer, a phone chat with a home specialist, or just a second opinion by email.”

Meet your local store staff through neptune.com.

Design shops with staff on call include Heal’s on 0333 212 1915 (email advice@heals.co.uk; “live chat” on heals.com). Aram Store is on 020 7557 7557 (email aramstore@aram.co.uk). SCP in Shoreditch is still running its upholstery workshop (020 7739 1869; email info@scp.co.uk).

Showroom video chats are available at My Furniture (0800 092 1636). Sophisticated tools for “smart furniture shopping” and room planning are at PepperSq. where design consultations are free (020 8243 8559). And sales of Vitsoe shelving made in small UK workshops are booming.

Loaf can now do “safe non-contact deliveries for large in-stock items with a two-man crew”. So you can get a sofa during lockdown (020 3141 8300).

For curtains, the virtual reality app at Stitched lets you experiment on your phone with different styles and colours using an image of your own window.

Fabrics start at £22 a metre made from recycled plastic bottles to £59 a metre for wool. Small curtains from £180. Making blinds to measure, with live webchat is Blinds 2go.

“Virtual surveyors” advise and measure up at Carpetright. Sales are big there in artificial grass at £33 a square metre.

John Cullen Lighting are offering free webinars on how lighting can transform the home, featuring tips and tricks on how to make the most of the lighting in your home and garden.

Register for the weekly events here.

Solid Floor recently began offering online virtual showroom appointments for clients looking to switch up their flooring.

Alongside virtual tours of the showroom, clients will be able to view the sample boards and get advice on different flooring, while small floor samples are still being sent out as normal.

With business now booming, some established online interior design services were ahead of the curve…

Secret Styling Club — a design and styling service run by interior stylists Laurie Davidson (@lifeofaninteriorstylist) and Maxine Brady (@welovehomeblog) — can help with the complete interior design process, even during lockdown.

Design studio services offered include a "midi makeover", where the stylists, after an initial video or phone call, will create personalised moodboards with restyle or revamp suggestions for your home.

The duo will suggest furniture and accessory ideas and create a curated shopping list to match.

For an upgrade on this, Secret Styling Club's "room refresh" service will offer all the above, plus full décor suggestions for each room, including colour and style options and a 3D floorplan.

Optional extras include a standalone phone consultation or their online home service — a walk-through video call where clients can get tailored advice on colours, décor or storage. Find out more here.