'We are now in a grey phase with punches of colour. We have gone through cream, magnolia and brown," says Brian P Nolan, managing director of Brian S Nolan, the landmark Dún Laoghaire interiors store and the largest family-run one of its kind in Ireland.
He is discussing interior trends as we sit in White Tea, the bright, upstairs tea room which opened four years ago as part of a diversification strategy alongside an art gallery.
The room is a study in grey with a grey windowpane, check chesterfield sofa in front of the fireplace, grey blinds, pale grey tables and chairs with Designer Guild curtains and wisteria print wallpaper. “People are happy to sit and meet their friends here,” he says. “It adds to making the environment comfortable for them.”
That the customer is king could be the motto of this family business which, unlike many other interior design shops, has managed to survive the ravages of the recession. “Looking after people is vital and that has stood to us – we service all ends, mostly the middle market but we also have the upper market and that makes us unique and different to the niche design shops,” he says.
Inside, hundreds of sample furnishing and wallpaper books are stacked against the walls like a library with curtain materials and accessories spread over several floors. There’s even a section with net curtains – “people still want them”, he says. “We have everything from special offer printed cotton curtain materials for €4 a metre up to furnishing fabrics for €292 a metre. Our fabrics come from Germany, Spain, Italy and Belgium.”
Gold standard
Nolan trained on the job, having cut his teeth in retail during his schooldays in Nicholls where his father, Brian S Nolan, was furnishing director. When his father resigned to open his own business in Anglesea Buildings in Dún Laoghaire in 1983, the young Brian – straight out of school after the Leaving Cert – was there on hand to help him.
“It was all hands on deck at the time,” he recalls. “And we started with Sanderson fabrics which were always the gold standard. The dolly mix and match was popular and a lot of people made curtains themselves and we had our own workshop. It was the beginning of fashion influence on interiors,” he says.
In 1999 the company relocated to its current premises – formerly the AIB and the old Royal Bank of Ireland building. Eight years later Nolan masterminded its redevelopment and expansion into the corporate and hospitality sectors. They have a long association with Cosgrave builders, for example, having done the interiors for their first showhouse and every one since. It started when Joe Cosgrave "picked up a few things and we put curtains up on the windows – that was all people expected viewing a new home then. Today it is a complete package – it has to look ready to walk into", he says.
Luxury homes
Nolan has just finished in Cosgrave’s latest development in Thornmanby Hill in Howth – a scheme of 23 luxury homes asking €1.5 million each. “We were involved before the bricks went up with the builder and architect selecting carpets, wallpapers, curtains, furniture, pictures, mirrors, lamps, lights and accessories. We are dealing with clients who live in real homes so you bring your experience with you,” he says.
The youngest of the family, both his sister and brother have creative talents; his sister, Fionnuala, is an artist and his brother, Jonathan is a design consultant in Sydney and a former creative director of Selfridges in London. “It was in our blood and we were always surrounded by fabric,” says Nolan.
His sister runs the gallery “another reason for someone to come in our door” which has featured numerous group exhibitions including Art for Haiti and Jimmy Murakami’s last public show. “It’s all about family. We have stayed away from out-of-town retail parks and remained synonymous with Dún Laoghaire.” His father, nearly 82, comes in every day for a morning’s work.
Some of the major projects over the years have included the Radisson St Helen's, the G Hotel in Galway (where they installed complicated roller blinds), the Morrison with John Rocha and many of the Sorohan Brothers housing developments in Clonskeagh, Rochford Manor, Griffith Downs and Tudor Lawns in Foxrock. "Our main business is making and fitting, specialising in curtains and wallpapers as well as the whole interior design service. We have our own workrooms and also work with contractors making sofas and blinds, but small purses are just as important as big purses which is why we have survived."
As we watch a customer sifting through the bargain basket on the lower ground floor, Nolan reveals that one desperate husband has asked them to bar his wife from coming in and endlessly buying materials because she loves fabric so much and their house is choc-a-bloc with unused purchases.
“We sell remnants and people love rummaging around looking for a beautiful fabric that happens to be in a remnant basket at a bargain price,” says Nolan.
“This is a special store for everybody. We’re still a drapery store with interior design at its heart. And it’s really about dealing with people and making their dreams for their homes come true. As I say to my team – there is no point in having great ideas unless you can sell them.”
