One of Britain’s 15 Best Pubs with Rooms – The Times, August 2011

After announcing our new rooms in last month’s newsletter, we’ve received lots of emails asking us how we put them together, so in response we’ve decided to make our August Newsletter an interiors special.

Firstly, many of you have been asking us about decorating using reclaimed furniture and pieces.  Much of the credit here must go to Maria Speake of Retrouvius, an architectural salvage and design business. Maria thinks outside the box, hence she found us a huge piece of colourful medievally fabric to use down one wall in Room 45 (pictured) instead of paint or paper. When we bought a reclaimed school gym floor for Room 40 she suggested panelling the walls with it, as well as the floor (with the same trick carried through to the Grill restaurant). One design lesson we’ve learned is: don’t just use things where they’re supposed to be…. Retrouvius operate a vast reclamation yard in London, but you can browse the stock on their website, all that is required is a little imagination.

While we’re on the subject, some our our favourite suppliers for the new rooms have been: Dalsouple, where we got the red rubber floor for Room 46’s Bathroom  (and throughout the hotel), Lindsay Alker’s  beautiful printed wallpapers, and Richard Smith who creates the most brilliant textiles, put to use in the Miami-themed art deco suite. Finally, we’ve been rather obsessed with St Jude’s artist-made fabrics and cushions, many of which have a fifties retro feel to them.

You may also be interested by the opening of Pale and Interesting, a new interiors shop with a beachy feel on Rye’s High Street (T 01797 229 003) from husband-and-wife team Atlanta Bartlett and Dave Coote. These two have been creating books, furniture, sets, magazine covers and more for years, and count John Lewis and Laura Ashley among their clients. Atlanta and Dave love all things beachy and having previously set up an online shop, grabbed the chance to open a physical store. We can’t do justice to everything inside – this pic gives an idea to their style, so you’re best off having a browse. Pale and Interesting are kindly offering guests staying at The George a 10% discount in September and October (just ask reception for a voucher).

Also making waves is Laura Oakes, a Rye based designer recently-stocked by Liberty for her decoupage style bespoke furniture and lampshades. Her eclectic cottage in Rye has just been featured in You Magazine, so a heads up from us to check her out fast before she becomes too famous – this is one of her cushions to the right.

Before we go, if you fancy an early autumn break, we have availability on our midweek stay: free dinner in the Grill when you stay for two nights (try prolonging the summer with some of our chilli garlic prawns or lobster, cooked to succulence in the wood-charcoal oven).

We hope that was a fun interiors fix for some of you. Enjoy the final summer days, rain or no rain, and we look forward to being in touch in the Autumn,

Best Wishes
Alex and Katie Clarke

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