Lennox Gardens, Knightsbridge project

I thought I'd share an interesting project we did recently for award winning garden designer, Anoushka Feller. Anoushka approached us as one of her client's was in need of some artificial plants to make a feature wall within a courtyard suffering from very minimal light.

We worked to a brief of 'exuberant, high end and eye catching.'

Have your say….

We’ve started the New year with a bit of a revamp. Our fabulous website designer Lucy has been beavering away to create a new and improved services page along with some updates to the product pages.
Take a look -   we’d love to have your feedback, good or bad!

Christmas is here

The RTfact shop is all dressed for Christmas. We're taking orders for bespoke wreaths, garlands and trees so please book early to avoid disappointment. 

We have some wonderful new decorations in store this year along with some really innovative arrangements that will create that added wow factor in your home.

Rtfact goes pop...

Well as in a pop up shop!
We’re excited to announce a new venture in East Horsley, Surrey.The lovely Su Johnston has set up a cafe concept whereby customers can enjoy a coffee and experience a sample of some small local businesses at the same time. We jumped at the chance to take part in this new concept and wish Su all the very best in this exciting venture.

Outside Planting

Our feature this month is on outside planting. We have a great selection of greenery and planters that are perfect for screening an urban balcony or creating a feature on your doorstep. This picture demonstrates how we can create privacy in an outdoor space. Here a screen of greenery that we created for a client in Putney using lush grasses and a regimental line of planters. The client was delighted with the overall effect. 


Although we don't currently offer trees and larger greenery online, we do offer a consultation service within the M25 area. If you would like a consultation regarding outside planting (or interior planting for that matter), please do call Dawn at the shop or email info@rtfactflowers.co.uk

RTfact flowers hit the screen...

for the very first time! 

The recent thought provoking ITV drama, 'A Mother’s Son’, starring Hermione Norris and Martin Clunes featured Rtfact flowers displayed around the beautiful country house where it was set. The production team needed to have scene continuity so by using faux displays it gave them an economical and easy maintenance option, plus one less thing to think about during their busy filming schedule.

Funnily enough RTfact’s TV debut is being closely followed by another project we’ve just completed for the Nation’s favourite cookery show BBC’s 'Saturday Kitchen’. Keep an eye out for our arrangements next time you’re tuning in to a bit of James Martin’s on a Saturday am...let’s hope they don’t start chopping at the herbs!

Restaurant news….

G live, the state of the art entertainments centre in Guildford asked us to decorate their restaurant space for their preview evenings featuring Alfie Boe and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. We designed a scheme based on their brief and decided on a classic, stylish look with some large structural pieces for the entrance and bar areas in addition to the pretty Orchid arrangements featured on each dining table.  

The restaurant is officially opening in September and they have some great comedy and music events
lined up, so if you’re on the look out for a touch of culture it’s definitely worth a visit ……

A big thank you….

to everyone who visited our stand at the Hampton Court Flower Show. It was great to see customers old and new and to receive such amazing feedback about the quality of our flowers and arrangements. I think the prize for the best comment of the show was when an inquisitive visitor asked if the Orchids bloomed every season! 


We’ll be updating the website soon with new arrangements from the show but if you would like to order an item that you have seen and can not find on line, we will happily organise for delivery over the phone.

It’s so exciting….

We’re busy putting together our new range for Hampton Court Flower Show where we’ll be exhibiting in the Country Living marquee for the second year running. Last year was brilliant, we had some amazing feedback from our customers and met some wonderful people along the way. If you are coming along and have the time we’d love to see you . Look out for stand 62, 3rd to 8th July.


For tickets to the show,log on to www.rhs.org.uk/FlowerShows2012

Spring madness

Renovating a house and running a business - all a little consuming but managing to stay sane! Just finished a cool and inspirational promotional project for Jo Malone, 75th anniversary event for CP Hart Bathrooms, next stop Milan.....

Apologies

.... for my lack of blog activity this year, my feet literally haven’t touched the ground! As well as the new range additions, I’ve been working on some exciting new projects which I’ll be updating you with over the next few months.
 
For now we’re all geared up for Mother’s day and have a great new Spring range. A real favourite of mine are the new art deco vase arrangements.

The Roses and Berries below are gorgeous and perfect for adding a little touch of 1930’s glamour to your home.

Merry Christmas from all at RTFACT

Well the halls have been well and truly decked, trees have been decorated, wreaths hung and garlands dressed and we haven't finished yet!

For guaranteed Christmas delivery, orders can be placed up to and including the 18th December.

The Claygate shop will be open right up until 4pm on Christmas Eve and we'll be open and raring to go again on Tuesday, 4th January.

I'd like to say a massive thank you to all of my wonderful customers, old and new, for the fantastic support I have received this year.
I'm lucky to be able to say it's been a busy one, building the business with my dedicated, creative team, revamping the website and exhibiting at the RHS Hampton Court and Malvern Flower shows for the first time.
We've met some wonderful people along the way and hope to see you all again in 2012.


Wishing you and your family a very happy and fun filled Christmas.

RTfact in the Press

Just wanted to say a big thank you to Emma Dudley for inviting us to decorate her home for Christmas and obviously for the feature in Real Homes Magazine as featured on our home page this month. If you would like to read the whole article. Please visit our press page.

Gorgeous flowers

We are so excited in the shop right now. We've just received our fantastic new range of truly stunning flower stems. Individually selected on our last buying trip, it really was like Christmas morning in the shop yesterday when we opened the boxes! All hand made with an amazing level of detail and depth of colour, the flowers are incredibly realistic. Some of our great new artefacts have arrived too, so please pop in and take a look.

Please note, not all the stems are currently online so please call us if there is anything in particular you are looking for and we will do our very best to find it for you.

Autumn's on it's way....

Although looking outside today you certainly wouldn't believe it -  26 degrees!

Concept Interiors

Last week I was delighted to meet Sophia Cuel from Concept Interiors. They have a new showroom that has just opened in Weybridge and Sophia was kind enough to ask me to design some arrangements for a photoshoot that was taking place there. You can visit the Concept Interiors website at www.concept-interior.co.uk.

Going on Holiday? Don't come back to dead plants!

I've had so many customers coming into the shop lately who've been away for a couple of weeks and have returned from their holidays to dead plants.

We can supply trees, greenery and plants for your deck and patios and you won't have to ask the neighbours to water them. In fact you might want to ask them not too as I've come back from holiday before to soggy bark in my parlour palm pot!

Spot the Difference - Fresh of Faux at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

That was our challenge to the press yesterday on the opening day of the flower show. We created a variety of near identical arrangements in fresh flowers and in faux RTfact flowers to see if anyone could really tell the difference. These pictures were taken at the end of the day and one thing I will say is the fresh flowers didn't fair so well under the harsh lights and ceiling fans, but see if you can tell the difference (hover over the pictures for the answer):

 

Flower Show Fever

Hampton Court Flower Show here we come....

Final preparations are underway, we're busy making up all of our arrangements by hand and it's all systems go this weekend to prepare the stand.

I've been busy trawling antique markets to develop our vintage range and I'm really excited with the results. We've just launched the new range online and I'm so looking forward to showing the designs at Hampton Court next week.

We'll also have a selection of our favourite and best selling items on show and we're delighted to be dressing the Country Living Magazine Stand with some of our Country Garden arrangements. 
 
If you're visiting the show, please pop by and say hello, we'd really love to see you.

Country Living Marquee, Stand number 20, July 5th - 10th July.

Balcony challenge!

When I was approached to undertake this project involving five balconies I was really looking forward to getting stuck in....  Then as the brief became clearer, I realised it involved transferring materials in a small lift from an underground carpark, three  floors up and through an immaculate and beautifully finished apartment -  but hey... we love a challenge! It was great working with my client , an interior designer herself who had pretty strong ideas about space and colour. 
  

The pots were specially painted using the grey tones from the tiles and walls and then married with the herbs and lavender to give a stylish finish that blended perfectly.

For the library balcony we wanted a very contemporary feel so the black bowls
filled with the striking Aloe really fitted the bill. 


The client sent through a lovely note following the project...
 
'I was absolutely delighted with the job you have done and I am glad that I accidently
found you through the internet.'

RTfact is featured in 25 Beautiful Homes

We're really excited to be featured once again in 25 Beautiful Homes. This is the July issue, so click the picture opposite for a sneak preview.

If you want to read more articles on RTfact, visit our press page.

Parrot Tulips

Parrot Tulips are new instore this month. This was a dramatic arrangement that we created for a Surrey Showhome to go under a staircase.

Parrot Tulips come in a burgundy red and white as shown here.

Hampton Court Flower Show, 5 to 10th July 2011

What a great time we had exhibiting within the Country Living marquee at the Malvern Spring show.Thank you to everyone who visited our stand, we were absolutely overwhelmed with the fantastic feedback we received about the quality of our arrangements. It really was special after having a break from shows for a few years. 

We're now gearing ourselves up for Hampton Court Palace, one of my favourite shows and we're really excited to be taking part this year.

We will be exhibiting in the Country Living Marquee on STAND 116. It's a great day out for all the family and we're very much looking forward to welcoming customers - both old and new - onto the stand.

CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS AND BOOKING INFORMATION.

COME TO THE FAIR......

Exciting news this week, RTFACT are going to be exhibiting at some of the Royal Horticultural Shows. I'll be focussing on outdoor living, displaying some of our new discoveries as well as our most popular designs.

The RHS shows really are a great day out and if you can come along to our stand I'd really love to see you and show you some of my latest discoveries.

Malvern Spring Fair 12th - 15th May

Hampton Court flower Show 5th - 10th July

Also, I'm off on a buying trip this week so will be on the look out for some great new finds for the website and Claygate store. The new range will be launched soon so watch this space....