News

Giveaway!!

05/10/2020 by Niamh Davies
Posted in Design Essentials Loves To Chat, News, Press, Special Offers

It’s Giveaway time, the moment you’ve all been waiting for!

To celebrate the launch of our new Koble showroom, we are doing a giveaway of the amazing Koble Arc wireless charging lamp!

You won’t want to miss out!

 

So what will you win…

We picked the Arc Wireless Charging Lamp for our Giveaway, one of the best selling product from our range of smart technology.  The Koble Arc is the new modern wireless charging table lamp, compatible to wirelessly charge any all smartphones.

The Arc’s has super cool modern technology which can help improve your sleep with its sleep mode. Overexposure to white light before bed can dramatically affect your sleep pattern, but with the night function, you can switch to a warmer light temperature at the click of a button.

So why would you not enter! Better sleep, wireless charging, LED technology, and touch-sensitive, the arc has it all.

How to enter…

For a chance to win, follow the instructions below:

1) Like our post on Instagram @design_essentials1

2) Tag 2 friends in the comments below

3) Follow @design_essentials1 and @kobledesigns
For a bonus entry, share this post and tag both @design_essentials1 and @kobledesigns !

Closes at 12pm on Saturday 17th October! Winner announced on Sunday 18th! ? Good luck from all of us at Design Essentials!

Design Essentials, Saffron Walden, Interior Design, Giveaway

 

Design Essentials, Saffron Walden, Interior Design

Smart Tecnology Side Tables

21/09/2020 by Niamh Davies
Posted in Blog, New Products, News, Trends

Fighting with kids about plug sockets over lockdown? Thinking about the new trend in Smart Technology? We all know that everyone has been spending far more time in their homes watching, streaming, and gaming more than usual.  And with all the Ipads, Kindles, phones, laptops knocking about the house these days, there’s always something with that flashing red light that needs to be charged.

That’s where we come in, our brilliant range of Smart Side Tables from Koble is here to save the day! Take for example the Zain Smart Side Table, it has the capability to charge two phones at a time! An absolute lifesaver for your tech-savvy household. One of the charging capacities is wireless, whilst the other is a USB port meaning you can say goodbye to all those tangled wires. And we all know the fallout when your kids can’t watch the next episode of their favorite show because of tangled wires and low battery.

And it’s not just the Zain that can avoid the war over plug sockets, there’s the Carl, the Kobe, the Ralph, the Milo, the Tori, and the Riva. It’s like reading a class register there’s so many! Thank god they’ve gone back to school!

You don’t even have to call your smart side tables their product name. My Mum and her friend recently named their wireless hoovers the name of their delivery drivers. Upon returning home, I even was proudly introduced to Manuel the new favorite in our household!

What will you name your Smart Side Table?

Carl Smart Side Table Koble Design Essentials       Zain Smart Side Table Koble Design Essentials  Walnut Ralph Smart Side Table Koble Design Essentials

Carl                                             Zain                                               Ralph

Design Essentials re opened.

11/06/2020 by Zoe Kelly
Posted in Blog, Events, News

Design Essentials has reopened . We have enjoyed welcoming our lovely customers back to our shop in Saffron Walden. It’s been an anxious time for so many and we have been doing the best we can  to help maintain a safe environment for our customers.

As part of our preparations to create this safe and welcoming environment for you, we took part in a clean up campaign in Saffron Walden, organised by the Saffron Walden BID. In June before the shop reopened.

 

 Design Essentials Saffron Walden Koble Design Essentials Saffron Walden BID Clean Up Design Essentials Saffron Walden

 

Here are some measures we are taking for a socially distanced shopping experience, which we will review weekly:

  • We will have a mixture of browsing and appointments available with a maximum of 2 customers browsing in the shop at any one time.

 

Opening times 

Monday :        11.00-4pm appointments only.

Tuesday :       11.00- 4pm appointments only

Wednesday :  11-4pm appointments only

Thursday :     11-4pm browsing and appointments.

Friday :           11-4pm browsing and appointments.

Saturday :      10.00-4pm browsing .

 

  • We have signage in store to help with the government guidelines to stay 2 metres apart.
  • We will be providing hand sanitiser for customers to use before, during and after their time in the shop.
  • We will clean the card machine before and after every use.
  • We are fortunate to have 2 doors so we ask that customers enter through the front and exit via the back.
  • We will be regularly cleaning and wiping the door handles, alongside any surfaces that are touched regularly.
  • Staff will wear face masks.
  • Staff will be washing and sanitising their hands frequently.
  • We will take cash but encourage Bacs  payment as much as possible.
  • We want to encourage our customers to use the website wherever possible and use our click and collect service.
  • We are taking phone orders and are delivering in the local areas around Saffron Walden for free.

 

Shopping appointments:

In addition to our general opening times of 11-4pm, we are also offering shopping appointments.

Perfect for any of these reasons

1.if you are vulnerable 

2. Working from home and are time poor and you want to support local and see what we have without having to worry whether you have to wait. 

3. Want to come in as a family and have the shop to yourself and just like to browse and ask questions and discuss options at your leisure

4. Want to come in with a friend or a family in your bubble.

  • Book in with us to shop privately Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  
  • Slots are available from 11-4pm.
  • Book a short (15 minute), medium (30 minute), or long (45 minute) appointment with us.

 

How to book appointments:

 

Feel free to call me directly to clarify any of the options above. We hope we can help you feel safe to shop with us over the coming months , and we thank you for all your understanding and support and please remember Design Essentials is open online all the time at www.designessentials.org.uk.

Stay safe.

Thanks

Wendy x

 

Signage and hand sanitiser provided by Saffron Walden BID.

Late Night Shopping 2019

05/12/2019 by Sadie Grinyer
Posted in #MySW, Blog, Events, News

Our lovely market town of Saffron Walden are holding their annual Late Night Shopping event Friday 6th December.

The market square will be buzzing with locals selling their handmade goods, and we will be open until 8pm.

Grab all those last minute Christmas gifts for the whole family, from Tonie boxes, to personalised diaries and prints, to luscious smelling candles! And why not indulge on our wine and nibbles to keep your energy up and get into the Christmas spirit!

The best part is that there is FREE parking from 1pm onwards during the run up to Christmas, so take full advantage!

Design Essentials Shop Saffron Walden

12/03/2018 by Chloe Fiddy
Posted in Collaborations, News

One of the hardest things I have to do in Design Essentials is to attempt to drive every angle of the business by myself. There are limited resources and time and where do you focus that attention is for ever my quandary.  I would however like to say thank you to Day Glow Media for  creating this video for Design Essentials which I hope gives you a taste of our shop in Saffron Walden and gives those of you who haven’t visited a feel for what we are about. Do click on the link below and have a peek inside the shop.

 

 

and here’s  just a little bit on what Day Glow Media are about.

BRIM FULL OF BRIGHT IDEAS

25 years of endless passion and enthusiasm for broadcasting and storytelling means they can offer you a stunningly professional and bespoke service. They could tell you about all the famous people they have worked with and all the accolades received, but no doubt they will all in good time. Just check them out here to begin with.

 

All things awards! Uttlesford Retailer of the Year!

06/05/2017 by Wendy Howell
Posted in Blog, News

Earlier this week we were so excited to share the news that we are a finalist of the Uttlesford Bussiness Award under retailer of the year! The fact that this is a local award means to much to us as Saffron Walden has played such a large part in our journey.

Uttlesford BA

We have been nominated alongside other small businesses just like Tea Amo and there have also been some larger companies such as the Tourist Information, Costume Company, Waitrose  and Saffron Screen, that have all been nominated too.

We are so happy to have made it all the way to the finals, having been kindly nominated by the Saffron Walden Reporter, we are so excited to be part of such a great competition!

Great British High street of the year Finalist!

06/11/2016 by Wendy Howell
Posted in Blog, News

Such exciting times in Saffron Walden but especially here at Design Essentials as we are one of the Great British High street of the year Finalists! A few weeks ago Wendy was nominated as the best store manager for an independent shop in Saffron Walden and of course as no surprise, she’s gone straight into the finals!

ed-final

As a town Saffron Walden has been a hub of attention recently, just this Friday gone Saffron Walden was featured in The Sunday Times and quoted as a “charming, supremely English medieval market town”. Read the full article here. We also have been in the local newspaper recently, read about us below.

ed-final

Alongside the great success of the town we also have a more personal celebration going on at the shop. With Wendy’s achievements we really want to make the most of her efforts and win our category, hopefully getting even more recognition for the whole of Saffron Walden. Make sure to vote for her EVERY DAY here.

gbhs

The Great British High Street organisation strive to recognise and celebrate local achievements to restore national pride in our high streets and support the formation of a local business-led partnership for every high street where you operate. Here at Design Essentials we couldn’t agree more and hope all the businesses in Saffron Walden feel the same way about making our high street the best it can be.

We are so excited to be a part of this scheme and really could use as many of your votes as possible to win the independent shop award. We have tried so hard with our new collection and work closely beside other local shops to create a friendly shopping environment. We are open on Sundays and hope to get even more businesses to open with us so you can get that extra day of shopping in on the run up to Christmas.

Don’t forget to vote for us everyday up until the 18th of November!

Small Business Saturday 100

27/08/2016 by Wendy Howell
Posted in Blog, News, Press

We’re delighted to announce we’ve been featured in The Guardian in their ‘A first look at the Small Business Saturday 100’ article.

Design Essentials featured in The Guardian as part of their Small Business Saturday 100 article

Small Business Saturday, a non-profit organisation that aims to promote local businesses, will be using its social media channels to promote one small business a week starting from this weekend until Small Business Saturday itself, which this year is on December 3rd.

Design Essentials shortlisted in the Small Business Saturday Top 100 article by The Guardian!

 

This year there’s a huge variety of small businesses being promoted, from toy shops to agricultural services, and we feel honoured to be featured along with them!  Wendy submitted her application for Small Business Saturday 100 almost two months ago on the deadline day. She had wanted to submit her application sooner but due to her being so busy setting up two other services for Design Essentials . One an interior design service for the shop and the other an import company . We are therefore very delighted that the shop was chosen and are very excited about our chosen day to be featured. ( which will keep Wendy even busier. )

Keep your eyes peeled for the announcement of our featured day – we can’t wait to share it with you all!

 

Design Essentials Featured in Mullucks Wells

07/07/2016 by Wendy Howell
Posted in Blog, News, Press

Design Essentials was absolutely delighted to be featured in the recent edition of the annual Mullucks Wells Property Magazine.

Design Essentials featured in Mullucks Wells Property Magazine

We were featured on page 16 as part of a double page spread in the “Spotlight on Saffron Walden” feature, which explored the way a historical market town has developed into a charming hot-spot for unique shopping experiences. Read the full piece online here.

Mullucks Wells described the Design Essentials store as ‘a treasure trove of unique and quirky items’, which we reckon captures our style pretty well!

Design Essentials featured in Mullucks Wells Property Magazine

Thanks once again to Mullucks Wells for the feature, and keep your eyes peeled on our blog for more Design Essentials appearances in the press.

 

Hope House Press Stocked in Design Essentials

28/06/2016 by Wendy Howell
Posted in Blog, News, Press

Design Essentials were recently featured in an article on the website of Hope House Press, one of the newest ranges we are excited to have had in at the shop.

Personalised leather notebook made in leather - perfect for graduation or Father's Day

They said “We are a mixture of feeling excited and terrified at the prospect of being showcased in Design Essentials – Wendy Howell is a woman who means business and does business well. It’s a big thing for us to be hosted and given so many opportunities by her – the products stocked in the Saffron Walden Shop and also on their online portal are beautiful without exception. Wendy and her team are super picky about the ranges they host so we’re rather chuffed that they want us!”

Well, we can now confirm that we’re very happy to have Hope House Press on the shelves of our shop – they’ve done brilliantly on Not On The Highstreet and our customers have been loving their designs too!

Read the Hope House Press blog over on their website here.