We first fell in love with DECORUM in the Boxpark, Shoreditch, where the brand first launched back in 2013. We loved everything (and we mean EVERYTHING!) inside their shop, and spent hours browsing their eclectic mix of furniture, kitchenware, lighting and home accessories, all inspired by industrial, minimalist, modern and Sandi designs. Their dark, slightly edgy colour palate was a perfect fit with our own style, and gave us so much inspiration for the home renovation we were completing at the time.
In 2018, the store’s founder, Christina Karoulla, was joined by her nephew, Stavros Agapiou, as creative director, and together they opened a second, larger store just down the road from us. You can only imagine the rapturous joy this brought us! The Crystal Palace store is a much bigger space, with room to feature larger pieces and expand their showstopping product range.
Their ethos and values are completely aligned with ours; they pride themselves on being a sustainable retailer, and only selecting high-quality products that are made and used in an ethical way. With such an obvious synergy, we knew that they were a brand we’d be proud to work with, and were delighted to have our TONIC, PERSEPHONE, PYRIGE and FYGGE eco candles chosen for the Crystal Palace store.
To find out more about the creative duo behind DECORUM, we caught up with Christina and Stav to ask them about their product-buying process, their style and design inspirations and DECORUM’s plans for the future….
Christina: We are very selective with the products we choose. We have a strong brand identity and know when we see it: Quality, well made and affordable products. Classic designs. We try hard not to follow trends if we can. We love products that we feel will become design classics of the future, and of course, if it's good enough for my home, it's good enough for Decorum.
Stavros: The first thing I look for when selecting products is making sure the product fits our concept and works well with our aesthetic.
C: We are collaborating more and more with local and British artisans, designers and makers. AHLT candles look and smell great, and the black glass jars simply fit in perfectly with our monochrome colour scheme.
S: AHLT products fit perfectly with our ethos — they are locally made, eco-conscious and cater to that dark, interior style. Kind of a match made in heaven, no?
C: I have to say that PYRIGE is my favourite. It's fresh and fruity without being too citrusy. It's delicious!
S: Hands down, it’s got to be PERSEPHONE! It’s light and sweet but still has a dark sophisticated undertone.
C: I love the buying process. Selecting products for the shop is so much fun, although my sister, Noula, who looks after our accounts, is always telling us to slow down and stop spending... She spoils everything! Even so, we get to do what we love and make a living from it. How fortunate are we?
S: Styling, merchandising and buying.
Are there any particular designers you admire, and who did you take inspiration from when styling your own homes?
C: I'm a little old school and slightly obsessed with mid-century design. I love The Eames husband and wife duo, Eero Saarinen and Frank Lloyd Wright.
My house has many mid-century furniture pieces, as well as modern classics too. We collaborate with some great designers, such as John Tildesley from Wild and Wood. His concrete accessories are beautiful, functional, minimal and the accents of wood make them warm and tactile. I love that and always try to introduce that ethos in my home.
S: I'm a big fan of Bauhaus design and mid-century modern pieces, but industrial materials such as iron and concrete in the home is what excites me most.
C: We love that we are a small, family run business. Sadly, one of our shops had to close due to Covid so now we have one shop in Crystal Palace and have an established online shop and they both work well together. We feel that one platform needs the other, so for now we are taking each day as it comes. After the last couple of years, we have realised we are so thankful for what we have. We are still here, trading. Some businesses cannot say that anymore.
S: I would love the online business to grow and run itself, and maybe focus on a Decorum range.
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