The benefits of ‘just FF&E’

What we’ve been witnessing in the property market lately is an appetite for well-priced London homes that buyers can quickly put their stamp on. Planning permission and structural changes require patience and make for sluggish timelines; refreshing over renovating is the order of the day. 

So what does it mean? Quite simply: fast-paced FF&E jobs. Blowing the budget on decorative finishes rather than complex building works is a savvy investment, especially when you consider  that a homeowner can take almost all of it on to their next house. 

And for both designer and client, FF&E brings almost instant creative gratification. “Such projects are sometimes underestimated,” says Studio Duggan founder Tiffany Duggan, who enjoys seeing the transformation that decorative lighting and window treatments can affect when a property’s bones are already good. “It also means reaching the procurement stage much earlier, without the months of detailed joinery packages, elevations and technical specifications that come with a full refurbishment,” she says.

For Venetia Rudebeck, co-founder of Studio Vero, a purely cosmetic brief means better transparency both financially and creatively. “It’s much easier to price for the job (we charge for our time) and it’s a lot easier to control. Often it’s more enjoyable because it's more straightforward,” she says. Having recently overhauled a New York apartment in just five weeks, Venetia relished pivoting to a completely different way of working: “going to all your suppliers, seeing what they’ve got in stock… you just live and breathe it and there's a real fun energy to that.”

Of course it takes real skill to craft an interior which looks like it’s been layered over time, rather than installed in a week. Joanna Plant leans on a 50/50 blend of new versus antiques. “Mixing old with new knocks the edges off a boxfresh room, otherwise it can start to look a bit staged,” she explains. This ‘rule’ applies to furniture, rugs, textiles, books and accessories and where possible, Joanna will layer in a textured or patterned wallpaper to inject atmosphere. 

Tenacity is a must when turning around a quick-moving project. Christian Bense usually allows five months for procurement, but relished the almost-impossible task of furnishing a client’s London apartment in just eight weeks. “We created a concept presentation alongside a floorplan, so that everyone knew the overall vibe and what was going into each room. Then we started buying straight away and developed the design as we went,” he explains. The rapid decision-making required proved freeing, “because we weren’t overthinking stuff - those initial concepts acted as our north star. There’s a saying: ‘Think long, think wrong,’ and so when you have too much time to puzzle away on something, you can lose that spark.”