Colour makes people happy. Full stop!
I first came across simon’s first shop in clapham back in 2004 after reading and article about it. All I remember is that there was a paint shop where they had individual painted wooden clogs in their entire colour range… how cool is that? Meet simon.
The story is that he decided to open a paint company, went to holland, created a brand and found his shop in london. That was then.
Fast forward to 2007. Simon closed the shop, and started selling his paints through liberty for 2,5 years… “I made their purple (they’ve now changed it).”
“All the while I was looking for a for a place to live. Then I found this place I’m in now, in dulwich, originally bought it to live in, not to open a shop… I was still selling my paints on the internet… I had a warehouse in acton…I produced TV paint, I sold it through a prop place in acton.. then I did decide to open a shop here and it took me 2 years to get it ready as I did it all single handedly . It opened in 2009.
When visiting I was greeted by simon and puccini’s madame butterfly and I knew I am already in love! The shop is bright, vibrant and wherever you look there’s something reflecting Simon’s taste and personality. It’s quirky, interesting and full of little gems.
So what does ‘colour makes people happy’ offer? Well, they mainly sell paints. There are 96 colours, people buy mostly off the charts – there are sample pots… there’s wood paints (for floor and furniture) and wall paints. Simon travels to holland once a month to make the paint, so most of it is made in holland. “Here, I simply customise the paint like add a bit of iron to make it magnetic etc.”
They also sell coloured flex. Cool, eh?
Then there are the parties, the children entertainment, the hen parties, the film screenings. So, it’s a shop, a gallery space, a screening room. There are spinning machines, they even make waffles and dutch chocolate milk!
I was fascinated by the spinning machine. It produces art for everyman! Magic. The best part is that when there is a group of 3-4 years old at it, the parents then decide to frame their young geniuses’ artwork and hang it in their room. Fabulous idea!
Another part of the business is the colour cards, hand done colour cards. For £75 you can make your own colour card. Simon explains:”Simply send in a list of 25 pithy sayings that you really like and i make you a colour card you can frame! They will be our own colours!! We’ve been doing this for a year and a half now and it’s very popular. You come with the sayings…it’s great as gift! We are developing it on the site a the moment. You’ll soon be able to order it online.”
Some more colour stimulation for you…
The accents on dutch is to be felt throughout.
Simon lives upstairs but the kitchen is downstairs. Full of retro and personal belongings, I wanted to invite myself for breakfast:-)
All I know is that it’s a place for people to have fun, be inspired and come away with something exciting!
Simon is quirky, an individualist, loves colour and making people happy. Asking him about future goals, he told me he wants more shops in london (10, to be exact) and is currently also looking at berlin, as well as within the UK. I say, fill this town with colour and get everyone smiling!
Simon, see you soon:-)
Let’s see? Who of you loves colour? Have a great weekend everyone. See you monday! x