During the months that I spent at Design Et Al magazine, I was asked to create promotional material which was distributed to the national press  (BBC Radio 2, The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Express etc). Much of the material concerned the anual ‘Design Weekend‘, which is the largest interior design event in the North of England.

Below is a sample of the press releases which I produced:

Great Homes and a Good Cause

Having grown from a small show of just twenty-five stands the annual Home & Garden Exhibition at Tatton Park in Cheshire will this year celebrate its 10^th anniversary. The event is the only one of its kind outside London and this year is promising to be the largest and most inspirational event to date. The show, which takes place between Saturday 3^rd and Monday 5^th of May, will play host to over two hundred stands and many new areas such as The Luxury Travel Room, which is sponsored by Luxe et al and the worlds most glamorous hotels.

The 2008 show will also see the reintroduction of the Property Awards by northern-based magazine Design et al, who are keen to promote the property market in the north. The awards will be held in aid of Cancer Research UK, and will celebrate the very best in northern design. The awards for domestic homes over £1million are being sponsored by Coutts, while leading stone showroom Lapicida will this year be sponsoring the awards for homes between £500,000 to £1million. The awards will be presented at the Design Awards Evening at the mansion in Tatton Park on the 4^th May, with a black tie and diamonds dress code.

In addition to the awards raising important funds for charity, the show itself provides a regular and vital boost to Cheshire’s local economy. Last years show saw over 20,000 visitors descend upon the area, bringing with them valuable custom for local shops, taxi services, hotels and restaurants.

The show’s 10^th anniversary will also host the Garden Design Awards 2008, with visitors to the show over the first two days having the opportunity to determine this year’s winner. Complimentary consultations with garden designers are also available by appointment.

The Luxury Travel Room, sponsored by Luxe et al, will allow visitors to take a break and relax with a glass of champagne, while carefully selected leading luxury travel companies will be on hand to help create the perfect getaway.

The Cheshire Life Culinary Room provides visitors with everything they could wish to know concerning the kitchen. From expert advice by leading chefs, to fine wines, and from speciality foods, to leading kitchen accessories, visitors can find all this information and much more readily available to them in the Culinary Room.

The Design Weekend Home & Garden Exhibition’s 10 year anniversary will undoubtedly be an event not to be missed, and will serve as an invaluable source of information on everything from homes and gardens, to luxury travel, as well as, of course, being a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

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And the winners of the Property Awards 2008 are…

This years Tatton Park Design Weekend hosted the prestigious Property Award Ceremony. The ceremony was held in the Tatton mansion on 4^th May and had a black tie and diamonds dress code.

Visitors to the Design Weekend during the first two days were able to vote for their favourite interior and garden design. Verdi Bathroom Solutions, experts in innovative bathroom design, won the Interior Design Award. The Garden Design Award was won by Space 2 Place, who provide high quality, bespoke garden designs with a focus on sustainability.

Northern Homes and Interiors sponsored the Property Award for homes between £350,000 and £750,000, while Lapicida sponsored the award for homes worth over £750,000 to £1million. Coutts sponsored the award for homes valued at over £1million.

Judges, Joanne Beedles, organiser of Tatton Park Design Weekend, and architect Ken Bruce assessed the homes upon location, value for money, interior layout, technical build specification, eco-friendliness, surroundings, and interior design (including all fittings).

The award for homes worth £350,000 to £750,000 went to the Warmingham Grange development by Alcamay Homes. The development lies in the grounds of a grade two listed manor house, and maintains a suitably rural exterior appearance. On the inside however, the 3 story homes are both visually and functionally stunning, maximising space to maintain a clean-cut and contemporary feel throughout.

August Blake won the award for homes from £750,000 to £1million, for their development ‘The Residence’. Situated in Hale, Cheshire, The Residence provides the perfect commuter-friendly suburban home. Each home within the development features a completely unique layout, and is surrounded by impressively maintained gardens. The kitchens feature Gaggenau appliances, and Sub Zero fittings, which combined, create a kitchen which is incredibly practical without sacrificing style.

The award for homes worth over £1million was won by Hillcrest Homes. The house is situated on a hilltop at the edge of Prestbury golf course. This location provides stunning views of the surrounding areas, and is the perfect setting for a home of this kind. Contemporary outside and in, this house maintains the balance between modern and eco-friendly. The exquisite gardens, for example, are watered via a sprinkler system that reuses rainwater drained from the house roof, while the garage and swimming pool buildings are timber framed to minimise environmental damage sustained by using synthetic building materials. The lighting and heating systems also fully embrace environmentally friendly technology.

The entire house layout is unique from floor to roof, and tackles many new design challenges. The home comes with a two-year care package to ensure that help is always on hand to assist with the many groundbreaking technical systems within the house.

The awards were once again an incredible success and will return again next year, pushing the benchmark for northern home and garden design further than ever.