Love Coming Home To Your PAD
Kate Bowyer chats to Paula Baxter, owner of acclaimed interior design company PAD Contemporary Living, based in Poulton-le-Fylde. Photography: Roger Moore
Paula is as passionate about helping people “fall in love with their home all over again” as she was when she established her client-centred business 14 years ago. Her skill in turning homes into sanctuaries has become indispensable following a year which left many of us staring at our own four walls more than we ever imagined.
It’s a long way from Paula’s first job at Top Man. Demonstrating an eye for detail and design, Paula realised she loved putting outfits together and helping customers look their best! After progressing up the retail ladder, she became a Trainer Assessor, helping young people in the industry achieve qualifications, and this enabled her spend more time with her young son Cameron.
But after a moving into a new home, she realised she couldn’t find any decent furniture showrooms in the area without a high price tag and she’d always loved style and contemporary design.
So that’s where the Pad story begins opening her first showroom 14 years ago. Business quickly took off through word of mouth from happy customers. The trajectory has continued ever since, thanks to Paula’s “one size doesn’t fit all” ethos. She told me: “The showroom is a resource for guidance and inspiration. From there, it’s all based around the customer: their tastes, needs, lifestyle, budget – even hobbies and passions.”
From one-room makeovers on a budget to multi-million pound mansions, her approach clearly works.
In the early days, Paula juggled doing everything with being a mother to her seven-year-old son: “Cameron literally grew up with the showroom as his playroom. Picking him up from school in the delivery van, he played with his toys in clients’ homes while I built their furniture!
“As he grew, he started helping out on deliveries and now even assists our joiners on projects. He is following his own path later this year, going to Colorado State University working towards his degree in Computer Science. Returning customers still ask after him, so it won’t just be me who misses him when he is overseas!”
Paula has retained the personal touch and really is the face of Pad. “When you come in, you get me, one-on-one, and that’s how I love it. Or perhaps I’m just not good at delegating!
“I use mood, colour and ideas boards collaboratively with clients, but the decisions are all theirs,” she explains. “Why would I want to impose my taste on anyone? That’s no fun! I bring a fresh eye, experience and connections. Once the customer is decided, I source, supply and fit bespoke commissions. It means I never do the same room or ‘look’ twice, it’s individual and it keeps me fresh and inspired too.”
Paula is renowned for not doing ‘sales’, but always offering the best prices. “People come in and see quality European furniture including Calligaris dining sets, beautiful Nicoletti Italian sofas, Omexco fine Belgian wall coverings, and Nolte’s clever, sleek German-designed wardrobes, and assume it’s expensive- then are thrilled at how affordable it can be! I also source British fabric sofas at very affordable prices.”
From first-time buyers to serial mover or room changer, Paula doesn’t have a typical customer or budget. She explains: “Aspirational is all very well, but who are you aspiring to be? You have to stay true to yourself, not passing trends or fads, then your home can become a place of rest and relaxation; somewhere to recharge, to love coming back to. I say: pick out an object or picture you absolutely love, and that’s your style. Then, together we’ll create the look around that one piece, around you and around what you love. It’s a revelation to them, I love seeing their shoulders relax and their smile appear.”
Never more so than in our ‘new normal’. What’s Paula’s thoughts now homes have become so much more: office, refuge, school, and technological hub? “Homes definitely have to work harder. Since Covid people realise what’s important having spent so much time in their homes, I’m finding more and more people want their home to work better for them. For example, adding a home office without losing the open-plan living they love. We can do great things with flexible sectioning- from practical bookshelves to amazing screens which are focal artworks in their own right.”
So, why PAD? It stands for Paula And Design and for someone with such clear passion for her business, I’d say that captures it perfectly.
I leave Paula with my head full of inspiration to make my home that little bit more lovable. I ask her for a top tip. She says: “Be careful with all-grey, it’s not for everyone. Be brave and break it up with splashes of strong colours, which add warmth and a pop of colour, while keeping it contemporary.” Now there’s an idea…
PAD Contemporary Living Ltd
Unit 4 Millennium Court
Furness Drive
Poulton-le-Fylde FY6 8JS
01253 893334
paula@padcl.co.uk
padcl.co.uk
