Founders of Buchanan Studio

Husband and wife duo, Charlotte and Angus, are the creatives behind Buchanan Studio - an interior design studio that recently broke Instagram with the launch of their already iconic 'Studio Chair'.

We love their aesthetic for its bold use of colour and pattern, combined with soft florals - think 70's retro combined with just the right touch of chintz. We pick their brains about how art plays a role in their practice, some of their stand-out projects and what's brewing in the Buchanan Studio...

How did you meet, and how did Buchanan Studio come about?

Angus - My background is in set design, I started out working for Mario Testino whilst still at school and then spent many years working with the renowned set designer Michael Howells. I always say this was my “university”, I learnt so much with Michael and eventually became his Art Director. We worked around the world on sets for all sorts of amazing brands and individuals from the Dior couture shows in Paris, to the Comme des Garcons stores in Toyko, and editorial for Vogue, Harpers and Vanity Fair.

I started being asked more and more to help with interior projects and it got to the point where I was feeling overwhelmed. Charlotte, who had spent her career thus far working with brands and talent negotiating partnerships and equity deals, left her job and joined me to build a Studio. We now have a small but very talented team of like-minded designers which enables us to take on a variety of creative projects but with the main focus on interior design.

How does art influence your work?

As designers, we love allowing rooms to evolve so within our designs we try and build solid room fundamentals that will allow furniture to move around a house and change periodically.

We have a similar ethos towards art, although certain rooms may be defined by a piece of art- and a particular piece may end up being the starting point to dictate the rest of the room. However, we also like to allow art to move around and change from time to time. We often use picture rails in properties so that art can easily be moved around without leaving holes in all the walls!

Which aspect of your work enables you to be the most creative?

Commercial restaurant projects and events are always a really exciting opportunity to be able to try out new ideas, however, we are lucky to have adventurous private clients who are often creatives themselves and so our residential projects are equally exciting. 

What’s your favourite project you've ever worked on?

We once designed a 5-day private event in India, including every element from the guest's costumes to a huge outdoor 1930s ballroom that we built for the event.

What would you like people’s purchases to contribute to their homes?

Home should be a physical expression of a person and what they are about. So with furniture and art, it really is a case of just investing in what you love.

What is a question you wish people asked you more?

Don’t know about a question we wish people asked us more, but we do love asking others what advice they would have given to themselves 5 years ago if they could.

What excites you about the future?

We’ve got lots of things in the pipeline that we are really excited about including some exciting collaborations and some great new projects. Later this year we will be opening our doors for the first time with a showroom which will display lots of new furniture pieces we’ve designed, which are launching soon, as well as a small evolving collection of vintage pieces.

QUICKFIRE

Current song on repeat in the studio? Seasons (Waiting on You) by Future Islands

Your muse? The late, great Michael Howells, who Angus worked with for many years. Any creative project we finish now we always wonder what he would think of it and what he might have done differently. 

Perfect day? Definitely spent on a boat and with all food cooked outside over fire!

Favourite gallery? We love galleries and don’t go nearly as much as we’d like to, however one we always seem to find the time to pop into is the RA.

Can’t live without? My tape measure!

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