Plain English for Design Destination London

Plain English Pimlico, 61 Pimlico Road SW1W 8NE

Tuesday 21st January, 1-5pm

Visit our London flagship for tea, scones, and jam—and a behind-the-scenes look at our highly coveted range of Delft by Plain English tiles. Alongside tours of our newly expanded showroom, we will share Co-Founder Tony Niblock’s personal collection of antique Delft tiles alongside our own range. Here, our artisan tile painter will dive into the process of hand-painting tiles throughout the day, from sketching to the final glazing.

Exclusive to our joinery projects, our signature Delft by Plain English tiles will be available for each participating designer to take away one finished tile of their choosing as a rare memento.

Plain English Bespoke Cabinetry in London

Founded in Suffolk, England in 1992, Plain English Design is the leading North American resource for cabinetry made the old-fashioned way – by hand. Inspired by classic British interiors, our custom designs are suited for the kitchen and beyond: including Pantries, Mudrooms, Butlers Pantries, Sculleries, Bedrooms, Bathrooms, Dressing Rooms, Laundry Rooms, Libraries, Home Offices, Bars and Poolhouses.

We are a Design Studio, sharing our sensibility and craft to deliver the refinement and expertise for which we are known. Attention to detail defines How We Work: we offer exclusive paint colours hand-cast ironmongery and exclusive finishes such as our Delft Tiles that distinguish a Plain English project. Our designers work coast-to-coast and across North America. Current projects span Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA, New York, NY, Nashville, TN, Sun Valley, ID, Jackson Hole, WY, New Orleans, LA, Greenwich, CT, Austin, TX and Nantucket, MA.

We welcome visits and projects from individual clients, as well as architects, interior designers, and contractors, working together from concept through to installation; from start to finish. See recent editorial highlights of our work, ‘Out in the World.’ Sign up for our newsletter to receive our latest news.

Background on Plain English & Delft

Delft by Plain English—five collections of handmade, hand-painted tiles inspired by antique Delft originals from Co-Founders Katie Fontana and Tony Niblock’s archives.

30 years ago, Katie and Tony were looking to move house and came upon Hope House, a red brick Queen Anne-fronted house with an interesting past in the village of Yoxford, Suffolk. The house, formerly, Sibton Orphan’s Home, was run by a Miss Margaret Green and her sister in the late 1880’s and was, like many in East Anglia, inspired by its Dutch roots with antique Delft tiles decorating the fireplaces and hearths. These tiles were practical additions to the house—as well as being a popular form of folk art, depicting anything from mythological beasts and ancient stories to bawdy scenes of everyday life.

Though they didn’t buy Hope House, Tony’s interest was piqued by the naive designs. He began collecting antique Delft tiles, buying several at a time to amass enough to cover the area behind the Aga in his own house.

“As antique Delft tiles became more and more scarce,” Tony details, “the idea to launch a range of Delft tiles inspired by my years of avid collecting began to take shape.”

Delft by Plain English harkens back to our roots in East Anglia where there was a strong Dutch influence in local architecture, as well as the wonderful spirit of visual storytelling—always in pursuit of understanding form, function and provenance.

Delft by Plain English is available exclusively to clients as part of a Plain English project.