Porter & Gold: Pop-Up at Ablectrics' Lighting Showroom
We are thrilled to announce a new Porter & Gold pop-up display pod at our showroom, Porter and gold is a unique interiors service to developers for their showhomes! Walking past new developments in our own areas of Bristol, and seeing the large and uninspiring banner images of the showhomes, convinced us there was a space in the market for doing interiors differently. We feel that the mass produced synthetic furniture world has had its day, and want to show that working with vintage, antique and sustainably made pieces can create clean, modern and inviting interiors. As we spend a great portion of our lives inside buildings, whether that is our home or work environments, it makes perfect sense to be somewhere we love to be, with beautiful, comfortable and functional objects and furniture
Pop-Up Pod
This pod is more than a showroom—it’s a place where we can showcase one of our designs in a real-life setting for the next six months, right in the heart of our neighbourhood. For this collaboration, we also worked with Fired Earth, who’s paints have set the perfect tone for the space. The walls of our pop-up feature their beautiful soft Ecru matt emulsion, and we’ve added Fired Earth limestone flooring as a sample (stay tuned for more pictures). A big thank you to Ceri and everyone at Fired Earth for helping us select the ideal finishes for showing off the lighting and art on display, as well as providing all the materials. We’re planning a proper launch soon—please drop us an email if you’d like to attend.
The Purpose of Our Pop-Up
The goal of this pop-up is to invite local homeowners into a setting that reflects Porter & Gold’s design philosophy. By experiencing a taste of our work firsthand, we hope to inspire people to consider enhancing their own living spaces. Here’s a summary of the services we’re offering:
Interior Design Consultations:
Whether you're redesigning your home or updating a single room, we can help with:
Colour Selection: Discover the perfect palette that suits your taste and enhances the space’s lighting and mood.
Furniture Placement: Arrange your furniture for optimum flow and aesthetics.
Redecorating/Renovation: From refreshing a single room to a complete makeover, we can guide you through options that work with your vision.
Moodboards: Giving you a template to work from to create the home you want to live in.
Supplier & Trades Recommendations: For those ready to take on projects themselves, we provide advice on sourcing local skilled tradespeople, furniture, art and materials.
We also specialise in Home Staging for Sellers: If you're preparing to put your home on the market, we can help you style it to maximise its appeal, making it more attractive to potential buyers, or if you have an empty property we can stage it with furniture and art from our collection.
To explore how we can help you create or style a space in your home—whether for personal enjoyment or readying it for sale—please contact us here.
Our Design Inspiration
As you can see in the photographs, the design of our space at Ablectrics is simple yet purposeful, inspired by a window desk/breakfast bar seating arrangement I encountered during my travels. It’s a versatile setup that could work in a variety of home styles, from alcoves and wall spaces to actual window nooks. This particular setup is compact, measuring around 120 x 80 cm. Interested in adding something like this for your own home? Let’s talk about bringing a similar concept to life in your space!
Lighting for Every Space
All the stunning lighting in our pop-up is available to purchase at the showroom on Zetland Rd, Bristol, or online. Here’s a look at some of the featured pieces:
Ceiling lighting: The metal lamp shade, combined with a black fabric cable, bronze lamp holder, black ceiling rose, and hook, creates a striking focal point— also ideal for dining areas.
Wall lighting: The brass Lincoln picture lamps on each side are perfect for highlighting hallway art or accentuating focal pieces in any room.
Table or bedside lighting: A standout piece, this modern brass side lamp, is not only stylish but also exceptionally well-made.
If you’re unsure about the right lighting for a particular area of your home, Ablectrics offers a comprehensive lighting consultation , either in person in-store or at your home.
The Finishing Touches for our Pop-Up
We styled our desk area / breakfast bar with a ‘window-style’ mirror and stained the wood with Liberon ebony stain. The stools are from my favourite vintage source, Vinterior, while the artwork and accessories are personal finds from Shepton flea markets, Arthur Swallows Antique Fair, and other vintage shops in Bristol. If you follow our instagram @porterandgold you will know that I love to collect bowls and pots…
The Story Behind Our Collaboration
There’s some family history to share with you here! Back in 1990, my mum, Gill, met and became friends with a woman named Amy Besant who was the teacher at her yoga class. Amy’s kindness and encouragement gave our Mum the opportunity to train as a Shiatsu practitioner—a dream she could never have afforded on her own. Over the next 32 years later, she built a career that gave her, and us (her three kids) a better life thanks to Amy’s generosity. Recently, I shared this story with Fraser, Amy’s grandson, as he had no idea! and now here we are, collaborating in ways that honour that kindness and bring our own families’ stories full circle. A heartfelt thank you to Amy, Fraser, and the Besant family for this wonderful opportunity.
