Carole Ward Interiors was formed in 1987 by Carole Ward a printed textiles graduate from Birmingham Polytechnic.

On moving to London to find a design job, a temporary job was taken with Heal’s the contemporary furniture store making curtains.

As often happens this turned out to be her future career and she set up business on her own in 1987.

Her husband Steven Riordan an ex employee of Designers Guild and Osborne and Little joined her 18 months later to help with running the business and installing the curtains. Originally they made soft furnishings for the trade such as shops and interior designers.

In 1994 they opened their first shop in Hornsey, North London which moved to Crouch End in 1998.

Original shop at 94 Hornsey High St

The same year they also bought an existing business R&V Interiors in Southgate. Both shops became known as Deco.

In 2001 sensing a change in the soft furnishings trade the decision was taken to close both shops and work from a workroom set-up on a home-appointment only basis. Having both shops had enabled them to build up a large client base which allowed them to make this decision.