Derek McCammon’s budget for his homeware shop in Dundee “started with a zero”, he jokes.
He opened The Living Room, which sells everything from carpets and cushions to plants and candles, on Broughty Ferry’s Brook Street in May 2024.
“We had absolutely no money once we parted with deposits for the lease and paid for the first month’s lease,” Derek recalls.
“Every single penny was a prisoner.”
Transforming the former pink premises of Bella Mella
It meant he had to get creative when it came to decorating what was the former premises of women’s clothing shop Bella Mella.
So, it was fortunate he had the help of his “artistic family” – wife Jules, artist daughter Molly, 28, and aspiring videographer son Joe, 23.
A lot of paint was required for the unit, which includes a ground-floor shop and a basement area with a toilet and a kitchenette.
“The shop itself was the pinkest shop you’ve ever seen in your life,” Dundee-born Derek laughs.
“It was pink on the outside and every corner of it on the inside was pink as well.
“We had a look, and I thought, ‘This is going to be so easy. It’s just going to be a quick whitewash, and then we can put whatever colours on the walls’.
“Well, I tell you, we were here for about a week and a half painting – nothing was budging this pink paint.
“I’m an expert at putting emulsion on walls now.”
The family opted for soft grey and teal blue, which Derek says accentuates the homeware goods.
Why Derek closed carpet shop to open The Living Room
When it came to the signage, Derek went for a classic typography in deep copper.
The shop, which already featured modern spotlights and laminate flooring, was otherwise “ready to go”.
Derek, who ran Orchar Flooring on King Street for 12 years before opening The Living Room, is no stranger to running a business.
Why did he swap one for another?
“I had seen the shop (on Brook Street), which was sitting empty for a while, and kind of mulled it all over,” he says.
“I didn’t want to just go into carpets again, because you don’t get much scope for flexing your artistic self.
“And I just had this notion that I think we can make this work.”
Travel-inspired interiors at The Living Room in Broughty Ferry
He was also aware that the shop’s location, on the thriving Brook Street, would attract much footfall.
Derek’s stock comes from global suppliers including India, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
Furniture and ornaments, infused with vibrant colours and natural materials, are influenced by traditional styles and designs from Asia, Africa, South America, and Mexico.
Derek has also taken inspiration from the Mediterranean.
“We have holidayed quite a lot to the beautiful island of Crete,” he explains.
“Those sky blues and the terracottas and the soft linens and the natural woods are just timeless.
“So we’re trying to push on as well, because it’s just what I like.”
Derek also pinches ideas from his clients, whose homes he visits to deliver carpets.
He says: “I’ve been really privileged to go and see some beautiful houses – large and small.
“Sometimes the most unassuming people have got fantastic taste and are really quite creative.”
Why Derek changes merchandise and window displays regularly
Because Derek has a lot of regular customers, he likes to switch up his merchandise regularly.
He says: “You still get a lot of local people coming in and they just want to have a look around and see something different every time.
“That’s what we are trying to do.
“Even if it’s a little thing. For example, we’ve just brought in some more candles, which are in a Moroccan style, in a glass tagine with a little lid on them.
“It’s the type of thing you just don’t see everywhere.”
This is also why he changes his window display regularly – something The Living Room has become known for.
Sometimes it looks like a mini living room setting, with a coffee table and lamp.
And sometimes it features “exaggerated cushion mountains”.
Derek says: “Again, it keeps people interested.
“It’s quite funny, when I come back on a Monday morning, if I’ve been closed on a Sunday, I often see people’s fingerprints on the windows, or even better than that, I’ll see somebody’s nose print on the window!”
Laughing, he adds: “I’m already looking forward to Christmas, to be honest, because I’ve got a few ideas about what I want to do with the windows for Christmas coming as well.
“I must be turning into a proper retailer if I’m thinking about Christmas already.”
Derek and his family recently celebrated The Living Room’s first birthday.
‘I really thank the people of Broughty Ferry and Dundee’
He says: “In some ways, it feels like it’s been a long time, and other times you look back, and you think, ‘My god, a year has just bombed past in no time at all’.
“But the residents, particularly of Broughty Ferry, have been really supportive.
“I think within about two days of me posting a little piece of paper in the window saying, ‘I do carpets as well’, I had three or four orders for carpets – all local.
“So, I really thank the people of Broughty Ferry and Dundee.”
- Have you recently renovated a property? Get in touch poppy.watson@dcthomson.co.uk
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