Grand Illusions - A Unique Retailer

Grand Illusions was created by Nick Ronald and David Roberts in December 1987, initially with just one small store in St Margaret's, Twickenham. The mission was to promote gifts, cards and accessories of good design and taste at an affordable price - still very much the core business ethic to this day.

Shortly afterwards, they discovered and developed a paint range that was to transform their lives. In those days, painted furniture was something of a rarity, and a twenty two drawer chest painted in one of the new paints caught the eye of 'Homes & Gardens' magazine - the small feature resulted in over a thousand telephone calls and the seeds of the highly acclaimed furniture collection were sewn.

This also led to the publication of three Grand Illusions books on decorating techniques and design inspiration, published in five countries by Ebury Press and accompanied by guest appearances on BBC2's Home Front and various local BBC radio stations.

Nearly 20 years on and the Furniture Collection continue to grow. In 2005 The development and day to day running of the Furniture side of the business has been taken over by Susie McLaren, who now runs the Division under License. Susie has extensive experience in the world of Textiles, Furniture, Furnishings and Interior Design.

The New Collection of Furniture focuses on Simply Classic European Design that has always been the basis of the Grand Illusions Style. The most popular of our Very Special paint colours have been selected along with two new colours ‘Duck Egg’ and ‘Antique Black’. Of course for those with the time, ability and inclination all of our furniture can be ordered ‘in the white’ or ‘Brut’ as they say in France, meaning just raw – ready to prepare and paint.