Inside our 100-year-old cottage in the heart of Wānaka, you'll find our sample lounge, a hands-on library of fabric, wallpaper, tile, and flooring samples you can touch, hold up to the light, and compare side by side before committing to anything. We built the space this way because photos and swatches on a screen rarely tell the full story, since colour, texture, and weight all read differently in person than they do online. It's the same reason interior designers everywhere use a sample lounge - it turns an abstract decision into something you can actually see and feel in your hands.
What Happens During a Short Consult at The Workroom?
If you're not ready for a full project but want expert direction, you can book a short consult with one of our qualified interior designers. During the session, we'll talk through fabric direction, help you pair colour and texture in a way that suits your space, and map out the initial scope of what you're trying to achieve. It's a practical starting point whether you're tackling one room or trying to get a feel for a bigger renovation, and you can book a short consultation or interior consultation easily through our website.
Are Curtain and Fabric Consultations Actually Free?
Yes. Our curtain, drapery, and fabric consultations don't carry any charge, so you can come in, browse the sample lounge, and get our team's input without any pressure to commit. A fee only applies once a project moves into full-scope interior finishings, or if you book one of our short consultations, since those sessions involve more dedicated design time. Beyond the sample lounge, we also offer a free measure and quote for your window treatments, and our property styling service follows a similar no-obligation approach.
What Can The Workroom's Interior Designers Help With?
Our team covers far more than curtains. We work across full-scope interior finishings, reupholstery, curtains and drapery, and wallpaper, so you can bring us everything from a single reupholstered armchair through to a whole-home fit-out, and we'll manage it as one cohesive project rather than a string of separate suppliers. You can see this approach in action across our interior design projects, and while we're based in Wānaka, we work with clients nationwide on full-scope interiors, so book a consultation to see how we can help wherever you're based.
Which Designer Fabric Brands Are Available In-Store?
Part of what sets our sample lounge apart is the calibre of brands on our shelves. We stock Warwick, James Dunlop, Designs of the Times, Textilia, Designer Guild, Ralph Lauren, and Mulberry Home, so you're choosing from genuinely premium fabric houses rather than a generic catalogue, and Warwick is worth exploring in its own right if you want to understand the craftsmanship behind a particular fabric. The real value, though, is in seeing them together in one place, so book a consultation with our team and we'll help you narrow it all down in person.
How Do I Choose the Right Upholstery Fabric for My Furniture?
For anything that gets daily use, like a sofa or a dining chair, rub count matters, since it tells you how many cycles of wear a fabric can handle before it starts to show. Natural fabrics like linen and wool offer a beautiful hand-feel but wear differently to performance fabrics, which are built to resist stains, fading, and heavy use without compromising on look. This is exactly why seeing a large-format sample in person is so useful, because a small swatch can hide how a pattern or texture will actually sit across a full piece of furniture. If you're furnishing from scratch, our furniture collection is a good place to start pairing pieces with the fabrics you've shortlisted.
How Do I Choose Curtain Fabric or Wallpaper for My Home?
Pattern scale is one of the easiest things to get wrong from a small sample, so it's worth considering how a print will repeat across a full curtain drop or an entire wall before you commit. You'll also want to think about whether you need light-filtering fabric that softens a room during the day, or a full blockout for bedrooms and media spaces. Wallpaper works best when it's chosen alongside your soft furnishings rather than in isolation, so the two feel considered as a set rather than competing for attention. Our guides on custom curtains, blinds, and shutters and improving your home with custom curtains go into more detail on both.
How Do I Book a Sample Lounge Consultation in Wānaka?
Booking a consultation is straightforward, and if you already have rough measurements or photos of the space you're working on, bringing those along will help our designers give you more specific guidance on the day. We are based in Wānaka and service nation-wide, so whether you're popping into the sample lounge in person or working with us remotely, our team is ready to help. Get in touch if you have any questions before you book.
