Meet the York couple behind Lola Design whose dream paid off

When husband and wife Frank and Amanda Mountain combined their talents and set up their creative business, Lola Design, it was with some trepidation.
Amanda and Frank in the kitchen with their dog. (James Hardisty).Amanda and Frank in the kitchen with their dog. (James Hardisty).
Amanda and Frank in the kitchen with their dog. (James Hardisty).

But their brave decision paid off. The couple are a dream team, with award-winning artist Amanda working on designs for greetings cards, art prints, stationery and wallpaper and Frank using his sales and marketing skills to make sure the products are ethically produced, distributed and seen.

“Amanda is an amazing talent so I had no doubts about the quality of the designs but we knew that we had to get large-scale sales if we were to make a go of it and we did that by doing trade shows where we are able to do business-to-business deals,” says Frank.

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“They were expensive and we funded them ourselves from savings so it was all a huge leap of faith but it paid off.”

One of Amanda's Lola Design art prints.One of Amanda's Lola Design art prints.
One of Amanda's Lola Design art prints.

Amanda’s work is now on the shelves in John Lewis, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, along with other stores, and is stocked on the Lola Design online shop.

The headquarters of what is a fast-growing operation is their period town house in York and it’s a textbook case of how to run a design, manufacturing, distribution and sales business from home.

“Kim Putter, who does a lot of the behind the scenes administration for us is now based in South Africa and she is amazing and the brilliant family-run company that processes our orders is in Scunthorpe,” says Frank.

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The couple sold their property in London to relocate to their native Yorkshire and have never regretted the decision.

Amanda and Frank's sitting room with Farrow and Ball's Haugue Blue on the wall and, left, a soft sculpture by Mister Finch. (James Hardisty).Amanda and Frank's sitting room with Farrow and Ball's Haugue Blue on the wall and, left, a soft sculpture by Mister Finch. (James Hardisty).
Amanda and Frank's sitting room with Farrow and Ball's Haugue Blue on the wall and, left, a soft sculpture by Mister Finch. (James Hardisty).

Starting off in the suburb of Acomb, they found it too quiet after the hustle and bustle of the capital, so they moved to a street just outside the medieval walls.

“We can be in the city centre in seconds and Bishopthorpe Road and its lovely independent shops and cafes is just round the corner,” says Amanda. The house had been renovated but needed some work to make it their own. However, after pouring all their money into making their products, they had to be patient.

Sanding, repairing and varnishing the floorboards was the first job and when the first full lockdown came and everything ground to a halt for a few weeks, the couple took the opportunity to paint the open-plan sitting and dining room. It is now in Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue and Dulux Jasmine white.

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“There was a hand-printed wallpaper on the chimney breast before so we agonised about ripping it off but it was the right thing to do,” says Amanda.

Some of the furniture has been gathered over the years and moved along with them and there are also some new buys.

The leather chair by the fire belonged to Frank’s father, the sofa is from Sofa.com and the turquoise chest is from TK Maxx, which is a favourite shopping haunt for the Mountains, along with online boutique Rockett St George.

There is also work by other designer makers including Leeds-based Mr Finch whose soft animal sculpture sits on the mantelpiece in the sitting room.

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“I bought it from the Imaginarium, which also stocks our work, and is one of my favourite shops,” says Amanda, who veered from her nature-based Lola Design work to paint herself a colourful abstract for the sitting area.

“It was a change for me to do that but most of my work has a nature theme. I am obsessed with animals and flowers and I like to mix the two together.”

Her love of colour is also evident in her prints, and sales of the frameable ones have rocketed since lockdown when people realised the importance of creating a beautiful home.

Amanda’s fox print on the wall of the dining room is one of the couple’s favourites and ties in with a cherished picture of a fox by printmaker Mark Hearld, who lives nearby.

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The tableware is handmade by Kate Semple, another local maker, and the wall planters are by Quail from the Imaginarium, in York.

The end wall of the kitchen has been revamped with metro tiles and Lola Designs’ best-selling botanical bee print.

The kitchen table was made bespoke and the surrounding benches are from Ikea topped with cushions made by Amanda in French mattress fabric. Upstairs, the main bedroom features their bee wallpapers, a bed from the French Bedroom Company and a green quilt from Oliver Bonas. The drawers are Ikea, reworked by adding new knobs.

The bathroom was also given a refresh with Farrow & Ball’s pretty pink Nancy’s Blushes and a bath mat from Anthropologie.

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The office-design studio is up on the first floor and a 50-hour week is normal for the Mountains.

While they are keen exponents of working from home, they are also careful not to get stir crazy. They take regular walks and have just got an allotment, where they plan to grow fruit, veg and wildflowers.

“We love what we do and we want to grow the business further,” says Frank. “But we need to disconnect from work and the allotment will help us do that.”

The Lola Design online shop is at www.loladesignltd.com

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James Mitchinson

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