In the last little while, I've been getting a lot of questions about why I called my business West Egg, can you guess why?! Well, it's a little bit long-winded but here goes. In 2007, I moved into a flat in London with my then boyfriend, now husband. And when you move in with someone, everything gets co-mingled, including books. And he had a lot of books. First I read The Beautiful and The Damned over a weekend, which I quite liked, so then I read The Great Gatsby, which I loved. In fact I loved it so much, as soon as I got to the end, I went back to the beginning and read it again. West Egg is the fictitious place where Nick's cottage and Gatsby's mansion are located in the book. At this point in my life I was working at a hedge fund, absolutely nothing to do with interiors. But I used to daydream about this business I could run, I'd imagine what it would look like, what kind of furniture it would stock, etc. It was all daydreams and little thoughts here and there, when I was on the bus to work or sitting in a meeting.
Then, sometime after that, I saw the 1974 film version of the Great Gatsby with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. The little cottage where Gatsby's friend and neighbour, Nick, lives, made me sit bolt upright. Outside, it had a lovely weatherboard exterior, a wooden deck and porch with lovely old pieces of wooden furniture and then on the grass further towards the water, a lovely metal cafe table with a chair next to it. The interior was even more appealing to me because it looked comfortable and inviting. Worn leather chairs, wooden dressers, a few bits of painted furniture and a simple layout. The walls were painted in muted Farrow & Ball type tones with low level lighting and simple linen curtains. I just thought it was the perfect little house. So, that's the Great Gatsby connection.
The other part of the tale, is that my maiden name before I was married was Eggleston. Louisa Eggleston. Changing your name when you get married is such a weird experience. Have any of you found that? I really wanted to be Louisa Blackmore because I wanted to start this next chapter of my life, of course, but I felt a bit sad leaving Louisa Eggleston behind. It had been my name for 28 years, it seemed strange to change it!
But anyway, I changed it, and that was that. Later on in 2010, when I had my little light-bulb moment on a transatlantic flight home, I decided to take the plunge and start my own business and I knew the business would be called West Egg. I didn't ever think of other options. Some university friends came to stay that weekend, and one told me to buy the domain name straightaway, even if I changed my mind. So I did. And that was the beginning.
I can't find any photographs online of the set design of the cottage from the 1974 film to share with you. The set was designed by Peter Howitt, a 4 time Oscar nominated English set decorator. I would so love to meet him and ask him all about it. I wonder if he'll be going to see the new version of the film? I'm definitely going to see it, although when I heard it was going to be in 3D, I did cringe a little. It just seems a bit unnecessary. I can't wait to see Carey Mulligan as Daisy, a character I found really irritating. Have you seen the film yet? If so, what did you think?
