Its' individually designed hotel rooms display a unique blend of country and contemporary, while imaginatively themed restaurants take their cue from rural settings; before exploding into something slightly surreal but homely nonetheless.

The challenge

Renowned hotel and restaurant designers, Tibbatts Abel were invited to create a theme for the chain, incorporating comfort, style, atmosphere and an element of fun.

Wanting to make the sure the theme was appealing without being tacky, they drew inspiration from the sleek yet solid STK restaurant chain in New York and returned with a quirky modern design.

Much of this quirk was lent to the lighting design which was to be provided by Chantelle Lighting, who Tibbatts Abel have worked alongside on many previous projects to impressive results.

The solution

Adam Tibbatts said: "The restaurants in the chain were to pride themselves on the finest quality steaks, and with The Lazy Cow being the banner for the business, my first thought was milk bottles.

"We were operating on tight budgets so needed to work with a designer who would offer us a workable solution at the right price and we knew we could find that in Chantelle Lighting.

Operating in the heart of the Lancashire countryside, Chantelle sourced the traditional shaped milk bottles from a farm down the road and set about making the bespoke lighting required.

Anthony Holly, Chantelle's Managing Director, said: "This was a great project for us, enabling us to use our wealth of creative talent and artisan skills to create the lighting specifically for their needs.

"We indulged in our own spot of nostalgia while sourcing the bottles and once in our factory we attached lamp holders to the neck of each bottle and dropped these inside with a filament bulb to create the desired effect. These particular light fittings were fitted onto a custom made track system.

Adam said: "Seeing rows and rows of milk bottles when you enter the restaurant certainly does create that 'wow' factor, sparks conversations among diners, and better still, gets them telling their friends about The Lazy Cow."

Keeping to brief, rooms at The Lazy Cow boutique hotel in Warwick were also designed with originality and quirk, one of these being The Moo Room, which sports a loose, fun feel, with its full-sized bespoke cow prints and milk bottle chandeliers.

Anthony added: "We have created chandeliers from all kinds of materials, from row upon row of delicate crystals to the shabby chic tea cups and saucers, but we had never before been asked for milk bottles.

"But then that's the beauty of our job!"

The result

Adam said: "I am more than happy with the end result and feel proud to have been involved in this project. Chantelle worked to brief, timescales and budgets laid out, making our job easier and ensuring a show-stopping end result."

The business is trading very well and the owner is delighted with the end result. Feedback from his clientele has also been very positive.