Trade magazines like Cabinet Maker, Retail and Professional Furnisher and The Furnisher are where the furniture industry talks about itself. Articles as diverse as the pro's and con's of imported furniture or the use of unsustainable forests are discussed and aired.

It's also where smaller manufacturing companies like our own get an opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with the industry giants and tell our own stories which perhaps aren't as glamorous but are never the less important to us.

The first article tells the story of how to achieve high quality photography without breaking the bank and uses Revival Beds as a case study. The second story tells how Paul and Ally Buckley had to use a British made painted Sleigh bed from Revival Beds to furnish a bedroom in their French farmhouse. The whole story being covered by TV's My Beautiful Home Abroad.

Before you can provide a solution to a problem you have to identify the problem.

We knew people associated Revival Beds with patchwork quilts and chintzy throws and lavender bags, which is OK but it does limit your market. Our customers told us the beds were fine but the time had come to appeal to a completely fresh market. In order to stay on shop floors we would have to change our look, the problem was how?

The decision to photograph a whole collection of beds and furniture is an expensive, time consuming and risky leap of faith for a small manufacturing company like ours (15 staff) so we had to get it right first time.

We’d met NONO designs and had been impressed by their enthusiasm and skill at interior design. They’re a supplier of luxury furnishing accessories to outlets all over the country. We called them and asked them to help us with textiles and props for a planned photo shoot.

The pitch - NONO would get credits on our new brochure and links to their website from ours. Customers buying beds would then be able to achieve the new look for themselves. Plus NONO would get an introduction to many of the shops we supply by default.

Revival beds would get a first rate set of pictures which would bring the collection into the 21st century.

The theme for the shoot is ‘tradition with a twist”, a blend of old and the exotic.

Paul Pigram from NONO was quick to see the implications. “Two relatively small companies with different products and different customer bases working together to achieve a level of exposure which neither was likely to achieve without a big-spend. It’s all about punching above your weight in the current economic climate” NONO liked the ‘tradition with a twist’ theme and put together some mood boards to signpost the shoot. Once we’d seen and agreed these they sent over masses of fabrics, lamps, and faux fur throws in a couple of great big boxes - It was like Christmas morning in the office.

NONO Designs and Revival Beds team up for brochure photography.

Paul Bucklay's "My Dream Home Abroad" gets painted Sleigh bed from Revival beds