Saving The Manor sees South London inspired luxury wallpaper brand hit TV screens

By Regina Motalib

The founder of a high-end wall paper company who set up her business from her kitchen table in Herne Hill in 2016 is set to be featured on HGTV’s Saving the Manor. 

Danika Pope, 49, founder of Sand & Sushi, was approached by developer couple Dean Poulton and Borja De Maqua who feature on the show renovating their 18th century Georgian estate in Warwickshire.

Danika said: “I was approached by Dean and Borja with this opportunity to be featured on the HGTV show.

“They have developed their brand on social media under the handle @mytinyestate and have racked up quite a few followers. It seemed an amazing opportunity as it would highlight Sand & Sushi to a wider audience.”

Danika’s passion to set up her wall coverings company derived from her love of interiors and Victorian and Japanese inspired surface patterns.

While she is the creative business mind for the brand, her sister Kimberley Day – a co-director of Sand & Sushi – produces the patterns.

Kimberley also works as a concept artist for the film industry and has worked on films such as Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Matrix Resurrection.

The talented sisters had already been working with My Tiny Estate.

She explained: “We had decided to collaborate on a reproduction Edwardian paper. Dean and Borja had discovered remnants of Edwardian wallpaper in the servants quarters of the main house they were renovating. They asked us to re-create the paper but with sensitivity to the era it was produced.”

The HGTV show ‘Saving The Manor’ is projected to attract 130 million viewers worldwide and will also be accessible to the 50 plus million subscribers on Discovery Plus.

Danika and Kimberley will be featured on HGTV’s latest reality series. Danika explained: “On the show, we are given a tour by the boys and shown the room where our paper will be hung.

“We were also filmed in our studio working on recreating a new wallpaper for them. There is a grand reveal when our paper is produced and ready to be used.”

Danika is still connected to Sand & Sushi’s birthplace and its South London roots.

She said: “I stay in South London regularly and love immersing myself in the place where my brand was born. I lived in Blackheath for a short period of time before moving to Herne Hill with my two young sons.

“Much of my company’s early mood-boards came from the inspiration I got from our walks in the local green places such as Blackheath Common, Peckham Rye Park and Dulwich Park and the Georgian and Victorian architecture surrounding those places.”

Saving the Manor will be aired on 7th October on HGTV and Discovery Plus.

Pictured top: Danika and Kimberley (Picture: @sandandsushi)