Effective from: 1st May 2026
Clare’s Boutique & Shabby Chic (referred to as “the Business”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) respects your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you visit our website, purchase furniture, book workshops, or contact us.
We are based in Kent, United Kingdom. For the purposes of UK data protection law, we are the data controller of your personal information. This means we decide why and how your data is processed.
Please read this policy carefully. By using our website or services, you acknowledge the practices described here. If you do not agree with any part of this policy, please do not use our services
We collect personal information directly from you when you interact with us. This happens when you make a purchase, book a workshop, request a bespoke commission, sign up for our newsletter, or fill out the contact form.
We also collect information automatically through cookies when you browse our website. This includes your IP address, browser type, and pages visited. This helps us understand how customers use our site and improve their experience.
Sometimes we receive information from third parties such as payment processors or couriers. However, we only receive what is necessary to complete your transaction or delivery.
The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with us. For purchases and workshop bookings, we collect your full name, email address, phone number, billing address, and delivery address.
For bespoke furniture commissions, we may also collect photographs of your existing furniture and any written notes about your design preferences. This information is essential to complete your custom piece.
if you sign up for our newsletter, we collect only your email address. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every email.
We do not collect sensitive personal data such as health information, genetic data, or biometric data. We also do not knowingly collect data from children under the age of 18.
Under UK data protection law, we must have a legal basis to process your personal information. For most of our activities, the legal basis is performance of a contract. When you buy furniture or book a workshop, we need your data to fulfil that contract.
Another legal basis is legitimate interests. This allows us to send service messages, improve our website, and prevent fraud. We always balance our interests against your privacy rights.
Where we send marketing emails, the legal basis is your consent. You have the right to withdraw consent at any time without affecting other services.
For legal obligations such as tax records, the legal basis is compliance with the law.
We share your personal information only when necessary to provide our services. This includes sharing your delivery address with our couriers including Shipley for UK wide furniture delivery.
We share your payment information with our secure payment processors. These partners are fully compliant with UK data protection laws and do not retain your data longer than needed.
We do not share your information with advertisers, marketing agencies, or any other third parties for their own purposes. If we ever need to share data for a legitimate reason, we will ask for your explicit permission first.
In rare circumstances, we may be required to share data by law, such as for a court order or tax inspection. We will notify you where legally permitted.
We keep your personal information only as long as necessary. For purchase records, we retain data for six years to comply with tax and accounting laws. This is standard practice for UK businesses.
For workshop bookings and enquiries that do not result in a sale, we keep your data for two years. After that, it is securely deleted.
If you have signed up for our newsletter, we keep your email address until you unsubscribe. Once you unsubscribe, your email is removed from our mailing list immediately.
For bespoke commission records including photographs of your furniture, we keep these for three years in case you wish to order a matching piece later. You may request deletion of these photos at any time.
Under UK GDPR, you have several rights regarding your personal information. These rights are free to exercise and we will respond within one month.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us through the contact form on our website. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
Our website uses cookies. These are small text files stored on your device that help us remember your preferences and understand how you use our site.
We use essential cookies that are necessary for the website to function, such as remembering items in your shopping cart. These do not require consent.
We also use analytical cookies to track how visitors find our website and which pages they view. This helps us improve our content and user experience. You can disable these cookies in your browser settings.
Most web browsers accept cookies automatically. However, you can change your browser settings to reject cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent. Please note that some website features may not work properly without cookies.
We take the security of your personal information seriously. We use secure servers, encryption, and firewalls to protect your data from unauthorised access, disclosure, or destruction.
Our payment processors are fully compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). We do not store your full payment card details on our own systems.
While we do our best to protect your data, no transmission over the internet is completely secure. You share information at your own risk. However, we continuously update our security practices to meet industry standards.
If we ever discover a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and the relevant UK authorities within 72 hours as required by law.
Our website and services are intended for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18.
If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately. We will delete that information promptly.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on our website with the effective date at the top.
If we make significant changes that affect how we handle your personal data, we will notify you by email or through a notice on our website. Changes do not affect data collected under previous policies unless you agree otherwise.
We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us through our website contact form.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the United Kingdom. The ICO is the UK’s supervisory authority for data protection issues. Their website is ico.org.uk.
We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns before you contact the ICO. Please reach out to us first.
