Interior Designer
What was your background before KLC?
I worked in luxury travel PR surrounded by beautiful hotel design. A huge perk was getting to visit these hotels around the world, often with press in tow. I always laid claim to the interior mags lying around the office and eventually made the decision to follow my passion and switch careers.
Why did you decide to study Interior Design?
I had a creative spark in me that I wasn’t able to express in my job and even though I did the occasional evening class in printing or painting it wasn’t enough. I love visiting galleries and museums and have always been interested in design – when I started big school and felt very grown up I redecorated my bedroom (which still looks the same!).
What did you think of the course?
Hard work! But so very worth it. I now have a solid foundation in the key skills needed for a design project. It’s obviously the very beginning for me and I can’t wait to embark on the next stage as a working designer.
What are your design strengths?
I believe I have good spatial awareness and so always enjoyed the space planning stages of a project. I love design development and testing out ideas. Perspective sketching is definitely improving and I feel pretty comfortable in CAD.
What space best represents you?
Tricky one… My personal design style over the past year has definitely become more minimal. It could be that I was influenced by my essay on Modernism and the Bauhaus which I found fascinating – especially in the context of the cultural conditions from which it grew out of. I do get drawn to functional but beautiful designs.
Which are your favourite interiors?
Well even though I mention minimalism above I’m inspired by a range of interiors. With my background in luxury hotels, there are so many I could mention – UXUA in Brazil (ex-creative director of Diesel), Viceroy New York (Roman & Williams), and Ett Hem in Stockholm (Ilse Crawford).
Though London is definitely up there in hotel design – from the stylish Mondian near the South Bank to quirky little hideouts like the Zetter Townhouse.
I also have to mention the V&A (the café) and also the Natural History Museum – beautiful!
Who is your favourite designer?
As with interiors, there isn’t one designer… Last year I saw an exhibition by Marcel Wanders in Amsterdam which was magical and I recently saw the new exhibition on Charles & Ray Eames who were not only prolific but incredibly diverse designers.
Likewise, Thomas Heatherwick who can apply himself to designing almost anything. Ingo Maurer’s lights, Mies van der Rohe, the Nordic designers, Mid-Century Modern and then Minimalists like Tadao Ando and John Pawson.
