Interior Designer
What is your professional background prior to KLC?
Before starting KLC I went to the University of Leeds where I studied BSc Geography.
When you were looking for courses, what appealed to you about this course?
I was really attracted to the fact that KLC offered a Diploma course that could be done in 1 year. Having just done 3 years at university, I didn’t want to then go and do the same all over again.
How does the course fit your lifestyle?
During the first term, I worked both Saturdays and Sundays to earn some money, however, it soon became apparent that it wasn’t possible to do that. The Full Time Diploma does take up a lot of your time and it can become very intense and stressful – however, this can absolutely be avoided with good time management, as you soon learn throughout the course!
What are you enjoying most about the course?
My favourite part of the course was sourcing because you can make a space come to life by simply choosing the materials and finishes, but I also really enjoy using SketchUp. SketchUp is a fantastic program that allows you to really get a feel for how your space is going to look without having to actually get the contractors in.
The most enjoyable project on the course was definitely the group project. For our group project, the tutors thought it best to put us into one large group rather than 3 or 4 smaller groups. This really allowed us to bond as a group and to understand what each individual is good at, allowing them to focus on their strengths.
Where do you look for inspiration?
Magazines like Wallpaper*, World of Interiors and Icon are brilliant sources of inspiration as they don’t just focus on interiors but also product, furniture and garden design, so you can take aspects of those and implement them into your designs.
When looking for concept inspiration, Pinterest and Dezeen are really good places to start because they show much more detail and can be far more specific than Google searches. Free newspapers such as Metro and the Evening Standard are also brilliant and really helped me with Project 1 (residential design) as they usually show property sections which can sometimes help to inspire you.
