Indoor-outdoor – beautiful living without limits
The thing I am absolutely passionate about is bringing interior and landscape design together. I call it indoor-outdoor and it makes for cleverer design, saves the client money and raises the whole level of the plans. But the skills involved in landscape and interior design are very different, and as far as I’m aware I’m the only designer who combines both.
Gardening was my first love – obsession! – but moving into interior design after winning the Great British Interior Design Challenge has expanded my vision. It’s amazing what can be achieved when you think about the two together and approach them as two sides of the same goal – achieving a beautiful place to live.
What can a designer do for you?
Any interior or garden overhaul can bring its fair share of pain and downright annoying stuff, especially if you have little experience in projects of this kind. The beauty of using a designer is that all that becomes the designer’s job. That leaves you free to make the most of the enjoyable parts of creating a new garden or home.
Gardening was my first love – obsession! – but moving into interior design after winning the Great British Interior Design Challenge has expanded my vision. It’s amazing what can be achieved when you think about the two together and approach them as two sides of the same goal – achieving a beautiful place to live.
Choosing the right designer for you
If somebody came to me wanting a primarily beige scheme, they would probably be in the wrong place! Though having said that I love being able to delve into new styles all the time. It keeps designing interesting for me and ensures the schemes I come up with are more interesting too.
Employing a designer, whether for your home or garden, is a partnership. You need to be able to trust the designer and feel confident in their approach. Find someone whose work and ethos appeals to you. If you have those things in common then you will more than likely get on and be able to create something remarkable together.
Designing a garden – what’s involved?
If I can introduce somebody to the world of living outside more and engaging in their outdoor space, then I’m over the moon. One of the parts of my job I love the most is the garden handover – sitting down and sharing a glass of wine with the client at the end of the work. They have handed me this space, trusting that I will create something amazing, and I feel like I’m giving it back in a whole new form.
People who want to have work done on their gardens already value their garden space highly, they’ve often bought a property because of the garden, so we are already off to a great start with regards to having a great relationship and building something beautiful and unique.
A home as individual as you
People say the cobbler’s children have no shoes - that people who work in a particular field might neglect it for themselves. That is so not the case for me. It’s really important for me to feel good in my home.
Am I constantly looking to change stuff? It’s more that I see it as my playground. I can try out ideas, experiment with my love of pattern and colour.
Go strong, go bold – pattern and colour transform your home
The wonderful, wonderful world of colour. What does colour mean to me? How do I use colour in my work?
Colour is emotion. It can bring light or dark. It is such an individual choice, with its ability to create mood and light, and bring personality to a space. Colour has been written about and theorised over by most cultures at one time or another, and for good reason. We are eternally fascinated by the potential mood changing effects it has on us.
Using a designer – not just for the elite
I was having a cup of tea with my lovely kitchen floor fitter and, as so often happens when people find out what I do, talk turned to some work he is doing on his house. It got me thinking about the value of using a designer. There’s a misconception that hiring someone like me is in the expensive luxury category, only for the wealthy elite. But you don’t have to spend ridiculous amounts of money or take out a second mortgage.
It’s the designer’s job to understand the process, the shortcuts, the pain-free routes. I bring masses of vision, not to mention a bulging address books of suppliers, ultimately providing a wonderful experience and a beautiful space that you will love. That’s pretty good value.
Winning the Great Interior Design Challenge
I hate to think of how many people have seen me cry and wail on telly!
I had never done anything like that before. I’d obsessed over my own home of course. And then, a bit bored one winter evening, I applied for the Great Interior Design Challenge and the next thing I knew I was through.
Every step of the way I kept saying to myself, I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to be on telly. But I knew I needed a challenge. And once I decided to say yes to it I just threw myself into it. Once I commit to something I’m 100% in!
Remote design – reaching round the world
When Netflix showed my season of the Great Interior Design Challenge I suddenly had people approach me from abroad. I’m always testing out new ideas, so if someone suggests something that looks like fun, I just can’t say no. Which is how I entered the world of remote design, using technology to help people around the world.
A couple in Mexico sent me messages and pictures of their living room evolution on a daily basis. And a woman in Canada contacted me after watching the programme, and we got on so well that we decided to trial a remote design service for her new home.
