Sean

Why hire an interior designer?

I think hiring an interior designer is a great way to make your vision come to life. A lot of people may have ideas for their home, but struggle with how it will all come together. A designer is great for interpreting your personal aesthetic and making it work in your home.

How would you describe the role of an interior designer?

I would describe the role of an interior designer as a varied one. Sometimes we are psychiatrists, sometimes we are relationship councillors, but at the core, our job is to make people fall in love with their houses. It is all about creating a home that is a complete reflection of those that live within it. The goal of my work is to create a house that is tailored perfectly to the client in both aesthetic and functionality, all while interpreting their likes and dislikes into a defined concept and cohesive design.

When choosing an interior designer what questions should a customer be asking?

Choosing an interior designer is an extremely personal decision. I think in the age of social media, people are a lot more informed with what options they have with regards to their homes. I definitely think a designer’s aesthetic is important in the customer’s decision-making process. I would check out sites like Instagram and Pinterest to see what a designer is drawn to, or what their design mantra is. For me, I love colour and pattern and I like to define my designs as classic with a twist. For me, infusing colour and a bit of unexpected whimsy is what I am all about.

How colours work best in interior designs…

Picking a bold statement colour and painting the entire room in it, or wallpapering the entire room on a bold print is my favourite way to allow for the pieces you love to stand out and take centre stage. In my opinion, a successful room should have many things that the eye dances upon and no one feature should jump out at you. There’s no maximum number of colours you are allowed in one space, although I work with my clients to create stunning schemes with prints, patterns and colours that complement each other.
In juxtaposition to this, having a neutral wall can also really help your colour scheme to stand out. Picking a tonal paint or wallpaper to sink into the background can create the canvas for a jewel toned sofa or an exquisite piece of vintage art to shine. I’ve also created schemes with clients where we use all of the same colour in one room, just in differing tones, to create a vibrant space that they loved. The world really is your oyster when it comes to colour – once we’ve found a jumping off point together, there’s no stopping us!

What to consider practically

When choosing a colour scheme, practical elements definitely need to be considered. If your room is north facing and gets minimal natural light, painting it a warm tone might feel more welcoming, whereas a room with all day sunshine or a door to the garden could be your chance to go bold, bright and beautiful. Seeing colours on swatches, or even painted on the wall can help you to visualise what will work best in your home.
A colour scheme usually tells a story through your home, and works in harmony with the items and people who inhabit it.

How to start planning

There are a myriad of ways to start planning, but my absolute favourite is to start pulling out fabrics and see what speaks to me, my team and my clients. Curating a colour scheme from there flows naturally and that’s how we start to build our design. We would then start to build a concept with a mood board to show the design direction, but this can adapt and change until the client is happy with the overall feel of the space.

Designing a house for sale is a completely different approach than designing a house for living. I have worked on numerous home staging projects, which basically involve depersonalising a home so that it appeals to the consumer as well as a specific target market for the area.

Home staging may mean de-cluttering personal belongings, freshening up the colours, neutralising the space and bringing in more contemporary furniture. Allowing the home and its features to stand out and enabling the viewer to visualise their life in the house is the goal of staging a home for sale. It’s important to keep the house fresh and free of odours (e.g. smoking and pets). A few scented candles and some strategically placed plants work wonders!

I offer home staging as well as interior design services, and I enjoy both approaches to design equally.