Oxfordshire Limited Edition – July 2019

84 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition|June 2019

TheduoatClareNorrishareunusuallypracticalwhenitcomestointeriordesign,as

JillSikkenstellsSarahMillington

TOP DESIGN TEAM

L

ooksmightnotbe

everything,butwhenit

comestointeriordesign,

you’dthinktheymighttake

precedence.NotforClare

NorrishandJillSikkens,the

pairbehindClareNorrishInteriorDesign.

Whiletheyvalueaesthetics,functionality

countsformuchmore.“It’sabitofa

bugbearforme,”admitsJill.“Ifindthatalot

ofinteriordesignersfocusoncoloursand

thingslikethat,butit’sactually,‘Doesyour

bathroomdooropenwiththevanityunit

you’vechosen?’Ifitdoesn’t,you’vegotabig

problem.Themainobjectiveis,isthedesign

workingforwhattheclientneedsittodo?

It’sabalance,butthere’snopointdesigning

alivingroomthatlooksbeautifulifafamily

doesn’thaveanywheretoputthetoysaway.”

AsthetwodesignersatMarlow-based

ClareNorrishInteriorDesign,Clareand

Jillworkintandem,providinganinterior

andarchitecturaldesignservicetoproperty

developersandprivateclients.Withafocus

onresidential,around 90 percentoftheir

propertiesareinLondon,withprojects

rangingfromsmall-scalerenovationstoentire

newbuilds.They’reatight-knitunit,andJill

couldn’timagineitanyotherway.

“I’vebeenwithClarefortwo-and-a-half

yearsandwe’resimilarinage,bothwith

children,bothreallypassionateaboutdesign,

andthedynamicsintheofficereallybenefit

fromthat,”shesays.“Wesharealotofthe

samemoralsandprinciplesanditgivesusa

focusedanddirectwayofworkingintermsof

ourclientsandhowwetreatthem.”

Clareformedthecompanyin 2013 after

adecadeatLondoninteriordesignhouses.

She’snotjustadesigner,butaqualified

interiorarchitect,enablinghertoproduce

technicaldrawings.Jillsaystheyliketo