Oxfordshire Limited Edition – July 2019

86 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition|June 2019

isasenseoftheclient’scharacter–without

which,saysJill,ahomecanfeelsoulless.

“Thoughtfuldetailbasedontheclient’s

personalityandinterestsmakesitpersonal,”

shesays.“YoucanseesomethingonPinterest

that’sfantastic,buthowdoyoumakeit

yours?That’soneofmyfavouritepartsofthe

job.Whydoyouwanttospendmoneyon

somethingifitdoesn’tmeansomething,ifit

justlookspretty?”

AnotherofJill’sbugbears–asidefrom

thelackoffunctionalityininteriordesign–is

people’smisconceptionsaboutit.

“Youmighthaveafriendwhohasreally

greatstyle–thatdoesn’tmakeheraninterior

designer,”shesaysbluntly.“Idogetfrustrated

aboutitsometimes.There’stechnicalskill

thatwebringthathasrealvalue.Pickingout

fabricsisjustasmallpartoftherole.It’sless

than 10 percentofwhatwedo.”

O

nthesubjectoffunctionality,

whichdoesseemtocomeupa

lot,clientsdon’talwaysseethe

needforit.“Sometimesyou

havetosay,‘Youdon’thavethe

space’or,‘Youcan’tmakeitlookexactlyhow

youwant,’”saysJill.“Wedon’twantpeopleto

havetodothingstwice.Wehavetoreallybe,

let’ssay,sensible.Welistentowhattheclient

wantsbutit’sourjobtofuture-proof.”

Whilenoteveryonemightbeopentoit,

Jillsaystherearemanybenefitstoengaging

aninteriordesigner.“Ithinkit’sjustacaseof

findingclientsthatareinterestedinspending

themoney,”shesays.

“Sometimesinteriordesign,especially

ifyouhaven’thaditdonebefore,seems

intimidating.Youthinkyoucandoityourself

ClareNorrishInteriorDesign,Second

Floor, 55 WestStreet,Marlow,SL 72 LS,

( 01628 ) 486100 / 07791843712 ,

clarenorrishinteriordesign.com

andhowcanyoutrustthatpeoplewillget

you?Ithinktheonethingthatisn’twidely

enoughknownaboutinteriordesignisthe

costsavingcomponent.Ifyoudon’thave

someonethinkingaboutroomlayoutsand

functionalitythenthingsaregoingtoget

missed.Theotherthingiswithbuyinggoods,

soifyou’rebuyinglighting,furniture,fabrics,

curtains,thatsortofthing,wegetamassive

discount.Ourbusinessmodelisthatwepass

thatontoclients.”

Acurrenthottopicininteriordesignis

sustainability,andJillfeelsthiswillonlytake

ongreaterimportance.

“Whenpeoplearedesigningit’salso

abouttheeffectontheplanetandcreating

environmentsthatarereallyhealthyinmany

aspects,”shesays.“Ithinkthat’sareally

excitingelementofdesign.It’sthinkingabout

theeffectofyourprojectonawiderarea.

Clientsaregettingmoreinterestedinthat.”

Whateverthefutureholds,ClareandJill

plantocontinueinthesamevein.

“It’sactuallyagreattimetobein

design,”reflectsJill.“We’vegotsomelovely

clients,we’regettingalotofword-of-mouth

recommendations,whichistheabsolutebest,

andwe’reenjoyingbeingcreativeandpushing

thingsalittlebitmore.Wefeelreallyblessed,

actually.”L

‘Thoughtfuldetail

basedontheclient’s

personalityand

interestsmakes

itpersonal’

HOMES INTERIORS