DE S IGN CENTRE


is particularly important when working with historic or characterful buildings, where the designer’s role is not to impose a look but to understand what the architecture can bear. “Every house has its own language, rhythm, proportions and how the light moves through it,” she says. “My job is to read and interpret that carefully and combine it with my clients’ very personal wishes.” The quirks, she adds, are often what guide a project towards what will feel natural rather than forced.” Interior designer Linda Boronkay, who designed


the Pierre Frey Salon for WOW!house in 2022, works across hospitality and residential interiors. She frames professional expertise as the ability to anticipate what might go wrong before it becomes expensive. “You learn to look out for potential pitfalls and mistakes,” she says. Hiring an interior designer, she argues, can save money in the long term because you are not “going to pay twice for something that doesn’t fit through the door”. With experience, Boronkay says, a designer


begins a project already alert to its potential issues. “You will start a project, and you already know what the risks are,” she says. “You’re already looking out for them and you mitigate for them.” Once a scheme moves into reality, the practical


value of an experienced designer becomes still more visible. Designers manage the realities that clients often underestimate: contractors, suppliers, budgets, timelines, regulations, quality control and relationships. Bell describes this as being “guided


through the process with the confidence and support of your chosen interior designer”. A designer can advise “on regulations, suppliers, builders and much more”, filling gaps that can be time-consuming and costly to get wrong. It is here, in the million and one micro-decisions of a project, that professional stamina becomes as important as taste. Hughes makes a similar point about the designer


as interpreter, scheduler and coordinator. Clients, he says, appreciate someone who can “listen,


“A TRAINED DESIGNER MUST CHOREOGRAPH THE


COMPLETE PROCESS CALMLY WHILE SUPPORTING AND ADVOCATING FOR THE CLIENT ALONG THE WAY”


interpret, plan and schedule a scheme,” and know how to brief contractors, cabinetmakers, plumbers, upholsterers and lighting specialists. In the client’s eyes, he adds, “a trained designer is always the de facto project manager” and must “choreograph the complete process calmly while supporting and advocating for the client along the way.” Then there is the accumulated knowledge of having done it many times before. Graham says


designers are especially crucial at the beginning, particularly at the layout stage, because they understand how a client wants to live. Having put in countless houses over a 20-year career, she says, creates knowledge that is incredibly valuable. It can avoid costly mistakes because “you’ve seen it before, and you’ve done it before.” That knowledge also extends to materials and


makers. For von Stockhausen, whose work often sits in dialogue with existing buildings, a professional knows what will endure, what will settle into a room, and which craftsmen can execute it. “I rely enormously on our specialist makers,” she says. “It’s essential to the depth of our projects.” Longevity is key: “It’s imperative to understand how materials respond to daily family life over 10 or 20 years”. Finally, there is judgement. Confidence in a


designer is not about imposing a will, but guiding clients beyond what they could have imagined. “It’s all about trust,” says Graham. “We want them to feel like we’ve given them the tools to take the next stage for themselves.” That


is the real achievement of professional


design: the application of experience to a thousand invisible decisions. After years of walking into these homes to find their story, I’ve learned that the best ones aren't just about how they look, but the logic beneath the surface. When a professional has done their job well, my task as a writer becomes easy. I’m not just describing a pretty room; I’m documenting a house that knows exactly what it’s supposed to be.


ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT: The inviting bar area at Beihouse, Linda Boronkayʼs recent membersʼ club in Beirut, a project that incorporated local artisan skills wherever possible; a refined Mayfair pied-à-terre by Salvesen Graham that went through some drastic layout changes to bring it up to date. The subtly textured sitting room features grasscloth wallcovering by Phillip Jeffries and a Vaughan ‛Lotus Leafʼ table lamp


-52-


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72