Welcome to my Interior Design Blog

Hello World – and welcome to my Interior Design Blog!

I set up my interior design studio in Beaconsfield in April 2016 and have now comfortably settled into my new workspace – more about that my coming blogs’ as first I want to give you an insight into what has brought me here, and how.

Let’s start at square one…

As a young child my parents would often come home to rooms re-arranged, although as you might expect my attempts would not always plan out how I envisaged them to look! This was when my Dad introduced me to graph paper, scale and to perfectly plan out a room – little did he know this would become rather an obsession! My Dad taught me to scale the room and cut the size of each piece of furniture to scale with the paper I was using; I would then move the paper cut-outs around the room and make sure all the dimensions and scale would be correct. Of course on plan, the scale of furniture would be easy to see, but not the height – therefore there were a few more lessons to be learned!

I have always had a natural interest in art and design – at school I would work through my lunches in the art room, pushing my ideas as far as possible. My first internship was with Pip Isherwood Interiors when I was 17, this experience deepened my hunger to learn more. After my A-Levels I followed my passion and was accepted at Chelsea College of Art and Design for an Art Foundation (this is the course you must complete to be accepted onto an interior design degree). After much research and deliberation, I choose to study interior design at Regent’s University in London (previously known as the American Intercontinental University). It was a four-year course, a year longer than other degrees, however the benefit would to further advance my technical knowledge and be awarded an American degree, as well as the British.

Throughout my studies I carried out internships; starting at a furniture and interior design studio in Shoreditch – Jimmie Martin. This was for the purpose of understanding how furniture was built, what made it good quality and experience first hand the wide-ranging nature of how fabrics and finishes can behave. This can depend on the type of furniture, it’s purpose and it’s environment (yes – even temperature should be considered!). This was followed by a internship at KCA International – an world renowned award-winning luxury commercial interior design company. I worked for one of Khuan Chew’s teams in what can only be described as a factory – with over 70 designers churning out plans and designs for Hotel’s around the world such as the Burj Al Arab in Dubai; Palaces, Planes and Super-yachts. During the time my internship lasted, it was enough to learn I wanted to focus on residential interior design. I followed onto a 6-month internship at Porous Designs – after this work-placement I was given my first job as Junior Designer. I was very fortunate to work closely with my directors and learnt far more than I could have wished for. I continued my career through to Helen Green London followed by Hill House Interiors where I was a Senior Designer. After 3 years at Hill House I decided to move back to Buckinghamshire, to my roots, to be close to family and friends. For the next year I worked as a freelance designer compiling concepts, drawings and specifications for leading interior designers in London. This gave me the time and funding to set up my own business in Beaconsfield, which you are witnessing the fruitions of now.

via Pinterest – Jimmie Martin Interiors

via Pinterest – Hill House Interiors

via Pinterest – Helen Green London

The images in this interior design blog show the diversity of design that I was fortunate enough to learn from during my career to date – and are examples of how an Interior Designer can dramatically change the look of your home to suit your own personal taste.

Choosing an interior designer for a project can be a challenging decision, with so many options available. My advice would be to make sure your interior designer has the correct qualifications, relevant industry experience and of course have a friendly approachable manner. I hope by setting out my experience in this first blog entry; my readers can understand the work and determination I commit into my passion and career in interior design.

Interior Design Berkhamsted – Tobias Oliver Interiors

In my following blogs I will be giving you an insight into projects I am working on and topics on interiors to get your creative juices going. I’m going to treat this as a lifestyle blog – so you’ll get to know me and the business, and what makes us tick! My aim is to bring stimulating & relevant trends from all over the globe, right here to this interior design blog to give an insight to products and ideas we use, develop & love. As designers we want to share information; design is about making great design, even better. Through this process new ideas are born, adding to the evolutionary progression of the creative industries. Let’s get designing… together.

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