Did you spend last year’s lockdowns looking around your home and dreaming up improvements to make a nicer living environment? Look no further. This blog post is for you.

We’ve teamed up with Gloria Sanchez to share her insights on what good design means, creating a design vision and her favourite furniture shops. Gloria is the co-founder of Tailored Living, a London-based interior design company that develops bespoke home designs based on a philosophy of implementing the customer’s personality, taste, and lifestyle. The company has delivered interior designs to some of the most prominent London homes.

 

What is good design?

“Interior design massively impact how we feel both physically and mentally in our homes. As designers, our objective is to awaken positive feelings and create spaces that make the people living there feel great.”

“Good design is a personal experience. What works for one person, won’t work for others. It’s easy for designers to develop spaces that look good based on the most recent design trends. But it isn’t easy to create a space that will make the person living there feel great for years after delivery. That’s why during the design brief and overall design process we take extra care to ensure the final interior encompasses the personality and preferences of the client.”

 

 

How do you develop your design ideas?

“Our design process is all about understanding the customer. It starts with conversations where we attempt to develop a shared vision for the space. We’ll discuss their lives, values, aesthetic preferences and what they want to achieve with the space. We are always delighted if we can discover personal items such as inherited furniture, travel memories, or art to develop the designs.”

“When we have developed a profile and vision, we can start sketching and translate the ideas onto a mood board which we’ll use for the final designs. The execution of the project will only begin when we have a vision that makes the customer feel good.”

 

 

Where do you shop?

“My favourite place to shop is Chelsea Harbour Design Centre. They have the most extensive selection of everything under one roof. A close second is Andrew Martin. Their style is relaxed and allows for sophisticated items that are quirky and a little different. We deliver designs that will last for years. It’s important to me that the furniture we work with can stand the test of time.”

“Creating living spaces and interior designs does not have to cost a fortune. It’s possible to find great items on the highstreet. Zara Home and H&M home have many products that can help set the ambience of a room. Sometimes, the little things such as a flower vase or a cushion with an accent colour reinforce and complete the vision.”

 

 

How do people get started with interior design?

“Planning and developing a vision is an essential step of any interior design project. Start by measuring the room and developing an understanding of what to select within the constraints of the space. Adjust plans accordingly. A room full of things will make it difficult for people to move around and live there. Limit your furniture choices to the few items that you truly need. Make sure that the furniture fits the room. A big sofa cramped into a little room will take too much space and overpower the overall impression. The same goes for breaking lines. Be careful not to block passageways. It hurts the harmony and puts limits on using the space.”

“Developing a vision for the space is essential to ensure a coherent impression. Mixing and matching works if you choose an eclectic style, but it’s not easy to get it right. Having a vision and staying true to it will help selecting the right items and make good purchase decisions. Find inspiration by research trending design styles or work by interior designers. Instagram and Pinterest are excellent sources for discovering designers and trends that can help develop a personal vision.”

Visit Tailored Living to see more of Gloria’s work here: https://www.tailored-living.co.uk/

 

Correct at time of publishing.

Let’s face it. Last summer wasn’t much to shout about, was it? The vast majority of us spent it in some form of lockdown, perhaps hosting the occasional socially distanced barbecue, as we did our best as a society to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. Yet, for all the disruption and heartache caused by the crisis, there were some small silver linings. While many of us would have preferred to carry on going out into the world and doing what we do best, it nevertheless provided a rare opportunity for introspection. Everything stopped, and we were able to turn our focus inward, to our families and homes.

Even now, with vaccines being rolled out and a semblance of normality hopefully on the horizon, that inward focus has stayed with many of us. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), nearly a quarter of the UK’s population worked from home in 2020, and if recent surveys are anything to go by, flexible ‘hybrid working’ is here to stay for the foreseeable – at least for those who have desk-based roles.

All of this has led to a home improvement boom. People want to invest in their homes, from carrying out big home improvements that they’ve put off for far too long, to redecorating rooms, to adding working space and paying more attention to the not-so-little things. This homeward focus has been so pronounced that McKinsey called it a “rebalancing of the homebody economy” in their 2021 consumer survey. In it, they conclude that people want the investments they’ve made in their home life to continue long after the pandemic is behind us.

So as we move firmly into the summer of 2021, a summer of optimism and forward-thinking, where we’ll soon be able to have family and friends over to enjoy the homes we’ve rediscovered during the pandemic, what can we do to make sure our homes are welcoming and summer-ready?

Make room for summer

A wise person once said, “Clutter isn’t just the stuff on your floor, it’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to live.” So if you’re in the market for a nice summer of barbecues, lounging in the garden, or having friends over for dinner, start making space for it. Get rid of anything you haven’t used for six months or more, either by selling or donating it and put any winter items into storage and out of sight. Picture yourself or your friends and family enjoying your home and build to that vision. Where are they sitting? What can they see? Pulling the tarpaulin off your garden furniture is all good and well, but what about that pile of wood in the corner you never quite got around to turning into a fence?

Get green-fingered

According to a survey recently featured in the Financial Times, gardening was listed as the second most popular lockdown activity after bingeing Netflix, putting it ahead of exercise, reading, gaming, and cooking. If you’re reading this with abject horror, don’t worry; a little goes a very long way when it comes to getting your garden summer-ready, and it can make a huge difference to how you and your guests experience your home. Give the garden beds a tidy, pull out some weeds, and trim the edges of your lawn, and you’re most of the way there. If you don’t have a garden, get one! A herb garden in a kitchen or balcony is a great way to give your home a much-needed shot of green in the summer months.

Grease those elbows

It’s amazing how much cleaning can make a difference to your home. Even if you tackle one room at a time, a deep clean can give you a huge mood boost and a real sense of homely pride. So grab your marigolds, pick up a wire brush and some soap, and go to town on the barbecue set that’s been sitting in your garage for the past 8 months. You will appreciate it in the future when donning a chef’s apron with a beer in one hand and a set of tongs in the other. Spring cleaning is not just for spring.

And remember, if you want to go one step further and make some permanent changes to your home, such as building a new extension or making it more environmentally friendly, now is the perfect time to invest. Perenna will offer flexible fixed-for-life mortgages that remove the risk usually associated with homeownership, allowing you to escape the costly and stressful remortgage cycle and plan for your future – whether that future’s a brand new conservatory or a new kitchen. Release some of your hard saved equity in your home to re-invest in your home or your life – you can’t eat bricks.

Correct at time of publishing.