The hit BBC show is back, seeing up and coming Interior Designers take on exciting challenges.
By Tracy Mukherjee
For some of us, inspiration when breathing new life into your home? Not easy. Interior Design is very much a skill; having an eye for detail can elevate, not going bold enough, or going just too far? Where do you begin?
But for the new contestants on the BBC hit show Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr, Interior Design is what they live for. Patterns, clean lines, geometric shapes, theatrical, modern, period. There’s a lot to consider. Two of this year’s hopefuls hail from our dear green city and Westender was lucky enough to pick up some top tips with the rather talented Victoria and Ese.
Victoria
Hi Victoria and thank you for talking to Westender Magazine. You’ve come a long way from being a farmer’s daughter! So how did you make the jump to loving interior design?
In 2020 I moved into my own flat in the West End and there wasn’t anything wrong with it. But I love scrolling instagram for inspiration and follow all the interior designers over the years. So it was lockdown, I had a blank canvas and only myself to please. So I went a bit wild! Started designing bits and pieces in the flat. At the same time we were doing this project…
…You got to design the beautiful offices I can see behind you!
Yeah, I work in a company that is primarily an asset management group. The News Quest group are one of our biggest tenants and they rent space at the front of this building. I made lots of contacts doing that project. Once I had proved myself doing that I got free rein to do this afterwards.
I’m impressed you’ve gone so big so soon, having the confidence to take on such a large space which is so stunning!
To be honest, If I had taken a step back and thought about each individual element, I probably would have crumbled, and because we had worked with the same contractor through the majority of our projects, I knew the tradesmen which helped massively. I’ve worked here for 13 years and have a good working relationship with the people here. Don’t get me wrong, they second guessed a lot of my design choices – when I said I was going to put a bee-print wallpaper on the ceiling in the boardroom they were like ___!
How did Interior Design Masters come about?
I had applied in 2022 just after the headquarters build, hadn’t quite finished my flat – and was unsuccessful. But this time around I was successful, I had more photos to submit. I was probably more confident in knowing what I was doing and I knew my own design style better at that point.
So where do you find inspiration, what’s your style?
In the first challenge, we have to show our signature style. It’s in a hostel, so very different to a space like this. So I just went for it and really showed a lot of me, a lot of colour and bits and pieces similar to this. I thought that was an opportunity to flourish and show what I could do. Michelle maybe had a different opinion…!
I can’t wait to see the results! And encouraging you, giving you pointers, how were Alan and Michelle?
They were fab! They were fantastic, Alan is just a ball of fun, he’s up to no good, full of energy. We were with him two days per week, so everybody looked forward to that. Everybody had a wee section just with him.
Michelle is strong in her opinions, knows what she likes. I think that’s why the show is so successful, having the guest judges in every week to bounce ideas off Michelle. And Michelle is just so immaculately turned out. She just floats!
But what an opportunity for a young designer to get that guidance, to find out what is working for you and what you need to concentrate on?
Any feedback is good feedback. Even if you aren’t being as successful as you’d hoped to. You’re getting feedback on what you can tweak. I think a lot of junior designers, need to be reminded they have a client.
Any favourite challenges?
There was one in particular I loved, the period of property lended itself well to my style. A lot of what I try to do is be sympathetic to the period of a property so I would never come in here (the victorian office space) and put LED lights around the place, have cold white lines. We’ve done wood panelling, we’ve reinstated all the cornicing, ceiling roses in. It’s been a labour of love, but it’s been fabulous.
Thursday night is the big night! Who are you going to be watching the show with?
My family. There’s six of us in total, then there’s partners and kids. We are going to my sister’s big farmhouse, we’re in the ‘good room’! We’ll watch it all together.
Going forward then, is Interior Design the focus for you from here on in?
I would love to do it full-time, it’s just finding an avenue that allows me to pay my bills. It’s a passion project so if I can make it work, great. I’m also very lucky, I’ve been given a lot of opportunities in the workplace that I am in just now. Look, I’m not trained, haven’t been to Uni, I don’t have the degree behind me. I’m a bit of a grafter. I think being able to speak to people and work hard sets you in such good stead.
Victoria, best of luck with everything going ahead! We cant wait to see the show.
Ese
Ese, thank you for speaking to Westender Magazine. You’re originally from Nigeria where you studied anatomy, then moved to the UK to do a Masters in Public Health. Now you work for a Sexual Health Charity, Waverly Care. So slightly far removed from appearing on Interior Design Masters! But where did that passion initially start?
I would say there was something always creative that I had my eye on. For a long time, before I moved here, I used to run a small fashion business, selling things on Etsy, African inspired clothing. So I guess that was the extent, I thought, that I could follow that creative thing inside of me. I never imagined it would become ‘a big deal’. So when I moved here I realised there was a bit more I was interested in beyond fashion. I had always been interested in architecture, in making a space feel ‘this belongs to you’. I started watching Interior Design shows, reading about Interior Design. Then I realised, ‘Oh, this is an actual job!’ I had never met an Interior Designer in Nigeria, it’s not something we become or do.
So how did Interior Design Masters come about?
Watching Interior Design Masters, it was the only show I watched that had people who didn’t have that background to go on this journey and become Interior Designers and I thought why not sign up and see what happens. A lot of the Interior programmes I watched showed people who had a lot of money, or had a house in Australia, LA, NY. Interior Design Masters was different. It was regular people, with regular jobs deciding to follow something that they had always been interested in. And there was realistic budgets with realistic spaces.
I see your style inspiration come from nature, bringing elements of the outside in. Where does that come from?
I grew up with a lot of space and a lot of land. I had freedom on the edge of the city I lived to enjoy that freedom. So moving here and moving into a flat at lockdown, I was like ‘If I want to stretch my legs, where do I go, what do I do?’ So I needed to figure out ways to bring natural elements in to this space. I think it’s just stuck with me because of that grounding in nature.
How did you find doing the show?
You always think, what if they aren’t like what you picture? Alan is EXACTLY like what you see on TV! He’s just funny, but there’s a caring element too. People on TV are people too, some have bad attitudes, but some have good attitudes. And he is one of them. Michelle is half Nigerian as well, so I had always been looking forward to being judged by Michelle. I got that moment to be mentored and that’s going to stick with me forever, to know a Nigerian mentored me.
There will be a favourite type of space that you enjoy designing, can you tell us a bit about that process?
One of the things I’ve really loved on my career journey is thinking of the interior space. I think about the intention of the pieces that go in. Bringing in things that reference a storyline or culture or an experience that someone has had, has always been very important to me. When you look at a space, you don’t just want to think ‘oh this is pretty’, you want to have a connection. After Interior Design Masters I started doing pottery, because I enjoyed putting my hand to making a space. So I’ve started making ceramic pots, decorative elements, light pieces that you can have in your home space, your work, your shop.
I think you can have an interior that is perfect, just so, but you don’t necessarily feel comfortable in. But having pieces that mean something to you, can make that space a home.
I think this is the interesting divide between very modern and older architecture and design. How much is too much when you decide to make everything cookie-cutter bland? Where’s the character, where’s the thing you are drawn to, where’s the cabinet that your granny had that you never imagined you could put in your modern house? That’s where I come in to be like we can actually incorporate stories, pieces of your life. When I’m making my ceramics now, I don’t throw on the wheel, I hand mould with coiling, you see thumb prints. So when you are looking at it, you’re looking at two years ago, or five years ago. A thumb print, or where my hand slipped a little bit. That’s what makes life interesting.
Your love of Interior Design, your love of life, is palpable. Do you see Interior Design as your future Ese?
I definitely do. I feel as though I am on my way out of what I do currently. So even although I am still working here, I am picking up consultations and freelance projects. Hopefully within the next couple of years I see this becoming the full picture. I don’t see Interior Design as a job, I just feel it’s life? It’s fun.
Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr is on BBC1, Thursdays at 8pm
