Interior design developed in relation to the building.
For whole homes, individual rooms and detailed interior schemes where layout, joinery, lighting, materials and finishes need to work with the architecture rather than be added afterwards.
I look at how a room works before deciding how it should look. That means understanding its proportions, light, circulation and storage, and its relationship to the rest of the house, before specifying materials, joinery or furniture.
Interior design starts with how the room works
The design may include kitchens, bathrooms, fitted joinery, lighting, materials, colour, furniture and specification. Those choices sit within a wider plan.
A kitchen is affected by the room around it. Joinery affects circulation. Lighting depends on ceiling form and the daylight already there. Materials behave differently according to where they are used and what the light does to them. The strongest interiors come from resolving those relationships together rather than in sequence.
This may be the right appointment if…
The architecture is resolved but the interiors are not.
Several rooms need to work as one connected scheme.
A kitchen or major room needs proper spatial and specification thinking.
A period property needs updating without losing what makes it worth keeping.
You want professional direction before committing to materials, joinery and furniture.
Architecture and interiors need developing together as part of a wider renovation.
What an interiors appointment can include
Room planning
How each room is used, where furniture and storage sit, and how the spaces connect.
Kitchens, bathrooms and fitted joinery
Layouts, internal elevations, cabinetry, appliances and built-in storage designed into the room rather than placed against its walls.
Lighting
Natural light first, then a lighting plan developed with ceiling form, circulation and how each room is used after dark.
Materials, colour and finishes
Specified with the room’s daylight, existing fabric and wear in mind.
Fixtures, furniture and sourcing
Fittings, ironmongery and furniture selected and sourced, including pieces you already own where you want to keep them.
Specification
Schedules and drawings that let a builder or joiner price and build the scheme accurately.
Architecture and interiors should inform each other
Moving a doorway changes what furniture the room can hold. Window positions decide where a kitchen run or a joinery wall can go. Ceiling form dictates what the lighting can do. Natural light changes how a material reads. Storage decisions affect circulation. Kitchen planning affects services and, sometimes, the architecture itself. Making those decisions together reduces the compromises that appear later, when the plan has been fixed and the interior scheme has to work around it.
Rooms from recent projects
Specification begins while decisions can still be changed
Materials, joinery, lighting and fitted furniture can influence architectural decisions while the plan is still being developed. That is the point at which an interior decision can genuinely improve the room, rather than being adapted to whatever has already been fixed.
A worktop depth can change a wall position. A larder that has to hold real equipment can change a doorway. A bath under a roof pitch has to be located where there is standing height, not where it looks best on a plan. These are ordinary decisions, but they are considerably cheaper to resolve on paper.
Bicton Hall
Tom and Jo asked for a kitchen extension. The existing kitchen was undersized and cramped, but a large drawing room with high ceilings and open views was in use only occasionally. The scheme moved the kitchen into that room and took a passage through the wall into the former boot room, which became a scullery. No ground was broken.
Four ways interiors are usually taken on
Whole-home interior design
For clients who want the interiors considered across the property as one connected scheme. Where this forms part of a full architectural appointment, the interior design is developed alongside the architectural work rather than after it. Fees are agreed with the appointment. Architecture & Interior Design Combined →
Interiors & Specification Package · £3,250
A complete interior scheme for the agreed rooms: layouts, joinery, lighting, materials, colour, fixtures and furniture, with the specification and sourcing information needed to build and buy from.
Full House Walk-Around & Design Report · £595
A visit to the house and a written report setting out what each room could do and where the opportunities are. A useful starting point if you want professional direction before committing to anything larger.
Room-by-room moodboards · from £75 per room
Direction for a single room: palette, materials and key pieces, without a full design appointment.
Kitchen design is also available as its own appointment, from £595. Kitchen Design →
Questions clients ask about interiors
Can you design the interiors if another architect has already designed the extension?
Yes. I am often brought in once the architecture is settled. I will work with the drawings as they stand, and if I can see something in the plan that will make the interiors harder to resolve, I will tell you while there is still time to consider it.
Can you work on interiors without changing the architecture?
Yes. Many interior schemes involve no building work at all: layouts, joinery, lighting, materials, colour and furniture within the rooms as they are.
Can you design kitchens and fitted joinery?
Yes. Kitchens, utilities, bootrooms, wardrobes, window seats and built-in storage are designed as part of the scheme, with the drawings and schedules a joiner can work from.
Do you source furniture and finishes?
Yes. Sourcing and specification are included in the Interiors & Specification Package, and can be included in a wider appointment.
Can you work with furniture I already own?
Yes, and it usually improves the result. Pieces you want to keep are planned in from the start rather than accommodated at the end.
At what stage should interior design begin?
Earlier than most people expect. Once the layout is being decided, the interiors are already being decided with it, whether or not anyone is looking at them.
Do you work on one room or only whole houses?
Both. A single significant room is a legitimate appointment, though I will always look at how it relates to the rooms around it.
Can interior design be included within a full architectural appointment?
Yes, and it is the arrangement I would usually recommend for a substantial project, because the two sets of decisions depend on each other.
Need help with the interiors?
Tell me which parts of the house you are working on, what is already decided and where you need professional input. The initial conversation is free and I can recommend the most appropriate next step.
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