Ham & High journalist Zita Whalley got in touch to ask if she could interview me about a person who inspires my approach as an interior designer. I talked to her about Ilse Crawford of StudioIlse. Read the full article here (page 42 of Issue XI Homestead magazine), or see below.
MY DESIGN INSPIRATION: Ilse Crawford
Tufnell Park Interior Designer Audrey Whelan on why the British designer resonates with her and her approach to design
Audrey Whelan opened her design studio in 2009, after many years of working as a consultant and freelancer in both commercial and residential design. In March this year, the Central Saint Martin's keynote speaker set up the Designers Table Events where she leads workshops for interior design lovers and people who have their own design projects underway.
I've always been passionate about creating interior environments that are really in tune with their occupants rather than being materialistically driven. Through researching this area, I came across Ilse Crawford, and her company StudioIlse a few years ago.
Ilse’s way of designing interiors starts with human experience, prioritises our wellbeing and aims to enhance our quality of life. She is fascinated by what drives us as people, what brings us together and makes us feel alive. I really admire Ilse’s humanistic approach, and how she challenges the idea that interior design is superficial without intrinsic value.
I've been to some of the shops designed by Studio Elsa, such as Aesop and Cowshed in London, and I hope to visit some of the other interiors Ilse has designed, such as Ett Hem Hotel in Sweden. I've had the pleasure of using some of the ‘Seating for Eating’ furniture Ilse has designed for De la Espada. I'm a big fan of dining tables and families eating together and really try to make this a practical reality in the spaces I design. So I was very inspired to read about thinking behind these furniture pieces.
Reading her book, a Frame for Life, has helped me stay focused on my own mission in business as an interior designer too. I'm very interested in the psychology and philosophy behind design, and the link between our environments, in particular our homes, and the effect they have on us on the other areas of our lives. My work as an interior designer has never been motivated by the idea of a finished photograph at the end of a project, but much more by seeing how someone's life can improve by the changes they made to their home.