Interior Design
What we do
Drawing strongly on Caroline Milns’s textile design background and expert colour palette, our interior design team create personal, sophisticated and textured schemes that breathe life, colour and soul into our award-winning interiors. Reflecting a love of simplicity & a sense of order, the originality and authenticity of our design schemes are always carefully considered yet effortlessly inspirational. We live and breathe the importance of good design, and fully understand how it brings out the best in people by promoting calm, wellbeing and playfulness.
At the heart of all good design lies storytelling, and the ability to understand our clients and take them on their own personal journey. We work closely with our clients to discover their story and way of living, and through that help them refine their personal design style. We start with creating concept designs that encompass the client’s life and loves, along with their favourite products & palettes.
A respect for the original architecture of the building is woven into the design alongside the way a client lives or works. The design style is then interpreted into shape, material and finish through the lens of the concept we have created for you. The concept presentation is later transformed into actual product boards for the interior design scheme, which is when the whole scheme comes together.
Working with our team means not only do you benefit from an expert eye to help you define your own individual style, but also gives you full access to an unparalleled network of trade suppliers.
Used effectively, the interior design service can save you significant sums, or at least be cost neutral, as the design and procurement fees are offset by access to extensive trade discounts from our specialist suppliers. Our textile background and industry knowledge allow us to smart source the finest materials at the most competitive prices, and we are completely transparent in how we pass these savings on.
We tailor each project to each client specifically, there is no house style, each project is unique and completely bespoke. Working with an interior designer is an immersive, collaborative experience and a strong bond and working relationship between designer and client is not only essential, but also one of our attributes of which we are most proud.
The Process
We have a carefully designed and structured process for taking on new clients, designed to give you a thorough introduction and oversight of our processes and methodology, and a clear understanding of our fee structure, as outlined below.
Our first consultation is an opportunity to learn more about you and your design ambitions, along with your timescales & budgets. We work with you to build a detailed brief and tailor our fee proposal and estimated FF&E spend accordingly. If you wish to go ahead, we then arrange a site survey to carry out a feasibility study and establish a project budget.
Using our highly-effective collaborative process we identify your key design preferences to produce a set of presentation mood boards that define the key look and feel of the interior design scheme, comprising lighting, hard materials, furniture, soft furnishings, accessories and the general colour scheme.
This stage consists of a detailed set of plans, elevations, sections and detailed drawings relevant to the interior design scheme, or further development of drawings from the in-house architectural CAD package. The CAD package will contain the necessary information to ensure we achieve an interior with a high standard of construction, installation and finish to match the aspirations set out within the concept stage.
Our studio develops the technical design for tender and, if required, submits applications for building regulations approval and prepares specifications for the schedule of works. All information for construction is provided for the tender pack.
Our team will develop a list of all FF&E requirements needed for your interior space. We will source and specify all relevant finishes, hard materials, furniture, lighting, window treatments, soft furnishings, accessories and any other items which may be required. We will advise on and source any required third-party suppliers and specialists, and maintain a live and fully costed FF&E schedule for your regular review and sign off. We initially focus on all hard materials and built in FF&E so that we can feed this information into the construction tender process.
Working closely with your builder, or our in-house construction team, we develop a procurement schedule prioritising what is required on site when, and ascertain the lead times of all products so we can order in good time. This will start with the hard materials required for the build, running through to the lighting, loose furniture, artworks and soft furnishings. We visit site at key points during the build to check that the design scheme is being correctly implemented, and our drawings are updated with final FF&E products and sizings. We also offer a full project management service if required.
This is the final stage of the Interior Design process, and also typically marks the end of your build, when all the decorative FF&E items arrive on site within a pre-determined period of time. All these items need to be unpacked, checked, positioned and sometimes assembled. These items include loose furniture, decorative lighting, art, decorative accessories etc. Our designers keep a log of all delivered items, as well as any that need to be returned if damaged.
Services & Fees
We offer a full interior design service on a fixed fee basis. Our model on the interiors side is to offer competitively priced design fees and a fixed procurement margin (or purchasing fee) of 20%. We are completely transparent with our pricing and supplier list, and regularly check how competitive we are in the market. For our level of expertise and experience we know we offer extremely good value for money. The reason we can do this is that our interiors service is part of a wider portfolio of services we offer.
Alternatively, we also offer an hourly rate design fee. Once we have a good understanding of the amount of work required (the scope of works) we can estimate how many hours we may require. If the scope of works increases or there are complicating factors that mean the hours are being used up faster than we anticipated, we will discuss this with you as soon as possible. Our current fee is £150/ hour.
Project Co-ordination & Implementation
- We offer an optional full project management service once the build goes live, to ensure that the design is correctly implemented on site
- The fee for this service can be negotiated either as a percentage of the contractor’s build cost or as a monthly retainer
*If Zulufish are appointed as contractors this fee is not applicable. For our Design & Build clients we offer a seamlessly integrated interior design package. During the design phase our interiors team works in tandem with our architectural team to optimise spatial layouts, integrate specialist finishes and design any bespoke furniture required. Once the build goes live the interiors team are in constant communication with our construction project manager to ensure all products and materials are ordered to meet the project timeline and the design is being correctly implemented on site, with regular updates to the drawing pack throughout the build.
FF&E install
The FF&E Installation process is the final stage of the Interior Design process, when all the decorative FF&E items arrive on site within a pre-determined period of time. All these items need to be unpacked, checked, positioned and sometimes assembled. These items include loose furniture, decorative lighting, art, decorative accessories etc. Our designers keep a log of all delivered items, as well as any that need to be returned if damaged. This fee is generally negotiated at the end of the project depending on the quantity of FF&E ordered and time needed on site to install.