“When you purchase the services of an interior designer, you are acquiring a professional’s sensitivity to form and scale, eye for complementary colour and texture, and knowledge of furnishings and materials. In addition, a good designer is an expert at disguising all the practical thought and effort that goes into making a room beautiful.”
J. Kemp
- The role of an interior designer involves spatial planning and is often confused with that of an interior decorator who deals mainly with surface decoration
- An interior designer's professional advice and guidance can take the hassle out of planning and decision-making, save valuable time and prevent costly mistakes
- The decorative aspect of a scheme is often the last part that an interior designer puts together for a scheme
- Following a consultation with the client, a survey and measure-up of the area is carried out prior to research, design and sourcing services
- An interior designer's role is to advise and interpret a client's ideas, and to design an environment that really satisfies their requirements
- An interior designer will set about finding the right design solutions for a client based on their lifestyle, personal habits, tastes, needs and preferences
- An interior designer can transform an interior with imagination to suit a client's personality whilst helping you to make better use of space and storage
- An interior designer's training includes the properties and suitability of materials, fire safety and potential hazards so clients benefit from the designer's expertise
- The design process takes into account the purpose, safety and practicality of each area
- Where period renovation is involved, an interior designer will carry out period research and prepare schemes to suit the architectural style of the property
- A good interior designer can make attractive changes to a property to give it the edge in a competitive market which can lead to a quicker sale at the right price
In 2009 Nina won the Network Ireland Businesswoman of the Year Award (South Tipperary) for ‘Professionalism in Business’, and was a finalist in the South-East Female Enterprise of the Year Awards and in the South-East Professional Services Entrepreneur Awards. In 2010, she celebrates 10 years in business.
Nina’s Mission Statement is to:
- Provide a professional, personal, high quality service
- Fulfil clients’ tastes, needs, and preferences
- Offer good value for money and service satisfaction
- Encourage harmonious living and ecological awareness
Nina believes the home is a personal sanctuary in which to rest and rejuvenate - a healing place for mind, body and spirit. She ensures her schemes are specifically tailored to meeting her clients’ tastes, needs and preferences - from detailed drawings through to design implementation. Her trademark is to create an effect of subtle suggestion rather than the obvious, to appeal to the senses and the emotions, and to promote a sense of peace and tranquillity. She sums up her design style as ‘calm, elegant and desirable’.
Having travelled extensively and lived in several countries, Nina brings an international style to her work so that her interiors have universal appeal; they aren’t too summery or too wintry, too feminine or too masculine, too young or too old. In areas such as kitchens and offices she places great importance on a clutter-free environment with lots of free work surfaces to promote clear thinking, quick decision-making and speed tasking. In bedrooms she uses subtle textures and colours to appeal to the emotions and the senses, in bathrooms she uses natural products and materials to promote a sense of peace and tranquillity, and in living spaces she creates a sociable space that encourages a good atmosphere and great conversation.
For styling any interior, Nina feels that colour, warmth and practicality are three important considerations, and that calm colours teamed with an accent palette of winter berry colours is ideally suited to the Irish climate and light. She usually selects soft muted colours (such as stone, cappuccino and pale grey-green) for a gently blended background and then adds certain proportions of rich colours (such as burgundy, olive, pumpkin, grape or aubergine) and luxurious textiles.
Nina loves finishing touches that add sparkle; she looks on accessories as ‘jewellery for the home’. She doesn’t believe in revealing everything to the eye in one glance and thinks there should be enough visual interest to hold someone’s attention no matter which aspect of a room comes into view. She says ‘Aim to get the proportions and style of a space correct and then make the scheme truly outstanding by using the right balance of colour, texture and pattern’. She adds ‘Choose simple and timeless for the main aspects of an interior, as it’s cheaper and more practical to update the accessories than to create a whole new scheme’.
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