Behind the Scenes of Luxury London Interior Design /01

Oct 12

First Blog in Series: Designing for Royalty

In this series, I thought I’d share stories from my experiences in luxury interior design, though names and specific details will remain confidential.

One notable project I worked on was a palace for a royal family from the Middle East.

The Creative Process

Working on this project was a surreal experience. Our task was to design the palace meticulously, room by room, within a strict timetable—one room per week per designer. This included developing floor plans, creating mood boards, producing 3D models, and selecting a myriad of materials to suit the intricate spaces.

On Mondays, we would start by compiling mood imagery and drawing floor plans. I gathered inspiration from Pinterest and used Adobe InDesign to collage them together, blending shapes, colours, textures, and patterns. This initial phase informed the design of the base-build (walls, ceilings, floors) and later the bespoke furniture. Inspiration came from a wide range of sources—vintage tiles and furniture, carved wood textures, textiles, heritage buildings, to name a few.

The budget on this project meant the possibilities were endless, resulting in truly extraordinary designs.

Once conceptualised, I modelled the designs using SketchUp and refined them with Photoshop to enhance realism. These designs, along with our selected materials, were compiled into presentations and sent to 3D visual artists to create photorealistic renderings for the client.

Environmental Concerns

While this project enabled me to be more creative than ever before, I was acutely aware of the environmental impact. The scale of the palace, including the extensive use of marble, raised significant concerns about sustainability. Since we did not oversee the procurement and construction, I’m uncertain how the project ultimately unfolded.