a warm welcome to Ashley, our new Interior Designer
We are very happy to welcome a new Interior Designer to the Vesta family, Ashley Baker. In this blog, we get to know Ashley a little better and ask about her background and biggest inspirations.
Covering everything from Wes Anderson movies to East Asian and Scandinavian design – prepare to be inspired and read on to discover where Ashley’s love for design came from, where some of her favourite London haunts are, and much more.
THE BACKGROUND
My family has been in property renovation and house building for three generations, primarily running a successful flooring business. As a child I would watch my father work on floorplans and I would sit alongside him and draw imaginary furniture, curtains and accessories for these spaces. This became our very own creative puzzle like activity we both really loved. I really enjoyed the various unique layouts each home offered.
This love for design stayed with me as I got older as I then went on to study Surface Pattern Design at Leeds University, learning to create bespoke patterns for wallpaper and textiles. From there I moved to London and began my career working as a designer and have been for the past 4 and a half years.
THE NOW
I now live in West London and really enjoy visiting Gunnersbury Park. This hosts The Orangery, a restored 19th Century conservatory, which is possibly my most favourite building in London as it’s such a tranquil area. I love the monochrome flooring and how the space is bright and airy, with natural light allowing plants to grow inside. It’s my dream space to work in.
For food, drink and atmosphere I enjoy No 197 Chiswick Fire Station. I love their handmade, bespoke, wooden furniture made by Jan Hendzel’s furniture studio.
You can find out more in this beautiful write up on no 197 Chiswick Fire Station by The Lovely Drawer.
INSPIRATION
I adore Wes Anderson movies – The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Royal Tenenbaums are my ultimate favourites – he creates such an immersive visual experience through the use of his colour palette and artistic direction. His attention to detail creates the appropriate space and tone for the characters to exist in and this allows the viewer to completely lose themselves within the film. It ultimately becomes a beautiful visual language in its own right.
Within my own work I take a similar approach and try to create space where it exhibits the client’s personality, as the home is a personal reflection of ourselves.
I have always loved Scandinavian design, this was my first real obsession as a designer. I frequent cities such as Copenhagen and Stockholm to absorb the latest takes on the style so I can keep my own work fresh.
To my delight, the latest fusion trend between East Asian & Scandinavian design is proving very popular. My favourite example of this style is ‘The Beldi’ in Shoreditch by, husband & wife architects, Zoe Chan Eayrs and Merlin Eayrs.
The material palette is earthy and soft with raw textures. The flooring is handmade and crafted out of Moroccan Bejmat Zellij tiles in their natural terracotta form and there is also a glazed white version of the tile. I love how they use the different flooring designs of the basket weave & herringbone to define each area, it’s a great way to divide the space, keeping it very open without using walls too much.
I’m very excited to be visiting Japan later this year to dive into this trend more.
LOVE FOR DESIGN
I love the creative freedom of being an interior designer, and how each project can be quite different from the last. I particularly enjoy sourcing and selecting the fabrics for each project. You can really get a lot of depth into the interiors by using different textures, patterns and playing with colour. When putting together the inspiration for a new project I often start with a few fabrics in mind, especially for the stand-out items such as the sofa, armchairs & headboards.
I also love the feeling of satisfaction when I see my design concepts come to life and of course see clients mirror my excitement for a scheme. My ideal project to work on would be a family home where I can really get to know the client and work closely with them to create their dream home. And the ideal is always to work with people who don’t shy away from colour and/or patterns.
It’s great to now be part of the Vesta family and I am looking forward to working alongside a collaboration of creative minds and challenging one another to think outside the box.
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