Robert M. Luckey 
The key to successful interior design is creating beautiful projects that ultimately feel personal to the people who live there, and while the best interior designers always have a signature style, it’s essential that they can incorporate elements of their customers’ lives into their designs.
This personalization and attention to detail is hugely important to interior designers based in West London. K&H Design. To create unique homes for each of their projects, founder Katie Glaister embraces the varied styles and tastes of her clients, working closely with them to create spaces and rooms that are deeply personal to them.
“We are also committed to supporting existing and emerging UK and international craftsmen, and always seek to work with the most talented and skilled craftsmen to design bespoke pieces for our customers’ homes – many of which are designed to become future legacies. ,’ she says.
Below, Katie shares with us how to approach designing elegant, yet deeply personal pieces.
1. Start with your daily routine
(Image credit: K&H Design)
“When we work with a couple, we listen carefully to both of them and start with a very detailed questionnaire so that we can tease out the details that help us find solutions that work for both,” says Katie.
“As a starting point for any project, we get to know our customers and their daily habits so that we can shape the space according to their needs. Often it can start with something as simple, yet integral, as sleep patterns. For example, think about what time you and your partner wake up and whether you need to build a separate dressing room so you don’t disturb each other.
“Passions and hobbies are what make people happy at home, so it’s important to prioritize those spaces too, whether designing a bespoke kitchen island that meets the exact technical requirements of your home. ‘an ambitious cook or soften the texture of the floor for a yoga studio.’
2. Consider scale and size
(Image credit: K&H Design)
“The proportions of a room will always dictate the size of your furniture. We often spend time creating bespoke pieces that are made to the exact scale required by the room.
“Take, for example, the Georgian sofas in this living room that we had specially designed. We adapted them not only to the room, but also to the length of our client’s legs and back.
3. Designing a work of art
(Image credit: K&H Design)
“A beautiful work of art can be the starting point for designing a room. For example, we created the layout of one of our client’s living rooms around a large and powerful oil landscape painting.
‘Each piece resonated with the artwork of the bespoke Margit Wittig chandelier above the head to the george smith sofa that we reupholstered in mohair velvet by of the Cuonawith a wonderfully indulgent bullion fringe by Declercq‘s Moulinées Mèches, an extra detail for our client who loved pompoms.’
4. Introduce playful details
(Image credit: K&H Design)
“Adding subtle details that may not be immediately obvious to a stranger will make your home special and joyful, so we like to surprise our customers with touching or humorous details.
“For example, while we were working with Cox London to customize an oak leaf chandelier, we also had the birth dates of our customers’ children engraved on a few leaves.
“In another project, we bought a globe for the library from an antique dealer who had placed Sweden at the center of the map to celebrate the family’s Scandinavian heritage and made wall lampshades from wooden saris. silk to reflect the family’s Indian heritage.
“We even worked with an artist to design a bold graffiti mural in their basement shower room, to recreate a memorable visit the family had to east London.”
5. Collaborate with craftsmen and artisans
(Image credit: K&H Design)
“We love that our customers share our passion for original detailing and our enthusiasm for working with up-and-coming craftsmen. It gives us the opportunity to discover and collaborate with some of Britain’s rising stars.
‘For example, in this master bedroom, we worked with the artist Flora Roberts design a triptych of panels to sit behind the bed. The piece was painted on paper, which was left loose in the frame and framed in non-reflective museum glass which gives the art fluidity.
“In the en-suite bathroom, we have created a bespoke design for a églomisé mirror with the artist Emma Peascod for our client to have a work of art that she could keep forever.
