There is no substitute for the beauty of bespoke. In fact, bespoke home design allows you to get exactly what you want, without compromise. Size, style, shape and colour can all be customised to create individual pieces that fit perfectly within your home, enhance your lifestyle and complement your personality. That’s because truly bespoke design embraces every fine detail. Therefore, no element is too big, small, or unimportant to make a difference. In visual terms, a unique bespoke space can be made to feel just how you want it to, using cabinetry, colour, lighting, wall coverings and window dressings.
Attention to detail “Attention to detail always matters, and especially in bespoke home design,” confirms our director Mark Taylor. “With bespoke home design you can achieve an exact fit to the concept or ideas put forward. A bespoke interior stands out because it is unique, and can be very personal in a visual or practical way. For example, a study, kitchen, or utility room designed around your specific needs can make life so much easier.”
Home design elements to consider There are a number of factors to consider when choosing the different elements of any bespoke home design. “How bespoke you can go is usually led by budget,” notes Mark. “But if you have any areas earmarked for built-in furniture, it is much easier to [do justice] to this sort of space with a bespoke furniture fitting.”. He emphasises: “Dictating exactly what the required piece should look like – and what goes into it – means you can have exactly what you want.”
Full-room renovations Bespoke home design can be harnessed to transform entire rooms, or smaller, specific areas within a certain space. “With bespoke kitchens, for example, there are no limits in terms of what you can achieve. This is apart from the limitations of the space you are working within, and the budget you are working to,” Mark observes. Everything else is up for negotiation. “Available options include changing the door style and shape, work surface detail, height, and most importantly fitting everything into the space you have.”
Personalising smaller spaces In fact, bespoke home design helps to bring your vision to life. If you can imagine it, we can create it, and that applies just as much to furniture as it does to cabinetry and joinery. “With upholstered seating, for example, you may want something that fits exactly within a space,” notes Mark. “Or you may require a certain shape or size to create a specific look. So, bespoke home design can provide a great sense of personal creation and uniqueness, which all help to make a truly personalised space.”
Introducing technology to your home design Smart homes with connected devices can provide additional comfort and luxury in a bespoke setting. In fact, integrating technology into the home has become a key concern for bespoke interior design. So, we keep up-to-date with the latest design software and look at ways in which this can be advantageous to you and your home. At Mark Taylor Design, we can design intelligent homes, which will integrate innovative tech, to create an entertainment hub as the home is no longer just a living space.
Putting systems in place We tend to work with clients who don't want unsightly hi-tech equipment to be the main feature throughout their home. Mark explains: "Our secret is to keep your environment soft and welcoming by hiding some technology from view where possible. However, beautiful tech, such as B&O speakers, which resemble works of art, can also become an integral part of the room's design, which will enhance its overall vibe."
Technology continues to advance at great pace where speakers can be plastered within your walls so they are hidden from view. Voice recognition apps allow you to operate your heating and lighting and you can set your dishwasher to switch on in advance via a Smartphone from a remote location. You can pre-programme autonomous vacuum cleaners and mowers, making housework and gardening less stressful and time-consuming.
Hi-tech lighting control Lighting is one of the most crucial elements, which will add atmosphere to a room and Mark explains: "Lighting control can alter the mood of a room with a verbal instruction or via a Smartphone. You can create party vibes or add interest to a child's bedroom with colour-changing lights. You can also change the warmth of your light without the need to change any bulbs."
The importance of lighting design As mentioned, the role of lighting within bespoke home design cannot be overstated. “We have learned a lot about lighting over the past few years, by attending lectures with specialist lighting companies, and working with lighting experts,” Mark reveals. “Lighting is recognised more, and we know that it changes our moods, and can be used really effectively to enhance the spaces we live in.”. “Principally we look at light temperature, using mainly warm lighting in people’s homes. We also consider the direction of lighting, and the intensity, which can be controlled by dimmer switches.”
Practical home design elements and aesthetic finishes We believe the best bespoke home design combines practical benefits with appealing aesthetics. In other words, think about what you need, what you’d like, and how everything should look. After all, different lifestyles require different priorities. For example, at Mark Taylor Design, we can customise home office furniture to hold everything from lever-arch files to printers. We can also design hall units to accommodate coats, school bags and hockey sticks. Kitchen cupboards can incorporate concealed storage space to maintain a clean, clutter-free look. In fact, bespoke design is all about making life easier – and easier means different things to different clients.
Making less to mean more Bespoke home design tends not to shout. Often its objective is to help elements blend in, not stand out. What you don’t notice can be just as important – and finer details play a key role. In size terms, it’s a small element, but the right brassware, for example, can make a big difference when coordinating metallics in the kitchen. “Keeping handles small and discreet will ensure they won’t detract from and overpower furniture doors,” notes Mark.
Being creative with colour Colour impacts, influences and enhances bespoke home design. “In all our projects, we allocate time to achieve the right colour combinations,” Mark confirms. “This involves mood boards, and usually site visits to check that the colours, fabrics and textures we have chosen work in natural light”. Bright or contrasting colours can really make a space pop, as can combining different colours and textures. However, colour minimalism can also make a serious style statement. “Using one colour on the skirting, walls and furniture within a space really makes any detail stand out,” Mark explains.
Adding texture Texture is key in interior design in terms of adding dimension and comfort to a room. After all, the way in which a surface or material looks or feels and layering the look can help to add depth to a space. Mark notes: "Texture adds another dimension, beyond colour and space. It provides a way to cast positive shadows to accentuate corners or to reflect light in a different way. Texture will add visual interest and will drive the eye to various parts of the wall or surface. Finally, in larger space it does more and works harder than flat colour."
Versatile functionality in home design Both ambient, accent and task lighting have a key role to play. “For ambient lighting, we might create a background light from ceilings or LED strips running around a room,” Mark explains. “Accent lighting aims to highlight areas or items such as paintings, bookcases, pieces of sculpture or joinery". “As its name suggests, task lighting helps to highlight an area where you carry out specific tasks, such as a kitchen work surface.” Mark concludes: “When you turn off task lighting, ambient lighting can take over, which will help to make the area feel softer. This is especially relevant when you use a space for different activities, or at various times of the day and night.”
About Mark Taylor Design
Mark Taylor Design is a British manufacturer of superlative bespoke furniture, cabinetry and specialist joinery, working in Central London and the Home Counties.
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The arrival of COVID-19 has brought with it countless changes. Within the world of interiors, home schooling and working from home has transformed homeowners’ priorities. According to a recent Home Builders Federation survey, two-fifths of Britons would prioritise space for a home office if they were searching for a new property. Unsurprisingly, there’s also been a huge rise in the number of people keen to convert existing space into new home office designs.
“There has been a real hunger to refurbish rooms that were formerly on the back burner,” director of Mark Taylor Designs Mark Taylor agrees. “People have had more time, fewer places to go – and in some cases, more disposable income. This has acted as a major incentive to embark on some home TLC. The ‘I’ll sort that one day’ rooms have become a priority.”
It’s fairly obvious why demand for home office designs has escalated since the pandemic began. Adults need a quiet place to work and talk to clients, ideally separate from where children are being home-schooled. But Mark maintains that the need for a specialist office space is fuelled by more than mere practicality. “Psychologically, many of our clients have felt they had to create a specific space to ‘go to work’,” he explains. “They need this in order to focus, and switch on and off effectively.”
Space certainly wasn’t an issue for this stunning study, which also doubles up as a home cinema and gaming room. The client, an IT consultant, wanted a ‘closed door’ space with plenty of storage, to help keep the area paper-free. “This room needed to work as both a home office and a family space, so we created bespoke pieces of furniture to allow this,” Mark explains. “We also incorporated wall lights from Jim Lawrence that didn’t make it look too ‘officey’.”
LED light strips at picture rail height complement the dark walls (painted with Farrow & Ball Stiffkey Blue). This versatile combination helps to create an atmospheric ambience when the homeowner uses the room for gaming and family time.
“The SMEG drinks fridge was something that the client specifically asked for,” Mark notes. “So, we decided to make it a feature rather than hide it away.”
Interestingly, Mark has noted demand for home office designs that will accommodate two people. Also, it seems study areas attached to bedrooms are becoming more important. And that, of course, is where bespoke manufacturers such as Mark Taylor Design excel. Bespoke furniture, combined with superlative interior design skills, are the key to making spaces work – whatever is required. Creating the perfect workplace involves many challenges: some obvious, some not.
“Bespoke furniture can fit the space,” states Mark. “Often, we have to carve home office environments out of small or awkward niches and corners. Home office areas within kitchens, dining rooms and bedrooms should take the rest of the space into account – not take it over. However, that can be difficult for off-the-shelf solutions.” He continues: “We design bespoke furniture to fit, in terms of size, shape, material and style. A well-designed bespoke desk and shelving area, built in sympathetically, means that less of the existing space needs to be adjusted.”
This fabulous study, which forms part of Mark Taylor Design's extensive Riverside Home project, is a case in point. “We created this for one of our clients who wanted space to work from home. This would become an area they could work in at least once a week away from their office,” explains Mark. “Obviously, things have changed somewhat since the arrival of COVID-19!”.
He continues: “The design brief was simple: to create a working space that was as efficient as being in an office environment, but blended within the home. We created a tall unit behind the bespoke desk, which has a huge capacity for filing drawers and storage. The large panels with decorative lights also house a printer, reference books and office supplies.”
Mark adds: “The open shelving, with subtle lighting, creates a perfect space for showcasing decorative objets d’art, to soften what is essentially an office space. The elegant blue velvet day sofa offers a perfect seating alternative when the client doesn’t want to be behind the desk.”
The best home office designs are created to fit the space you have, not the reverse. “Force fitting furniture is like wearing shoes that don’t fit,” Mark observes. “After a while, you just stop using them. A badly designed/fitted desk means that people will migrate back to the kitchen table. So, you end up with a piece of unwanted furniture that nobody uses.”
Conversely, the best bespoke solutions can create a room. “They feel natural to be in and work at,” notes Mark. “They encourage you to stay. We always aim to create as many spaces as are needed, so every household member can work in comfort.” Adaptability and flexibility are also vital. “We can create permanent home office designs for those clients who want to make these spaces permanent,” Mark confirms. “Or we can make everything removable or changeable for those who want life back to normal once lockdown is over.”
The team at Mark Taylor Design produced this moveable desk for a client in Hertfordshire, which illustrates clever design solutions perfectly. “The client brief asked for an office space within the kitchen and dining environment,” Mark explained. “But it needed to be hidden when entertaining. So, we designed a desk on wheels, that could be pushed away neatly under part of the kitchen peninsula. This suited our client, who liked to leave everything out on the desk, and simply tuck it away when necessary.”
Detailed communication is key to ensuring a home office design suits a homeowner’s individual needs. “As with any project, we spend time speaking with our clients,” Mark explains. “We find out what they do, how they like to work, what sort of noise levels they anticipate. Do they prefer working solo or with others, how big a desk area do they need, and how many monitors will they use? We assess their preferred seating (for example, flexi- or standing desk) and what sort of lighting will protect them from eye-strain. We ask about storage and equipment, too. Only when you understand every element of a client’s working day can you create a truly relevant bespoke solution for them.”
Of course, not all home office designs have a stand-alone room or spacious area to accommodate them. Luckily, Mark and the team are resourceful and adept at considering all possible options. “We look at garages, annexes under the stairs, room corners, cupboards that can be converted, even landing spaces!” Mark confirms. “The end result is up to the client, how they work best, the space itself and what’s available. Making desks, units, shelving and lighting useful beyond their primary purpose is always worth considering. If desk heights can change, they can be used by children, as well as mum and dad. Adjustable lighting makes night working easier. For multi-use rooms, shelving units with fronts, which can be closed, are much less intrusive.”
This under-stairs space, created for a residence in Marlow, illustrates exactly what is possible with vision and skill. “We designed the whole space in this house, and looked everywhere for home office options,” Mark explains. “As we were modifying the staircase, it became clear this was the perfect area. Because we wanted it to fit with the rest of the house, we padded the walls with fabric. We also used lighter colours, to relieve any harshness, and added LED strip lighting to counter darkness.” He adds: “We utilised every inch of possible space for storage – and not only for office stuff. They store the Christmas decorations there too!.”
The practicalities of home office designs are just as important as the aesthetics. “We look carefully at power and heat sources,” notes Mark. “Nobody wants to work in a cold corner of an unused room. Creating warmth with an added radiator or under floor heating makes a work space much more appealing.” He adds: “Wires and plugs are also important. Trailing laptop leads are a trip hazard (and household pets can view them as a chew toy). We work hard to eliminate disincentives to work in a space. We even include places to put cups and bowls in a work desk. That means fewer spillages – and a safer environment for expensive laptops and PCs.”
Projects photographed are undertaken by Mark Taylor Design Ltd.
Mark Taylor Design is a British manufacturer of bespoke furniture, cabinetry, specialist joinery and interior design. Craftsmanship, attention to detail and superlative service are central tenets of the business. The company is renowned for its use of innovative materials and for transforming clients’ homes into truly extraordinary spaces.
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