The Story Behind Richard Grafton Interiors: Specialising in Contemporary Designs

Which elements of your profession do you enjoy the most?

I love two parts of my job the most, one being seeing the clients faces when they come in for the presentation and you have captured everything from inside their head and have it in front of them to see, touch and feel. The second part is when you are on an install, and you have physically watched the rooms transform. For some people it’s hard to visualise what the end result might look like so I love that I can make it reality for them and give them the confidence.

What has been your most memorable career highlight from the past year?

I have been working on a particularly large job which has involved a lot of build work, I have been onsite every week for the past year while the house has been stripped apart and put back together and now I get to watch the rooms come to completion as we finish off the installation, each element that gets completed whether it be the beautiful new mouldings or the roman blinds adds another layer and brings the rooms to life and I just love watching it happen.

What are your favourite types of projects to work on and why?

I typically like working on bigger projects that might involve more then one room or a full house, because our help and expertise can make a huge difference to the property and have a big impact. Having said that I get a lot of joy from clients who love what we have done, even if it has been a small project.

What are the most challenging aspects of working in interior design?

I think it becomes more difficult and complex when you are working with very large external build teams, there are a lot of different trades you have to work around and it can make the coordination of a project more difficult when you have to factor in the time others might need to finish their part before we can then go in to complete a fit out. Other challengers could be working to a smaller budget or maximising the use of a small space. Each job is looked at with fresh eyes and tailored to suit whatever the brief calls for.

What do you wish you knew before working in the field?

There is a lot more paperwork than I ever thought would be needed, at the beginning I thought it would be much more about the fabric side of things but in fact you need to be very structured in terms of project managing and organisation. Most of what we do contains a level of logistics in some way so you can’t solely focus on only the design side.

If you could give one tip to aspiring designers, what would it be?

I think the most important part about designing is to be aware you are designing for other people, a lot of what you chose or need to look at will not be your taste. You must tune in to your clients wants and needs, you are there to advise and push them out of their comfort zone but at the same time they need to love the end result. I think all designers should have that as their goal. I have seen a lot of designer wannabes in my time, and I would say the biggest mistake of those that haven’t made it is they design for themselves not others.

How do you see the interior design industry evolving in the year ahead?

The future of interior design scares me if I’m honest, the new generation are a throw away society. We live in a world where Google can find you a cheaper version of everything and I think that will have a big impact on bespoke interiors in the future. For me I love the bespoke nature of what I do, the craftmanship of furniture makers, a good quality fabric or piece of furniture, rather than somebody ‘copying’ because it is cheaper. I think it will become a luxury that many won’t be able to indulge in.

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