Interior designers are always looking for ways to showcase their work and gain recognition from a wider audience, but this is not always easy to achieve. Getting editorial coverage in glossy magazines can be tricky and Instagram has become a seriously crowded place. But what about winning interior design awards?

Will winning a recognised design award bring about the desired rise in profile? Or does the cost and effort of entering outweigh the benefits? And in a space crowded with design award schemes, how can you tell which ones are the real deal? 

We're joined by two multi-award-winning practitioners, May Fawzy of specialist workplace design practice MF Design Studio and Matt Freeman, Senior Associate at Goddard Littlefair and President-Elect of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID), to talk about how they go about entering, and more importantly, winning interior design awards. 

We also receive privileged insights into the new BIID Interior Design Awards scheme. 

This episode is a Wildwood production. 

You’ve worked hard to get your interior design qualifications and you have spent years working even harder in other people’s design studios honing your knowledge and skills. Finally, you feel ready to break free, spread your entrepreneurial wings and run your own interior design company.  

But how do you know when the time is right to take the first step? And do you go it alone or join forces with a partner? Should you rush out and rent office space? And, most importantly, how will you let prospective clients know you are open for business and ready to take on their projects?

New kids on the block, Courtney Giles and Marianne Roe, explain how and why they set up Studio Smiths and what's making their partnership such a success. 

This episode is a Wildwood production.       

So, you have spent a fortune on your website and have a clutch of completed photogenic projects ready to be showcased. As a designer, you know that quality photographs will make your interiors sing and induce those high spending clients to pick up the phone.

But how do you go about finding that special photographer who will be capable of conveying and amplifying your unique style?

Once found, how should you work with them to ensure you ratchet the maximum value from each photoshoot?

And how important is the quality of communication between designer and photographer in ensuring a breathtaking outcome?

We're joined by the experienced interior design photographer, James Balston, to find out the answers.

This episode is a Wildwood production.       

For interior design projects, the perfect client is one with deep pockets and a spirit of adventure; a client who admires their designer’s personal style and respects and trusts the designer’s vision for their spaces.

So just how important is it for designers to have a recognisable style to attract their dream clients?

And how should designers define their unique design vision and then communicate it effectively to attract those dream clients?

We're joined by acclaimed interior designer Susie Atkinson for her perspective on this fascinating topic as she shares her own journey with a live audience of designers, together with her views on interior design style and client relationships.

This episode was recorded at the Roca London Gallery as part of the podcast's third birthday celebrations. We are grateful to series sponsors, Parkside Architectural Tiles, for their support.

We are a Wildwood production.     

Most interior designers begin in a whirl of creativity, energy and optimism.

In an average working week, they will act as designer, specifier, accountant, project manager, client liaison, IT support, office dogsbody and tea-lady.

There is no time to spare for marketing the business or finding new clients. Workflows are impossible to manage, and famine follows feast in a never-ending cycle that can be difficult to break. This is the curse of the small business.

Yet some design businesses seem to quickly grow and effortlessly thrive acquiring prestige and financial success along the way. Their founders serene, glamorous and much admired.  

So, what is their secret? At what point did they make the jump to hyperspace? And how did they orchestrate it?

In this episode, we are joined by two very special guests, successful designer Lindsey Rendall, British Institute of Interior Design President and founding partner of Rendall and Wright, and Rose Murray, founder and creative force behind These White Walls, to find out they did it.

This episode was recorded at the Parkside Studio in Clerkenwell - thanks to Parkside for their support. 

We are a Wildwood production. 

The worst experiences often make the best stories. Never has this been truer than in the world of interior design!

In this episode, we are going to explore some of the best-worst moments in the careers of Joanna Wood from Joanna Wood Ltd, Irene Gunter from Gunter & Co and co-host, Susie Rumbold from Tessuto Interiors. We'll find out how this acclaimed panel of designers solved the insoluble and still came up smiling and smelling of roses.

This discussion was originally part of the Talks Programme in the Seminar Theatre at the international design fair, Decorex.

It was recorded on 12th October 2021 - we apologise for any temporary audio interference with the recording. 

Our thanks to series supporters, John Lewis & Partners Business and Parkside Architectural Tiles. 

We are a Wildwood production. 

This year, Decorex, Europe’s leading event for interior design professionals, returns as an in-person event. 

The show welcomes back the design community at Olympia London from Sunday 10th until Wednesday 13th October.

What can we expect from Decorex 2021?

In this special episode, we talk to designers Sara Cosgrove, Laura Hammett, Charu Ghandi, Olivia Outred and Dee Gibson as well as Ben Rigby from Decorex exhibitor, Haberdashery, to find out what's in store. 

Home staging is the preparation of a private residence for sale but how far is it an area of opportunity for interior designers today?  

We're joined by Paloma Harrington-Griffin, Founding Director of the Home Staging Association and Lauren Colquhoun, Senior Interior Designer at the Accouter Group of Companies to assess the state of home staging in the UK and find out how designers can tap into this potentially lucrative stream of work.

This episode was recorded in the John Lewis store in White City. Thanks to our supporters John Lewis & Partners Business and Parkside Architectural Tiles. 

We are a Wildwood production.

In this episode, we explore interior design and the circular economy with Jules Haines from The Haines Collection and Chaline Church from 540 World.

In 2018, a major study concluded that the world was only 9% circular with more than 90% of raw materials not being cycled back into the economy.

Clearly, for the health of the planet and the survival of the human race, we must become more sustainable and resource-resilient.

But how will this new thinking impact the sourcing and use of materials in the construction industry? How can interior designers embed circularity into their approach to design? And, how can we best encourage our clients to embrace this new way of consuming?

This episode was recorded at the Sustainability Studio of series supporter, Parkside Architectural Tiles in Clerkenwell. Thanks also John Lewis & Partners Business for their support.  

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there for interior designers. The competition is fierce and new designers are entering the market every day.

We work our socks off, our designs are beautifully considered, and we have happy clients, but for many designers the reality is one of alternating feast and famine, and sometimes it can feel as though we are being left behind. 

Not only do designers have to find new business, they have to convince new clients that they are the right person for the job and then close the deal at a level that makes it financially worth doing.

So, what tools do interior designers need to secure new business and how can they be sure they are getting their fair share of the action?

We're joined by Lloyd Princeton from the Design Management Company and Helen Bygraves and Jenny Weiss, the co-founders of the internationally renowned, Hill House Interiors to find out more. 

Thanks to our series supporters, John Lewis & Partners Business and Parkside Architectural Tiles. 

We are a Wildwood production.