In this article I am going to set out my top 9 ingredients for the creation of Luxury Interior Design. I am lucky enough to work in an industry that I adore. We have been delivering luxury interior solutions to our clients for over a decade and a half now, and over that time we have developed a check-list of the essential ingredients that go into creating luxurious interior solutions. I am going to share that check-list of special ingredients with you, and take you through the steps we follow to deliver winning luxury interior design solutions for our clients homes, so that you could apply these learning to your own home if you wish. Why not make your home a sanctuary? A place to be inspired in, a place to feel cocooned in, a place to work brilliantly in, a place to eat well in, a place to love and laugh in and a place to be your best self in. As we are all spending more and more time in our homes, it has become increasingly important that our homes serve us well, and on many different levels. Luxury usually come with a price tag, but often it can be delivered just as well through considered design and good planning.

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Defining luxury interior design

Luxury: a state of great comfort or elegance, especially when involving great expense.

Oxford dictionary

Well it is true that luxury employs the use of precious materials, but these no longer need to be the most expensive options available. We live in an age where new technologies have created brilliant new materials that don’t have to cost the earth, so you can tailor luxury to suit your budget if you follow the steps I outline below. What underpins luxury is great design and craftsmanship – always has and always will. Put another way; you can employ the most luxurious materials this world has to offer, but if the design is poor, or the artisans employed to fit are ammeters, then those expensive, luxurious materials will be squandered, and any attempts at luxury will quickly become ostentatious. There is something quite comforting about this universal truth, because it demonstrates that if you want luxury enough, budget doesn’t have to be a barrier. Time, however, may be.

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9 steps to creating luxury interiors

1. Planning is key

I know it seems so simple, but before you dive into creating an exquisite home, the first thing you need to do is to have a clear vision of the purpose of each space in a home, and that takes some planning. Agree with your partner or family how you are going to use each space. Create a wish list for each space. This will help you make the most of the space, and you might find you have some wonderfully rich ideas that could move a previously mundane, rather overlooked space to a room that becomes very special in quality.

We help our clients with this stage in our front end workshop sessions. These are an essential part of our project delivery and it’s what enables us to deliver solutions that are on brief and delight our clients further into the programme and long after the project is completed. This is not a stage that we would ever consider skipping, and neither should you.

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2. Design, design, design

Your planning stage will mean that you have a good design brief to work to. Stick to this and make sure that your design addresses all aspects. Importantly, make sure that scale and proportion are not left to chance. By this I mean make sure that furniture is not too big for a space, window dressings are well executed and generous enough, but not too generous, etc.. Everything in a luxurious interior is perfectly balanced to create a great sense of harmony, order, calm and grace. The Interior Designer is like the conductor of a great orchestra, bringing all the parts together as in a symphony. On their own each piece is special, but not memorable, perhaps – orchestrated they become elevated to something truly unforgettable. That has to be the aspiration, and the design must create the path to that. It’s exciting and it’s what drives us forward.

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3. CONSIDER ALL 6 SENSES IN YOUR DESIGN

Special tip: Make sure that your design considers all of the senses in each room wherever appropriate – sight (easy, it should be a vision for the eyes. Lighting is obviously key here (see point 9)), sound (does the room need to be sound proofed, or should you be considering the introduction of sound? Is the sound of running water you might have the opportunity to introduce?), touch (texture plays an important role in the creation of luxury. Think about layering contrast textures to create depth and richness), smell (this will follow much later, but in the build stage, consider using eco friendly paints and building materials that do not affect air quality, sometimes for a considerable length of time), taste (well this one is not likely to apply unless you are specifically involved in kitchen design) and lastly extra sensory (this is where smart home technology comes in. With the clever use of lighting design, automation, ducting of sound, air filtration and security systems to create a trouble free, luxurious and secure haven.)

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4. SPECIFICATION and the importance of bespoke

This is where we source the materials and fitings to support the design. Make sure that you know your budgets for each room and specify accordingly. This stage also deals with the specification of how things are made if they are not bought off the shelf. To ensure a luxurious outcome don’t be tempted to economise on craftsmanship, and don’t skimp on materials either. If a window dressing is set at 2.5 times the width of the window 2 times the width will not deliver the same fullness. You may be able to find a linen, for example, that has the same beautiful drape and achieves the same luxurious outcome, but is kinder to your budget, if that is a consideration.

Bespoke is a cornerstone ingredient to the realm of luxury Interior design. For that reason we have a whole section dedicated to it on our website where you can read more about it. Bespoke, hand painted kitchen cabinetry, bespoke lighting designs, bespoke window dressings, bespoke furniture design, and the list goes on. The reason it’s so important is because creating luxury has everything to do with scale, so if it doesn’t exist, then we create it brilliantly!

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5. HEALTH considerations

There is much that we can do to our homes to make them better for our overall sense of wellbeing. Seemingly small and large scale considerations alike:

• Consider air and water purity as a start.
• The introduction of a gym or thermal suite have obvious benefits to everyones wellbeing.
• Sound balance is a must.
• Balanced lighting – make sure you have enough lumens for task lighting, for example. Especially in countries where days are especially short in winter it is important that light is given specialist consideration, because light can affect the way that we feel.

Balancing these elements and ensuring they are addressed is all important in the creation of luxury interior design.

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6. BIOPHILIA

This is the introduction of planting schemes to the house and to the garden. It is an innate and genetically determined affinity of human beings with the natural world.The idea of biophilia is to increase our connection with nature in order to create happier, healthier environments. So whilst our understanding of the health benefits of biophilia is relatively new, planting schemes have long been synonymous with the creation of luxury interiors.

The health benefits of biophilia are well documented and not to be overlooked in the creation of luxury interiors. Make sure that your design embraces planting schemes inside and out and don’t leave it as an after thought. Scott Scape have been fabulous in helping to further our knowledge in this area, so if you think you might like to install a living wall, an alpine roof or a manageable interior planting scheme then they are an excellent place to start.

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7. Art – the pièce de Résistance

Art is one of the greatest signifiers of luxury. A well placed work of art can instantly elevate a space emotionally and intellectually. Without great art, an interior can never reach luxury status, and that really is the truth of the matter. For this reason we set up the Artists Appreciation Initiative in 2020. This is a vibrant community of artists, whom you can find in the artist section on our website. All our artists are hand picked, knowing that we would be pleased and proud to put them forward to our clients, and that their artworks would enhance further the projects that we have worked on for months and sometimes years.

Featured below is a triptych by the enormously talented Kasia Clarke. Try and imagine the space without this artwork. The space is impressive, beautifully finished, but would you remember it?

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8. LIGHTING DESIGN

We touched on this briefly in point 3. The same holds true for lighting design as with art – it is integral to creating luxury interior design. It is just not possible to create a luxury home without a well executed lighting design. There is much to get right in this specialist area – the design needs to be supported by the right lighting products. This is a subject on it’s own and an area that we know much about. Do not leave this to chance and don’t think that all LED down lights were made equal – they are not and some will render a much better visual quality than others – make sure that the CRI index is at least 80% or more if you want to achieve the best results.

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9. SOUND

Sound has the capacity to transport and elevate us. Conversely, if it’s not well delivered it can depress and exasperate, so like everything else in the interior design mix it needs to be balanced and carefully considered to help create spaces that ‘sound’ elegant. Luxury Interiors will always accommodate the harsh sounds that hard surfaces can generate by offering up absorbent materials in some format. Introducing the transportive element of sound is more straight forward, as it’s simple to duct music throughout the house and even into the garden. You can have your choice of music ducted to each room in the house by creating zones, giving you the flexibility to cater to the whole family’s music preferences, and every occasion.

Sound proofing between spaces, where necessary, is equally as important. Think about how sound should be managed to create a sense of elevation, whether by suppressing, softening or introducing it.

This is an enormous topic, and I have offered only glimpses into each topic area. If you are interested in learning more then please don’t hesitate to get in touch and I would be glad to discuss any one area further with you.

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qualified to deliver luxury interior design solutions