Interior Designers Bryony Richardson got in touch to let us know about a feature she’d had published in Homes and Gardens – on none other than her own home. When we saw the photos, we had to feature this fantastic interior design tour de force. With its vibrant decor, it’s an inspiration for anyone with a white wall in their house. We asked about her approach….
Hi Bryony, so you’ve been getting Jersey property in national media, excellent, tell us about the project….
Yes, Homes and Gardens’ January 2024 featured my own home – Le Rocher – an extensive refurbishment I embarked on with my husband four years ago. I sought to create a space that inspires me, and a joyful home in which to bring up our two boys. The house is just up the road from the St Catherine’s lifeboat station and, before we bought it, I had not the slightest inkling of the change in lifestyle the house would bring with it – year-round sea swimming for example. It’s a Georgian house with high ceilings and enormous windows that drink in the light – it’s a wonderful clothes horse for colour so I brought in quite a lot of it!
Your designs here are incredibly bold and bright, would you say this is your signature approach?
I do love using colour. However, my hallmark approach is to create inviting and expressive spaces that befit the style of a property, and, most importantly, a home for my client to feel in their element. As a result, projects take on many guises. Le Rocher is bold and bright but I also create more neutral schemes, drawing on other design elements, such as texture and lighting. The common link is that I’m always challenging myself to devise considered and atmospheric schemes for my clients that aim to inspire and delight, whilst retaining a deep, personal relevance to them.
Tell us about your route into interior design?
My father is passionate about art and antiques and my mother was an interior designer. I would spend hours attending auctions and rifling through fabric samples, dreaming up schemes. My professional life has spanned conversion of a barn into a lifestyle and organic farm shop (helped by an EU grant), to a founding Anthropologie UK role, before designing the production suites at a couple of top London post-production houses. KLC School of Design training finally led to work at an award-winning London based interiors studio known for their high-end residential designs. So interior design has been in my DNA all my life and it felt like the natural progression to set up my own studio upon relocating to Jersey seven years ago.
What or who has influenced you the most?
From an early age I noticed the effect that décor can have on people. Growing up, friends’ homes had décor that ranged from sparse and drab, to vibrant and fun, and everything in between. I find it fascinating that just a few elemental design choices – such as the arrangement of furniture or colour palette of the walls – can lead to such drastic differences in atmosphere and, as a result, subsequent human interactions. I think that is a big driver for me – attempting to create spaces where people can be the best version of themselves and feel truly comfortable and relaxed.
What is the most impressive building you’ve visited, from an interior design perspective?
Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan. Design is hardwired into the building. Nothing was an afterthought. It is opulent and yet restrained at the same time and so ridiculously classy. It’s also incredible for somewhere to be so identifiably “of its time” and yet somehow still classic and timeless.
What advice would you give to women starting out in business in your industry? (it’s our women in business’ feature in this edition)
Interior design offers so much more than nicely matching curtains and cushions. Take time to invest in your knowledge base and get some training before embarking on what can be an incredibly enriching and rewarding career path. It will give you the skillset and the confidence to start as you mean to go on.
A project transformation requires a collaborative approach and many skills. Make your views heard at meetings with architects and contractors – without your vision and expertise the project will not reach its true potential.
Invest in some suitable footware – when on a building site, you don’t want to be that woman picking their way through the mud in a pair of heels!
Carry a tape measure wherever you go.
bryonyrichardson.com
