Featured Interior Designer

When buying a new home or just renovating your own, choosing the right interior designer is fundamental. Hamiltons Property Portfolio would like to introduce one of our partners and featured designers, Blake Matthew. We have taken the time to ask him the questions you should ask your prospective designer before relying on them to transform your home into a marvellous art space.

Hamiltons: How long have you been an interior designer?

Blake Matthew: I started as an apprentice interior designer in 2005. In 2007 I started my own design business. So for roughly 14 years.

Hamiltons: Where do you get ideas and inspiration for new designs?

Blake Matthew: We have travelled and still travel to roughly 70 countries and counting, visiting beautiful hotels, lodges, resorts and cities so our inspiration comes from international trends. We follow some of London's and New York's top interior designers who influence our work. We love nature and we like to bring the outdoors into a room design. Nature inspires us when it comes to the use of colours and textures. Inspiration can come from anywhere really, often seeing one beautiful fabric can inspire an entire look.

Hamiltons: What are the latest trends in interior design?

Blake Matthew: Right now the colour coral is in, bold printed wallpapers with natural elements, velvet furnishings and floral patterns are taking over, however, we tend to not follow the top latest trends too much as they do change constantly. We prefer to create timeless designs that suit our clients' tastes and still look as beautiful in 10 years as they do now. Interior design is very personal and the latest trends don't always suit everyone's taste, although we do bring a few elements into our design.

Hamiltons: Which do you consider more important: functionality or aestheticism?  

Blake Matthew: That is always a tough question because as a designer we want to create gorgeous spaces that are pleasing to the eye and touch, however, we have always considered functionality first. We would say that there needs to be a good balance between the two which we always aim to achieve.

Hamiltons: Walk me through your design process. Where do you start?

Blake Matthew: So firstly we like to meet our clients, preferably in their new space. We need to get a feel of the areas we are decorating or designing and then draw inspiration from what the client likes and what they need in that space. Once we have gathered enough information we then start working on a design plan, we put together colours, textures, space plans and a general look and feel. Once this is all done we like to meet with our clients again to present and take it from there.

Take a look at a few of Blake Matthew's designs here: 
https://www.blakematthew.net/
25 Eaton Ave, Bryanston, Sandton
South Africa 2191
Email: info@blakematthew.net
Phone: +27 (0) 10 213 0191

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