Designer bedroom ideas
November 8, 2008
By Lauren Cooke
British Design has never been hotter. Across all mediums, the flashy, the understated and the downright genius are being celebrated like never before.
Even the negativity and depression of the credit crunch and impending recession have done little to dampen the spirits of Britain’s up and coming designer elite – indeed, the challenging money worries have spurred budget design and new levels of innovation. IKEA, it seems, just keeps moving up and up!
In the middle of this updraft in favour of British design was the award for Britain’s Best Emerging Interior Designer 2008, awarded by Londonewcastle. Today I speak to one of the nominees, Jill Dugal.
Dugal started her journey into creativity in the darkroom, assisting her father with developing photographs in his studio. This creativity flare blossomed into the land of interiors, and she studies for her BA at Edinburgh College of Art, a well respected institution in the art world. Her background isn’t just academic, however, and pursuit of design and practical experiences has seen her taken as far as Shanghai and (thankfully for British Design) back.
All designers draw on different inspirations, which allows a multitude of styles and themes to suit al tastes. For Jill particularly, she draws inspiration from British Designers such as Terence Conran or David Hicks – but with a bit of added quirkiness and of course individuality thrown in. This “twist” is what makes her rooms as unique as they are, and allows the customers brief to be fulfilled exactly and beautifully. A particular example is using floorboards on the wall of a customers bedroom – quirky and, forgive the pun, rather off-the-wall!
Jill’s statement touches, however, don’t always involve floor and wall role reversal. Indeed, her statement pieces are bespoke – as she says, “The same item reproduced in another interior may not necessarily have the desired effect that I had initially planned it for”. Some examples are her gorgeous and luxurious bespoke headboards, which she has used to add depth and to play with scale.
If the world of design is so exciting at the moment, then what is to come? If Jill is right (which I hope she is) then design evolves over time – hence why dramatic looks and signature styles of days gone by can still look just as good today. A room should be played with, changed, developed – and the dramatic and exciting of today can become the retro and classic of tomorrow.
Dugal currently designs with Jeffreys Interiors, a flamboyant boutique style design house with a leaning towards the unique. You can find more information at: http://www.jeffreys-interiors.co.uk/
Related articles
