Category: Design Musings

As featured in Darwinlife magazine this month: 

Since reading the latest Vogue living I’ve been having a bit of a love affair with all things pretty and French. I have browsed through hundreds of Parisian apartments (below is my pick of them) and dreamt up several  designs. Shame that not 1 of my clients are interested in this style so far. Oh well one day when someone finally asks me to help them recreate Versailles  in their living room I will be ready. SO READY! 😛

I have been very unfocused this month and have turned clients away left right and centre with the white lie that I am “fully booked sorry” so I don’t have a lot to share this month, I blame my family (that’s what they are there for right?) Maybe if I didn’t have 3 relatives all born in this month I wouldn’t have spent quite so much time drinking champagne and eating cake and would have been more involved in my design- Not to mention richer! Anyway here’s what I have saved on my desktop as things of interest:

 

 

 

Things that have taken my fancy this month:

People often ask silly questions when they first meet you, don’t you think? Personally I hate the mundane social situation where you get introduced to someone for the first time and the first question they ask you (after your name) is “sooooo what do you do?”

Now whilst i am perfectly aware that what they mean is ‘ what you do for a living’, as in how do you earn your money and survive in the world and that the question itself is innocent enough but its annoying none the less. Sometimes when I am feeling particularly insolent  I’ll bat my eyelashes at them all doe eyed with fake naivety as though I don’t understand the question and whether they mean now? as in ‘what do i do today?’ or in general?  (and h0w long have you got??)  All the while hoping they will end the conversation quickly so I can go and talk to someone else, someone who doesn’t ask such meaningless silly questions as a way to begin conversation because their own lives obviously aren’t full or passionate enough to give them personality thus rendering them of little to no interest to me . On the occasions that I play along (networking is essential at certain times you understand) the  questions that follow my answer are almost always the same “where do you get your creativity from?” or “what made you want to be  a designer”, and then my responses prompt even  more boring queries as we go through the how, when or where it all came about.

So this whole business of people asking too many questions for my liking is kind of how this website and  blog came about as I am often expected to give a rundown of what I do and the services I offer to anyone who happens to overhear the words ‘Haley’, ‘ Interior designer’ or ‘home renovation’mentioned  in the one sentence and now I can just hand a card over- refer them to my website ‘services‘ page and carry on chatting to whomever I want. Sound rude? Probably but book an appointment and then ask me all the questions you like otherwise ask me no questions and i’ll tell you no lies. 😉

 

I wanted to be a fairy, didn’t happen. I wanted to be a rockstar, that didn’t work out either. Then I wanted to be a Designer- so far so good.

A chance encounter with the Interior design department  when I attended an open day intended for kick starting a career in fashion Design made me realise that my natural flair could be channeled into creating something better than making dresses, Interior Design  could open up a career to me that didn’t mean i’d be a struggling artist type for years and years before finally finding fame and glory when i would be too old to enjoy it  .

The concept of Lady Darwin Design was originally formed in 2002 and has gradually developed along the way. After studying in QLD I searched for a Design firm to begin an internship with, I decided early on that I wanted to work for a firm that blended modern elements with traditional design principles but that  also provided a personalized and environmentally conscious service. I didn’t find one, so that is when I realised I could create this new kind of Design studio encompassing all that I am passionate about and from there the dream started to take shape and here we are.