British Boutique Hotels, Sydney Radio Stations and High-End Homes in Noosa are just some of the projects that I have worked on both locally and internationally to gain diverse experience in Interior Design.‍ I’ve worked for architect firms, interior design firms and directly for a hotel company. I have also personally designed, documented and managed the renovations of two of our family homes. I can empathise with the overwhelm of the endless choices. Decision fatiugue is real! And I’ve made the mistakes so that you don’t have to.

If you’d told me that after university, I’d go and live in London and work for an in-house team that designs boutique hotels all over the UK, I’d have laughed out loud! It was a dream come true. I met some amazing people when I worked for Malmaison Brand and Hotel du Vin. The first project I worked on with the wonderful Director of Design, Stephanie Briggs, was the transformation of the iconic Oxford Gaol into a hotel. Before it opened, a few of us stayed overnight in the former cell-turned-hotel room. It was an amazing room but quite a spooky experience in an unoccupied hotel.

At the end of my time in London I was managing my own projects and significantly, I worked with the design consultanty team on Hotel du Vin Cambridge where 5 heritage-listed town houses became a 41 room boutique hotel complete with a basement bar, snug, wine-tasting room and road-side bistro.

The Fox & Anchor Pub in Charterhouse Square, London was another meaningful project. Constructed in 1898 after the original pub burnt down, we refurbished the pub and turned the former staff accomodation into 6 luxurious hotel rooms.

When I became home-sick (or sick of the English weather!), I transitioned to life back in Australia by moving to Bondi Beach in Sydney. I came home via the Trans-Siberian railway through Russia, Mongolia and China, which was an incredible experience. I worked for Graphite Architects for a short period where I worked on a pretty special project which involved designing a radio station ‘pod’ in a heritage-listed town house in Ultimo.

Next stop was Noosa, Queensland where I learnt about high-end residential design at Di Henshall Interior Design. It was an incredible place to live and I learnt so much.

In 2009, I established laurentaylor design in Mackay where my dream was to bring great interior design to regional Queensland.

At the heart of any design journey is successful collaboration. In 2011, I teamed up with Stewart and Suellen Bagley and along with Meg Mill we were BOLD Interiors for 3.5 years. It was a very busy but rewarding time full of hard work, laughter and a few tears thrown in for good measure. Projects included new homes, renovations of existing homes, bathrooms, kitchens, restaurants, display homes, offices, new and existing schools and retail fit-outs.

Now, with a family of 4 kids, I know how precious time is and how much more efficient life is when systems have been designed as part of your home. I can help with some of your mental load by reallly listening to your brief and giving you solutions to bring your project to life.

One of my favourite parts of being an interior designer is hearing your stories and history. I find love learning about the different ways that people live, work and play. Interior design is not just about colour and proportion… it’s so much more. It’s about psychology, relationship building, mediation (saving marriages!), problem solving and of course, functional, beautiful and joyful interiors.

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