The Art of Property Design: Studio Leadership 🎨 | Inside Lorena Gaxiola's All-Female Design Empire

This Beyond Interior Design Podcast explores the intersection of real estate and interior design. We’ll discuss the impact of computer-generated images, the role of interior designers in property development, and provide insights on design considerations and avoiding common mistakes.

1. How do you create a personalized feeling in a large-scale project? 
2. How do you cater to the needs of different buyers?
3. How do you ensure a balance between affordability and luxury?
4. What factors influence the selection of materials and products?
5. What are common mistakes interior designers make in real estate design?
6. How do you differentiate your designs from competitors?
7. How does the digital revolution impact the real estate industry?
8. Why are powder rooms and bathrooms important spaces to focus on in interior design?
9. How can interior designers avoid copying each other and provide more choice to clients?
10. What is the ultimate goal for interior designer in the coming years?

> Here you can find out more about Lorena Gaxiola:

https://instituteofinteriorimpact.com/lorena/

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Follow us for more interior design insights:

• Instagram: @beyondinteriordesign
• Website: www.beyondinteriordesign.club

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Transcript

hi there welcome at the Beyond interior design podcast I'm a mark miscus your host for today and thank you very much for connecting with us it's my goal to make it impossible for you to design the way you did before you knew this podcast so a great joy here together with Sven from Beulah we're running our own interior design firm but we're the founders of The Institute of interior impact 2 and this is where we love to connect and Empower ambitious interro design professionals like you and look the world around us is changing rapidly we know that but our profession doesn't and it's about time it does as creators of beautiful things we owe to ourselves and the rest of the world to do the right thing because only together we have the power to design these worlds and our guest for today is Lorena gachiola her Services go well beyond to their design and styling and that's why we've invited her for our podcast is an award-winning internationally acclaimed design expert with more than 25 years experience in the business of property she's originally from Mexico established a successful business in the United States and later expanding her business into australasia Ola interior design isn't just about creating rooms that look good it's about getting into the minds of bias and giving them what they want C creates spaces people actually want to live in and yes yes live from Sydney let's see if she's willing to reveal some of her design secrets

yeah great great introduction appreciate it yeah I did I did my job I did my work and well I know you're ever really busy busy woman so thank you very much for being here and um congratulations because uh you were winning the Sydney Design Awards 2022 for a better future living gold is it yes thank you so much yeah very exciting yeah you can be very proud of it tell me more about the these words um well the awards really celebrate um design in many aspects um it is geared towards um creatives really providing a better future for the community um whether it is in interiors and architecture and graphics and signage and anything that you know it can be transportation and anything um people that are really pushing forward a better future are awarded with such a nomination and we were lucky enough to be the uh the winners this year yeah thank you yeah great I saw that I saw the project and we will uh we will uh place a link on our website with the project uh you were winning with so it's it's lovely it's really really high-end uh residential design it is high-end but it's affordable luxury so in the area where that project was awarded is an up-and-coming future CBD the central business district is outside of the city of Sydney but it's an emerging Hub and it's really very um culturally diverse and we deliver a building that with over 40 stories um tall it's hosting about a thousand residents in that building and it took nearly you know six years to complete from concept to delivery um the very first one in in in in this part of the world to have a robotic car park system so the entire building is um is just really well suited to last you know 100 years and stay there and and have a long life from from the common areas and the residentials um everything is just really well designed for its residents to be able to have an entry price point into the luxury sector oh great yeah yeah I read about it the robotic car parking system I was like okay this it sounds really oh yeah but now it's it's it's affordable for uh people in other segments as well yeah yeah I love it um well um you are in the business of property it's about bricks and buildings for some people for real estate people for investors for developments it's all about getting their money return on investment hey you are you are in the business of buying and selling dreams is it what is this shelter yeah exactly a home is a shelter and it's where people feel safe it's uh it's people's biggest investment in their lives um it is also the the one way for people to build well so I think it's completely underestimated um how um personal it is for the purchaser and we really try to bring that um personal attention to everything that we design at my company yeah yeah I I really do like the the Personal Touch because I can imagine when you have a block with this 40 50 60 of 100 Apartments how do you make diversity in it or that you feel it that it's meant for you this apartment how do you put that feeling no and that's a that's a great question because not only do we need to deliver to the market the needs but we also need to deliver a project that is on time and on budget uh we need to ensure that we are selecting products and materials that um that the Builder can purchase at large quantities and install and have great quality control and attention to detail during the installation process as well as performing for the developers in order for them to have enough marketing materials for them to have a successful sales pitch and and a successful product to sell um so it really is it's a holistic process that we are involved from the very beginning people often think that interior designers get evolve at the very end once all the architecture and everything is in place but smart developers involve us from the very beginning because you will understand the fact that we are taught in school to design for the end user and we are not just creating the built environment but we are creating how people live in the built environment so um developers that listen to us early in the process truly deliver a better product at the end because we start thinking and it can be as simple as you know what's the size of your lift and can a sofa fit in that lift you know we really come back even the basics you know can you turn that on that um space plan on you know for over 400 units so we really have to review the space planning in each one of the units to understand how people are going to be moving into the building and living in the particular space and maximizing a quality of life and in this case we were involved in and and the fact that is 400 plus units we also had to take into consideration the fact that we're delivering Studios at an entry-level price point but we're also delivering a penthouse on the 46th level in this beautiful Tower um that we're calling it a sky home and we didn't really want to feel like the studio person was buying an entry-level product but we also didn't want to deliver the penthouse on something that they feel like you know it wasn't compared to the entire building so the developers were really uh strategic at the way that they briefed us on the project we created um various um upgrades under the same base of design and we ended up having I think about nine different variations on the particular scheme so that people will be able to have a an accessible price point to the particular unit that they were going to be able to to purchase in yeah and so so it will definitely fit different Lifestyles too and and absolutely we have to also keep an approach that was going to give the builders and the developers a comfort level in the maintenance and um and the warranties that they were going to pass on to people because here in Australia you have to offer I think about 10 years guarantee on everything but also a neutral palette enough that people can bring their personality but then you also have to think of the next layer on giving them architecture that they don't feel like they need to renovate or change um but they just add on with their Furniture so it is definitely strategic and people underestimate they think like you said it's just brick and pain and and it's it's it's a lot of thought and process that goes through it and it's in collaboration very deep collaboration between the real estate agents the property developers the property managers the builders The Architects it is definitely always uh participation amongst many of our expertise yeah yeah yeah you're talking just just hey we're just starting in a few minutes but you you are just revealing the all the stuff beyond the interior design bar because the the design part is maybe a few percent actually that's not what we want to hear actually but I I know it from this project you hey you said it took well you started in 2017 with this um in this project yes we did we actually started I think in late 2016 and and people started moving in just at the end of the last year and I mean it's such an enormous project and it was you know 300 million to build it and deliver um was built in the middle of covid um Australia had very strict rules and and covet and and we had a you know very extreme lockdowns uh we had a very tough time with labor force so I mean really this building was thrown with so many bricks and bad luck and in every single angle and and and I know I was there for a photo shoot and I saw the very first residence moving in and I was just like so excited because I've never seen that I usually am out once it's delivered oh yeah to move in with you know their furniture and everything and and and I met him and I shook their hand and I was able to say I designed your apartment it just brought me so much happiness ah cool yeah it sounds like you are doing a television show and you have the camera is on it that's that's what I want I wish but you know what the best things happen when nobody's watching to be honest yeah yeah true true yeah but I'm always curious uh when when when you're gone as an interior designer and people are just sitting on the sofa with that with their partner and then what what do they say to each other how do they feel at that moment that's what we we can never see that moment even on television because it's so private yeah you were in the in the middle of this well this moment this excitement of having your key yeah yeah absolutely absolutely it was absolutely an honor to see them so excited to you know turn that key in into their their apartment yeah I think one of your one of your secrets because it had the art of Beyond The Art of interior design beyond the terror design is it's like uh you are you're taking care so much about this this amp feeling or experience of the of the consumer or bio and user wealth it doesn't sound human and usual I I hate the word actually do you have another word for that because it's it's it's the president is the winners of you know the the Risk Takers really right now to to buy into property and put all your savings and you know with interest rates and just everything that's happening in the market people are really afraid and for people that are taking that plunge and you know obviously there's so much uncertainty with employment and income and things like that but it's important to you know build wealth and and and and yes it sounds like an end user because at the end of the day we we are in in business yeah everybody's in business you know and we call it an end user because it's not a consumer you know consumer yeah um this is just a person that is going to end up utilizing the space at the end right so yeah it's it's just catered to them always and and there's no no two projects are alike no two areas are alike just because it's a combination of of the team that delivers something unique yeah great so how how do you start a project like that how do you start with your story because as entirely designers we are almost designing from inside out a lot of Architects are doing it some Architects start from the outside because they take the environment or whatever how how do you start something like that every project is different I mean I I I'm kind of like what I've been told is I'm very unique because I come from a very strong commercial mindset I know you and I've had like uh chats apart from this podcast but I come from a family of Builders and Architects so I grew up around here around the business I I listened to it I listen to my father uh design sketch negotiate build deliver my brothers in the same business my husband is in the same business so I live and breathe this industry um so for me I I definitely bring that creativity but I also understand that it's a business and um so I I I I like to receive information I try to really extract a lot of information from my clients about the scope about the market not only is that just what the client um suggests I I definitely like to listen to the real estate experts as well in their Direction where they see the market because we're designing five years ahead right so whatever they will be delivered in five years so we need to be ahead of the trends and we need to deliver something that is going to defy the trends as well um so it's it's doing educated research I have an amazing group of uh very creative women that I'm sure we're going to talk about them later but um you know they're my core and you know they bring expertise and in market research and and and we really just come up with a strategic angle so that we always offer a point of differentiation for our clients yeah and these These are the keys for knowing what kind of materials Scholars products you're using right it's just the kind of it does I mean um uh we look at I mean I think what is fair is that we look at the competitors so we look at the existing Market the area the location uh we study the demographics in the location I think one of the biggest mistakes happening uh is when people just say this is trendy this is what looks good everybody wants this particular look and they deliver the same product in neighborhood a and in neighborhood b um another common mistake that I see and again this is just my opinion because good and bad design is on the eye of the beholder but another common mistake that I see is that they think that an entry-level price point needs to look like luxury but in an entry level look and that's not the case I think you can still deliver High design on an entry-level price point that doesn't necessarily looks like marble and brass and something that you know it's out of the Ritz Carlton I think I think that's unachievable and uh and it's a disservice to the end user again going back onto that word um so we we really try to be very strategic we we review like I said editors and not so much for yes for a client to stand out but it's also to offer options and a point of differentiation to the end users because the the residents and the and the purchasers they have options to go and see I mean they're shopping around so why would we give them the same product right you don't go to the same store to buy a white shirt so uh we try to just create another opportunity uh to inspire so for those that are not necessarily fitting within those boxes we create a new box for them yeah great so what what is going on in the housing market you're talking about global Trends you have to design five years ahead what what what's your vision and for the future of real estate or housing of living I mean what can I say is an essential item I mean I mean we I was just at the Forbes Australia launch they had a an event here in Sydney and it was a fantastic event with a fantastic panel they did a great great job um and just listening to uh the people the economists and all the people that were in the panel is Australia is a very fortunate country I mean it's just the regulations that the government really looks after their people and and um it has really been very resilient towards the covet uh recession and we haven't entered recession so um it's still a safe place to purchase um we just opened the borders a lot of immigration that is going to be coming through Australia as well so there's definitely a huge boom in the housing market prices are are you know what can I say everybody has an opinion some people are saying it's strong some people are saying is weak and it's um at the end of the day everybody needs a home and everybody's moving up and and people in reality you know in the past 25 years is people buy homes they have a five cycle in a home you buy your first home then you know if you're a single person um that's your first investment barely have money to you know purchase this home so you don't care for any upgrades you just want to go in and try to create an asset that in seven years you'll be able to extract some Equity out of it to then buy a home that has a little bit more luxuries right by then you know I like to cook I like to do this you have a little bit more knowledge on your lifestyle or your family starting to grow if you have a family then you go through this the third cycle which is you know you have you're more professional you are have a different living either you have a an investment property or a vacation home or you actually step it up and then you create more of a luxury product so you go like that I mean and obviously you know 50 of the population get divorced so there's a breakup and then they have to find another home and then you have you know the downsizers and then you have the retirement facility so I think what I think what people need to really plan and I I hope that developers really take this into consideration because in America they definitely do they really tried that angle to create customer service to provide repeat business so I did see that a lot in America how people purchase on the brand of the developer and the Builder and not so much on the product this is blue and this is pretty it's just I know this is quality I bought my first home with them I will buy my second home with them and they definitely have initiatives to promote that repeat business I'm new to this country maybe I'm just coming from a place of ignorance but I I really haven't been brief in that and saying you know this is a person that is purchasing from us the second or the third time and um I I think that you know there's an opportunity that that that that we should tap into which is that that uh that loyalty program I guess yeah yeah it really needs to head really Target to that the Loyalty yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah it's with the terror design we have some clients well you you well the best thing to design an interview is that it's really that it is really sustainable the best the best reviews we get is like oh are we living uh already 10 years in your housing your entire design and we still love it every day it's still functional it's still we still like it it's still us it works it's we can grow with our family uh in here it's the best uh review you can get actually best compliment but uh in the other way that will if you talk about business-wise I know some material design Architects they are every year every two years they they gonna demolish their own design for the next new shiny object and internal design it's it's well I'm like why is that why is that I mean there's always a bit of an ego right that uh yeah that people want to create a something that is curated to them in particular and it definitely Falls more in the luxury sector and I think there is a place for that and and this is why I I reiterate the fact that the luxury sector is a completely different sector than the entry uh entry level sector and it's not to put down entry level it's just a completely different markets so you've got to give them what they're asking and in luxury when they have so much money where money is No Object well yeah there's definitely a market for that there's definitely the team uh design and Architects that are very well suited to deliver that product and as long as they do it responsibly uh which we you know regulations become stricter and stricter um so that we can be a little bit more conscious about the effects because you know construction it is one of the biggest contributors to you know global warming and yeah and uh and waste so if we can be mindful of that you know everybody should be able to get whatever they want yeah yeah I like that yeah and what about this this health and well we're talking about sustainability too but this health and this Wellness thing Wellness mindset how do you how how is that going into your designs because people are so busy with it nowadays yes and I and I think it's a again it's another one that I know many of my fellow designers when we discuss um you know Trends or when we go to shows and we get to know new product or we meet with um with reps that are bringing new products to the market they they really educate Us in the benefits that uh the end user can receive by you know um going with a particular product but they're still you know we're still working in a very conservative Market you know property and development is conservative no matter what so um people still need to test and try before it really creates a a change in the bigger picture but there's definitely amazing products out there that um are not just sustainable in the environmental sector but they're also socially responsible in the way that they manufacture and I think um that's that's contributing to that health and wellness but it's also contamination contamination not just on landfill but also contamination of the items that we are absorbing whether it's paint or glue or the way that materials are are produced and then in the long run you know it really can affect our health um yeah it's not that just one particular floor is going to kill you but it's just making little changes that will definitely benefit the health and wellness and I think that's um you have to think about mind body and spirit in that but I think people right now are just saying you know let's give people rooftops so they can exercise on the roof after covet and they can do yoga or we'll give them a pool or we give them a gym but I like to go in and say why can't we just put a new filtering system so that we remove all the chemicals out of the water right yeah or why can we just have you know two garbage shoot in your building so that one goes to recycle and the other one goes to you know there's still a few things that you know it can be one idea but I understand that it requires there's a lot of planning and preparation that at times it delays the project and then it's better to move forward um but I trust me that my fellow designers Architects that we we have this knowledge we have this and and we do put it in front of people and whether people accept and take it and move forward you know it's completely out of our control but but we are there for the community to know that we are pushing um sustainable products out there yeah wow we love it yeah I read some of this information on your website when I did my research but now I yeah I could feel it when we first met in a in a zoom meeting but so I I think people can definitely see why you're in the the why you want the better future work because there are so many aspects that you you're just showing a lot of entire designers just showing these beautiful pictures this instagramable pictures like look at my design how beautiful it is and your your attention goes to the details or the the color scheme or the material videos or whatever but the I always want to know why is this such a good design that's what was so uh interesting about your story good design I would like to say is what you don't see yeah it's completely what you don't see and it doesn't show in the pictures it's about quality and it's about what just functions I mean good design is almost like your body right you don't need to feel your arms for the for them to be useful but if you don't have arms you know something doesn't function perfectly and I think that's what good design is all about if people can really move through a space um and and function effortlessly then the design is great yeah totally agree um well we're looking at that we're talking about this these move UPS people that that want to grow with their family literally with their square meters and they want to to have a bigger house better also there's also another movement that is going on for actually quite a few years already it's a tiny home movement the downsizes do you meet those people what what's the story of them yeah affordability it's affordability I think a lot of people are very conscious as well about um not needing a law and consumerism is definitely I mean just people are I'm very excited about this the industry's shifting because when I started working it was in the late 90s and it was just everything I remember being brief like I want my house to look like a Tuscan Villa and I'm like California you know it was very almost like the aspiration was next level right like it was the Ralph Lawrence and it was just you know Spanish BLS or I mean it was just just very aspirational and I think right now it's very real and I think we're taking cues from the younger generation that are saying you know what I'm okay to reuse I'm already I you know it's it's they're setting new trends and it's really letting us the dinosaurs kind of like it's giving us a point of creativity again to um learn something new to see the changes in the market and I think the tiny house movement it's it's a combination of affordability It's a combination of Consciousness and it's a combination of trend as well um but people like to travel people are putting their efforts into a quality of life and they're saying I need less but I want to live more and and it's not for everyone but it's definitely a trend that is here to stay um as a matter of fact we have a a a section uh sessions called ask LG where we give a platform to students to contact me and I gave them 15 30 minutes and you know they can ask me any question about about you know entering the design industry and and then today I had an exchange of emails with uh high schooler that is designing something for a tiny home so that's that's interesting that you brought that up because I'm excited to have a chat with him tomorrow and and see his perspective yeah if you see the perspective of all these well let's call them the Millennials if if they can design the world they do they do something different I'm really uh well I'm always heading the next week I'm getting 39 so I'm I'm feeling like okay within I was 20 when I was studying and I had so many rebellious ideas and new ideas and this needs to be the world well eventually 20 years later we have institutionary impact so that the part was already a bit designed for that but uh yeah we had a dead design week uh in the in the Autumn a few weeks ago at this design we can ain't over it's a big event the whole world is watching and it's got kind of Milan thing but the newspapers were writing about that there was nothing new there were no Innovations the story was again about sustainability durability whatever and there was they brought it up like what was it some kind of bad news they didn't know what to write about because it was all it all had to do with mine shifts in the design processes in uh looking at it at stuff with another perspective another view to create a better future to create a better world absolutely I mean it's I think we're we're seeing under a microscope I mean interior design is no no different than an influencing uh or you know if you look at an influencer right if it's makeup and how to put your makeup on or how to dress or the Kardashians or Trends and things like that interior design is seen this it's the same I I do think that we need to normalize it a little bit I think we need to be a little bit more realistic on how people live and show people that you know your home doesn't need to be absolutely perfect and the cushions don't need to be matching matchy or anything that you know show real homes for real people um I think there's definitely a point of showing that aspiration and editorial but I know when I go to photo shoots and uh private residences and we clean the kitchens and everything is on the floor yeah

live like the pictures don't not at all

it's on a rendering or CGI um it is ideal but I do think that we need to show real Furniture real comfortable Furniture how people Envision themselves because it's very expensive now to set up display homes um it's very expensive and you know we can save that money from developers they can put that money back on the property as well and give more to to the purchasers um so the more that we can create uh computer generated images with realistic furniture that it's not just you know show them that they can fit 20 people you know with enough chairs and everything instead of five very well placed chairs for a birthday party yeah or try to tie it with local um products that they can buy in the market so people can say oh I can buy that sofa at this store it looks just like the one in the store and just already give them a guide on how they can Furnishing themselves just like a picture yeah yeah the digital Revolution is very important and for definitely in real estate because it's not built yet and you want to sell hey your designs yeah absolutely but it's a it's an art and people um think that is you know people just and I definitely think that people with good taste can do phenomenal job decorating and putting items together and it's just like a great stylist and I don't think to to have a beautiful design home you need to be a professional uh be your profession and go through a four-year University degree but the ones that we do go through that um we are taught the psychology of how people utilize spaces and that's what differentiates our practice to those who have great taste and are able to deliver beautiful um aesthetic but for us is how the space is being utilized it's how the appliances are placed it's very strategic how a kitchen is designed you know we we we think about where are the pots and pans going to go we're not thinking you know that should be a white kitchen like it's it's almost like the last thing that we select is the color of the kitchen what we are thinking first and foremost is what is the storage and where is the pantry and where's the washing machine and how are people utilizing the space yeah yeah we have we have a huge checklist for our only kitchen designing we have one for a toilet and bathroom for every room every activity we have a huge checklist even the washing room we did so many laundry rooms the last few years because this is a process everybody hates to do it so they said don't pay attention to the laundry room it's not important I hate to do washes I but I said let's let's twist the idea of well let's see that you would like to go there to do the washes to do the laundry and like yeah yeah sure I don't do I hate the long way I I'm not I'm going to edit in future too but if you can switch that if you design a perfect laundry room and this whole process and activity will just take you a few minutes to change change the Washington London to the dryer and have it organized really well it's just it takes you maybe well let's say 30 minutes a week in your full lifestyle in your busy lifestyle and you can enjoy the other things and that's that's so great about good interior design but that's not the story that's not sexy it's not fashion to talk about a laundry room maybe when you use really cool materials you can put it on Instagram but for the rest it's like yeah uh okay you know what is really funny because one of the most popular rooms in a home is The Powder Room never think about that it is the one room that everyone that comes and visits you will experience so if you want to show someone like people spend money in their bedrooms for example like they won't see their bedrooms right like you get to enjoy yourself it's totally fine but if you want to impress people put the money in The Powder Room everyone's gonna go and enjoy it for a few minutes and take it all in and and sometimes it's just the the last thought right let me just put walls because it's not a wet area they don't think about it but uh but there's it's it's the most utilized space Also your bathroom the ensuite it's the most utilized space as well even more than the kitchen you spend more time in that bathroom than ever and I have people underestimate the need for good lighting women do their makeup there women yeah where we're putting all this our products so people underestimate the need for really really good storage in a bathroom towels toilet paper I mean and it sounds so whatever is the basics you can buy a basket and you can put stuff there but if you don't have to then that is good design you don't have to buy baskets and gadgets and stuff like that yeah in order um I I think it's always an afterthought and and they put all the bells and whistles and you know the brand of the appliance no no no go back and design it the right way for people yeah I learned I did in the in the around 2010 I did a lot of real estate staging model housing it was just coming from from America it was quite new in the in the Netherlands to State your house you never buy a house inclusive with interior with Furniture it's always empty so uh there was a complete new world but then the the well women female uh gender learned me a lot about housing because they they kind of well actually at the end they are the bias the women they were looking at these powder rooms and how how can they live there how do you use this and how how can they dress up the mirrors the well you talk about the lighting it was really uh yeah impressive world and I think it was at that time one of my secrets is to design for women in this model housing uh stuff it's a it's a it's actually we we did uh some research because also when we are creating our computer uh generated images um I know we were doing some research and over 85 percent of click-throughs online for Real Estate are done by women 80. women are involved in every single cycle even when they're children buy property right so it's not so much the design for women by women but uh we just have I mean I know with my husband if you give us a task loading the the the groceries in the car we can go to Ikea and buy a lot of boxes I will do a better job at organizing loading the the car that he would there's something about the way that our brain is put together that it's it people say women we're not logical we are very logical actually in in the sense that we we just need like resolve things I think I think we're just people that I mean and I'm generalized maybe because I'm biased on a woman but I I just can't just try to just be very like Problem Solver you know just just I only want to do it once and and that's it and I know what I want and how I want it and and I know for my luxury uh residential clients they come to me and they they always hire this amazing Architects um and I and I love working with them because they even come even The Architects say to me Lorena I I just can't get through this laundry room and it sounds like the laundry room right they don't they hire me for the laundry room but you know my my clients which are the women um they come to me and they said I'm you know I love my architect and he's such an artist and my home is beautiful but I don't want to insult him because he's done it three times but Lorena now I need you I need my kitchen and my laundry and then we end up moving everything best friends with the architect we collaborate greatly I make sure that I respect you know their Vision uh tie my vision to their Vision I I I I I I can design at any you know style and if my client wants French country I will Design French country for them like not everything needs to be modern um so I I work really well with Architects and then once we have a winning design it's just such a pleasure and such a relief because to see how our practices really complement each other is just a fantastic thing to experience yeah yeah I know from the walk-in closet some people I've ever asked him why did you move houses why did you buy that other house because because of the walk-in closet they told me and then I I when I was presenting uh I did some uh some um uh some days for the for real estate people there that was a kind of host for in that model housing I was presenting my own interior design but then they said no I'm not gonna buy the house my my closet won't fit in there was just one reason to not buy that that great apartment with Parkview Skyview whatever Skyline everything was perfect yeah no it didn't fit there are working closet I was like okay if this is the real world I need to take care about working closets and power ropes yeah like it yeah so what's that what's uh in your eyes the most important role of an interior designer if you're working in the real estate property if you'd like to listen to the market I think we need to um voice our opinion from a from a research-based perspective not just on a personal opinion um I think we always need to stay close to the core that you know we are create providing a service and it's not just a service of style but also a service of delivering a product for a dream an investment and it's something very real and it's very important it's very significant and I think if we always stay connected to the core purpose of our uh point of service that really needs to remain our role because creativity I mean I I see designs all the time I love designs that every designer makes I think if you go to school you have good taste it's just design is beautiful but make sure that you deliver for what people are asking for and what they want the walk-in rows the powder bathroom the right laundry the right kitchen and and step away from you know the wind and the the you know The View I mean the view is great right but sometimes you just design based on that it's like okay you put the sofa and you look at the Windows like where's your TV yeah I know there's a few but then it's night time and you don't see the view so where's your TV right so there's it's just a little bit of uh just really think about how people live how people move into space and I think that's really that's that's really what we need to do yeah great so how how do you um well what what's a common mistake interior designers are doing in real estate because I I know I was talking with this mostly perfect now no you know what um I don't think it's a comment I would what's your biggest mistake then I think we need to stop copying each other I think I think everybody can just I think it's great to celebrate uh great design and great aesthetic but like right now in Sydney if I see one more Arch everybody just has you know kind of like that Arch and white and beachy and boho and ton on tone and and I think it's great but it's like maybe let's just leave that for the person that came up with it you know and maybe like as a whole item even though your clients like I love that look you can be like okay but let me just put my sense into it let me give you a new Arch and I think I think we just need to provide more Choice um because then it starts becoming stale and then it dates really quickly uh it's really hard to stand out it's really hard to give people options and I just think if we can celebrate each other by respecting um our point of differentiation as creatives I think that that's something that that I wish we could do a little bit more and and draw inspiration from different areas draw inspiration from art from uh nature from from a color scheme for from it can be anything let's not just draw inspiration on what somebody else did yeah I I definitely like that yeah I I like that I like to have the creative freedom to design whatever you want and not designing for magazines or the next Trend or it's like it's it's never we have some projects it's not portfolio worth it because if you see the pictures it's not it's not like it's like it's outdated or you you have no clue when it's created the people if they they give you five stars it's it's a it's it's an A plus for their desired lifestyle you design exactly the right thing but again the story behind that's that's the design and not the end result or this material palettes or whatever yeah if they don't like the next new color why should I use the new the best new color right right I mean it's just just have a have a reason for your ideas basically um beyond your ego I guess yeah that's why we say form follows meaning and if you take it to a really individual level that's exactly what you need to create one follows meaning if they care about watching television the whole day just design the house for television for watching the whole day put a fridge behind the sofa if they like that but if they're really those healthy persons and they really want to I don't know some people are are checking their emails uh in the morning till half past 11 12 in the morning and they're really business men but they're checking emails why should they go downstairs for their breakfast please put design a kitchenette in a bathroom even when it looks absurd or or crazy do it if people are hanging their code always over the dining chair and the in the kitchen somebody's complaining in the family about always hanging that goat over there design the closet in the back of the chair where he or she can put her work office back her yeah it's her closet and it's always she's always with the jacket on entering the building so fix it solve that I think people like to be heard and I think that's what we see a huge Trend in social media that people um you know these brands that emerge and the influencers that you know they work out and they have this workout gear and all that and this is I'm just taking from that Forbes um uh conference that was here on Friday um it's true I think one of the reasons why people social media became and and this influences became so popular is because when they were speaking to their Market they failed heard and that's what I took from the from the conferences on on Friday but I think uh influencers in design and interiors and architecture you know the purchasers want to be heard as well you know they and that's what basically what you're saying we need to just stop just saying this looks great on my portfolio and thinking more about okay it doesn't need to go to my portfolio let's put that closet behind the dining table and that's okay you know yeah let's flip the camera and take another photo you know and hey where are the designers so if it's it's a shame if you can't make it look good that's what I think if you have an ugly object or you don't like this couch or this material make it look good that's that's our knowledge that's our expertise right that's the job yeah so what's the yeah I want to to end this uh this podcast with um I'm really curious what what what is it that you want to achieve in the next few years what's your next move what's on your bucket list I am a very passionate person about uh mentoring the next generation of designers I I very excited to work with a very Dynamic group of uh very talented creative women um with expertise in different fields from uh marketing Graphics uh illustration architecture design and every angle and I see how they see the world and I'm excited to pass on you know the Baton to them and and hope that I can organize my company to hand it over in a silver platter and let them take it to where it needs to go for another 30 years I'm very excited about that how I structure that um so there's a path of business ownership entrepreneurial ownership to female creatives designing and property and give them a platform to really shine and be more than a number in an architectural firm or an interior design firm and just really feel like they own um their brand their Essence their personality into it it is a business so you know I still need to coach them into that it's going to take a little bit of time to to kind of get that Comfort level in the market it's work handling big responsibility big investments from from our clients but that's really what I'm focusing as well as um maintaining my my team Boutique I've always managed a team under 11 staff and that's because it's allowed me to Pivot my career to reinvent um to move with uh with the market and where it's heading and right now we have some amazing hopes and dreams of what we want to do want to see if we can turn this into a tech company and and it's really coming from The Young talent in my company that that they're giving me ideas on how they want to do this and you know I'm thinking all right let's try it let's try let's try it you know uh but there's some exciting plans that I don't want to reveal um just yet and we'll announce it next year little by little uh

just for employment we want to make an impact on technology and giving people access to design in a in in more um artificial intelligence we want to give people options of um becoming Incorporated and becoming business owners and having a bigger voice in the in the property industry oh and the tool is just interro design and architecture

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perhaps just happened in the last three years decided not to grow my company vertically and growing just in interiors and in architecture and instead expanding horizontally and adding a lot more um more of a One-Stop shop to allow our property developers to come to us and tie branding signage Interiors architecture Everything Under One Roof yeah amazing yeah great world we have a great job profession is it thank you we can design the world actually yeah it is a good time yeah but that's what we do we're all together as a designers we have a great big responsibility for uh designing our own environment our future we can shape it we are in the middle of a kind of change with the suppliers and the clients who in the middle of it so we have we have we have way more influence than we think we have we're not just this this fashion design absolutely yeah absolutely so wow great let's join forces yeah I'm really looking forward to see what you're what you're doing and uh well if you if we can help you on that with the Institute please join us in the ring to uh to fight The Future to design this together love it yeah definitely no no like open to collaboration and I appreciate you reaching out to us and wanting to hear from our side of the world and this is what is going to move us forward is to really share how to create better design you know better future and like I said you know together let's let's push it forward and leave it better for the next generation thank you all right before we go to the Q a with the people that are joining us live um I would like to thank you for listening to another episode of Beyond entire design podcast and if you want more we do me and my team are looking forward uh to make many more episodes with inspiring guests so uh and you can support us how by reading the podcast of course this is how internet works this way you help us to reach even more creatives worldwide so thank you very much uh Lorena you're welcome yeah that the next beyond the tower design life uh it's planned on the uh 14th of December and well everyday potential clients are looking from some for someone to help them with designing their new the new home the new office the restaurant the hotel but what's the reason they choose you and how are you standing out in the service you provide we all know it's a big challenge to stand out we were just talking about it how to stand out in property design in interior design so in the neck beyond the terror design live we have experienced an experiential consultant Victoria Taylor to share her to share her experience with us Victoria travels the world visiting the most beautiful destinations Consulting hospitality and travel brands on how to create the extraordinary in an increasing experience LED world she knows how to design Moments One Moment at a time so if you want to join us register your seat save the dates December 14th it's uh probably the last live show of 2022.