Interior designers are often asked about the origins of the profession – especially in the context of quality of life versus product. Has our modern quality of life driven our craving for high-quality design, or has design really been more of a primary impactor in defining how we enjoy wellness? In this article, I will draw on my experience in London’s prestigious interior design community to reflect on how the design process works from this perspective.

When interior designers begin engaging with a potential client, they will often ask about function. What is the desired purpose and use of the room or residence? The answer to this question has a profound impact on everything we do. If a client is desperate for luxury high-end London extravagance in the form of a damask settee, we may recommend a synthetic damask fabric instead of cotton or satin for a household that includes young kids and a pet dog. Breathtaking interior designs are always the goal, but only in the context of compatibility with our clients’ unique London lifestyles.

Interior designers will work hard to understand client requirements from the outset. Some professional London Interior Design consultancies will even have a series of highly structured interview questions that they routinely use. The interior designer will offer a free consultation at the client’s home – whether inside or outside London – to discover exactly what the client loves and hates about their current residence. Budget should be a conversation point from the very beginning. It is important to clarify whether the client prefers to be given fifteen different interior design options from which to choose, or just two or three.

One area that can be really challenging for the interior designer is when a husband and wife have different ideas about the desired outcome. This can happen regardless of whether the individuals are happily married or considering an impending separation. The interior designer sometimes gets “caught in the middle,” which can cause real tension.

In recent years, the London interior design community has seen a real upwelling in terms of social media and internet-enabled design opportunities. One of the most positive results is that would-be clients are now much better informed regarding interior design themes and concepts. Londoners read articles just like this one and start to get a sense of the interior design process even before we reach their front door or exchange our first set of emails!

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Interior Design London – Global Interior Design Consultancy Company in London, UK for interior design services.

Professional interior designers are expertly trained in the use of lighting features to create breathtaking results. In this four-part series which I call “Colour Me Brightly: Understanding Light in Interior Design,” I draw on my experience in London’s interior design community to explain this fascinating subject. This first article is about patterns.

Ask a London schoolgirl to imagine natural patterns, and she may talk at length of curvaceous seashells, the undulating edge of waves on the shore, the grooves in a gnarled tree trunk. Interior designers know that patterns are all around us. Patterns profoundly influence all interior design schemes, transforming our appreciation of color and texture, adding fluctuations and drifts or promoting harmony and stillness. London Interior Designers will focus on soft, fluid outlines in order to create relaxing patterns. By contrast, bold graphic statements in a wallpaper stencil can be invigorating for a London discotheque or salon. Pattern is a foundational ingredient of interior design, fragmenting overwhelming shapes and plain surfaces while simultaneously lending personality and profundity to a room.

London’s professional interior designers know one big secret: pattern is created not only by fabric and wallpaper. Light also forms any number of patterns through a virtual tussle or rough-and-tumble interaction between light and shadow. Light patterns are foundational to interior design schemes – from snippeted, kinetic and frosted patterns to curvy arcs, spearhead-style lines and theatrical projections of abstract forms.

Patterns of light fall into two main interior design categories. The first is all about objects in the path of light, casting shadows. We draw our inspiration from the natural world where, when sunlight strikes rippling water on London’s famous River Thames, flickering patterns are reflected up into the trees along the water’s edge. Similarly, if an artificial light source is directed onto water – perhaps a pool, fountain or babbling artificial brook – active reflections will dapple the surrounding walls and become an interior design feature. Sunlight may shine through the branches of a tree to create moving patterns of light and shade below, and similarly a low-voltage uplight, positioned behind indoor plants, can create beautiful interior design features on the walls and ceilings. This technique can be stunning both inside and outside the building.

In my next article, I turn to patterns that use perforations and glass.

About Author

Interior Design London – Global Interior Design Consultancy Company in London, UK for interior design services.

With the increasing popularity and convenience of fast food, nearly one out of every five children is battling obesity. Obesity is now common throughout the world, regardless of race or gender. With obesity becoming a problem at these early ages, there is a significantly higher likelihood of adult disease and health problems earlier in life. Obesity is fast becoming a wide spread health danger to our human world.

With more advances in modern technology, we have found ways to do things the lazy way, eliminating a lot of physical exercise we used to get on a daily basis just going about our normal routines. Kids now ride scooters or four wheelers rather than bicycles or roller skates. They now choose to spend their free time in front of the computer, television, or with a video game rather than outside playing tag and hide and go seek. This decrease in exercise is a common culprit among today’s children. We, the parents, have to be strong, and limit the time we allow them to spend playing video games or in front of the television. Sometimes, we may have to change our own habits to get them to change theirs. Go outside and play with your children, play ball, go bike riding, etc. Doing things as a family often makes them more fun, and therefore will be easier to get your kids involved in.

It seems like everyday as parents, our lives get busier and faster paced, and we have less and less time to accomplish what needs to be done. We often look for the easy way out, giving in to running thru drive thru on the way home from work, rather than going home and cooking dinner as we should. If we prepare our meals, we know what the ingredients are, and have the power to make healthy choices. Going with the fast food option is more convenient, but often is very low on the nutritional value side of things, and also teaches your kids that it is okay to eat that junk, often leasing them to develop bad eating habits of their own. If you have to go the fast food way occasionally, opt for salads and grilled chicken, or try to go with the healthiest choices on the menu, rather than the all too alluring burger and fries.

Kids who spend a lot of time inside in front of television or video games also increase their risk for obesity by indulging in junk food. They eat ice cream, potato chips, cookies, etc., adding to their caloric intake, while reducing the amount of physical exercise they get, again increasing their odds for becoming obese significantly.

Basically, childhood obesity is caused by lack of physical exercise, bad food choices, and to be frank, lack of parental control over their children’s lives.

Obese children are at increased risk for all kinds of health conditions. Common problems include early onset diabetes, joint problems from carrying excess weight, heart disease, and mental and social issues caused by being overweight. School age children often think it is fun to pick on each other, and this joking can cause a world of self esteem problems for the overweight child that will often carryover into adulthood. Then of course, the health risks are increased due to the fact that most obese children will eventually turn into obese adults, with a variety of other health issues to deal with.

It is important to do everything you can to prevent childhood obesity from striking your kids, as you are the first weapon against this dangerous problem. Teach your kids how to make healthy food choices, and most importantly get them outside and active, even if you have to do it too. Parents by no means take all the blame for this problem, but we can take steps to help combat it before it begins.