All posts filed under: Just me

Vintage styling

From left to right

You know every so often, I get an idea in my head, analyse and mull it over for weeks and then post it here as a long rambling blog? Well today is one of those days…. For a while i’ve been musing the concept of Left to Right and its use in Interior Design. What’s that then? Firstly, it’s the way that we write, as in we start at the left side of the page and scrawl across horizontally to the right. A lot of languages are written this way admittedly, but in this country we also drive on the left hand side. So it’s pretty hard wired into our lives to look left and keep left. Here’s my hypothesis: Because of our propensity towards the left, our eyes naturally scan from left to right (in this country anyway). Apparently, when us Brits go into a store, we subconsciously wander over to the left too… Weird! So what’s this got to do with anything? Well, i’ve noticed that when I layout a space or style …

Making Spaces UK Interior Design Blog

How did I get into Interior Design?

I get a couple of emails a month from people that might have found me via a blog post or an Instagram pic, asking me how I got started. How did I set up Making Spaces with no formal qualifications in design? And in my head, I just kind of go, erm… I just built a website and got started…. but then I have a proper think and find myself asking the same question. One Year Later, October 2015 “I’ve never had “a job”. The concept of “a job” scares the shit out of me. I’ve always been self-employed and been my own boss and worked myself hard. But having the freedom to make creative decisions is something I hold very dear. In fact it’s my air. I genuinely admire people such as my OH that can commit to a full time job, working for someone else. I tried to convince myself that I could do it too, get a sales job in an interiors shop or something, but if i’m honest with myself, I was just …

Black Wednesday – Week 11

If you’re in or close to Leeds, you may have heard me on Wednesday last week. You might have mistaken the noise for a small pig being squeezed in a vice, but no, it was me. Screaming. I don’t remember the last time I felt so angry (it was probably the week before) but you know you’ve completely lost your shit when your husband comes home from work early. Without you having to even ask. Don’t jump! We’ve been waiting patiently for our staircase for 11 weeks now. Keep getting told, they’ll be started on it soon and it’ll be another week. Each and every time a new trade comes in to crack on with their job, I get; “When’s the staircase coming?” “Where’s the staircase? “Haven’t you got your staircase yet?” Erm, yes, don’t you like it. It’s there. We’ve had an aluminium staircase made to look just like a bloody ladder. **eye roll** The last we were told (Monday 14th November) is the staircase was being “made right now”. Factor in two weeks to make …

What is interior design?

Well don’t ask me. I’m just making this all up as I go along. But it is something i’ve been asking myself a lot since I started “treading the boards”. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Karen Knox – Making Spaces (@makingspacesnet) I have no formal training in interiors or design whatsoever. As you may (or not) already know, my background and training is in dance and it went on to be my career as a teacher and project manager until I became a mum nearly four years ago. But. I have learnt A LOT about what it is to be an interior designer since setting up Making Spaces and it might not be what you’d expect. Partly why I started this blog I guess, to share some of the realness behind all the lovely glossy photos you see in magazines. Those photos are about 2% of what an interior designer does from day to day. Most people i’ve worked with on a design project have been reluctant to tell others they’re …

What i’ve learnt so far. The Loft Extension – Wk 4/5

We’re at that bit in the project where it feels like we’re moving in treacle. We’ve got a big hole in the ceiling. It’s cold. And we’re waiting. Waiting for windows to be fitted (one more week) and the staircase to arrive (two more weeks). In the meantime we’re at a bit of a standstill and it’s starting to wear us down. So i’m going to take a moment. A moment to reflect on what i’ve learnt so far. Lesson One Any work at home, large or small puts an extra layer of tension in a household. Every day when Charlie gets home from nursery, he asks “is our new house ready yet?” which at the beginning of the project was really cute and hilarious. Five weeks later, not so much. “No Charlie, no. Our house is not finished yet. There is a scaffold up outside. A skip in the driveway, a hole in the ceiling and the heating it set to “tropical”.  Then there’s the nightly de-brief of the day’s events between me and the …