Should an Interior Designer Have a Signature Style?

Scroll through the portfolio of almost any interior designer and you'll probably start looking for their signature.

Perhaps it's a particular colour palette. A love of bold pattern. Minimalist spaces. Statement lighting. Or a very recognisable way of combining materials.

But should an interior designer's work be instantly recognisable?

We think the answer is a little more complicated than yes or no.

A signature style can be a wonderful thing

Every designer naturally develops preferences. We're drawn to certain materials, proportions, colours and ways of putting a room together. Those instincts are part of what makes one designer's work different from another's.

And when you're choosing an interior designer in Newcastle, or anywhere else, you should absolutely feel a connection with their portfolio.

But there's a difference between having a design identity and giving every client a version of the same home.

Your home isn't our home

One of the most enjoyable parts of interior design is that no two clients, or properties, are the same.

Some clients come to us wanting colour and pattern. Others feel happiest surrounded by warm neutrals and natural textures. Some want a home that feels contemporary and streamlined, while others want to embrace the period character of their property.

Our job isn't to convince every client to like exactly what we like.

It's to understand what they like, sometimes before they're completely sure themselves , and translate that into an interior that feels cohesive, considered and personal.

Because ultimately, you have to live there.

The property should have a say too

We also believe the building itself should influence the design.

A Victorian property in Newcastle calls for a very different response to a contemporary apartment or a modern family home.

That doesn't mean a period property needs to be traditionally decorated. Far from it. Some of the most interesting interiors come from introducing contemporary elements into older buildings.

But understanding the proportions, architecture, natural light and existing character of a property gives you a starting point.

Rather than forcing a particular aesthetic onto every space, good interior design responds to what's already there.

So, where does the designer's style come in?

This is where it gets interesting.

Look through our residential interior design projects and you'll see different colours, materials and aesthetics. But there are still elements that connect them.

We love layering texture. We pay close attention to lighting. We're interested in the relationship between materials and how one room flows into another. We believe practical decisions can still be beautiful, and we're particularly interested in the smaller details that make a finished interior feel considered.

Perhaps that's where a designer's real signature lies.

Not in using the same paint colour, chair or style of kitchen repeatedly, but in the way they approach a space.

Designed for the person living there

There's so much interior design inspiration available to us now. Pinterest, Instagram and interiors magazines can give you thousands of ideas before you've even chosen a paint colour.

But there's also a danger that our homes begin to look increasingly similar.

Trends can be a brilliant source of inspiration, but we don't believe a home should be a collection of everything that's currently fashionable.

The most successful interiors usually have something more personal about them: artwork you've collected, a colour you genuinely love, something inherited, a piece of furniture you've owned for years, or simply a slightly unexpected choice that makes sense to you.

Those are often the things that give a home its character.

Maybe the answer is yes, just not in the way you might think

Should an interior designer have a signature style?

We think so.

But we'd rather our signature be found in the thought behind a space than in every finished room looking the same.

As a Newcastle interior design studio, we work with a wide variety of properties and clients, which means no two projects should ever look exactly the same.

Our aim is for someone to walk into one of our completed projects and think, this feels completely like them, not simply, this looks like a Sibylle Clerey Interiors project.

Because a beautifully designed home should still, unmistakably, feel like yours.