In Conversation with Lisa Honiball from Honey Interior Designs
Honey Interior Design is a full service interior design studio for residential and commercial clients. We also offer design consultancy services & provide colour training & workshops.
What inspired you to be an interior designer?
After a career in IT (10 years at Microsoft) I felt a strong need to tap into my creative side. For me, the joy that the considered use of colour and light can bring to every space is the inspiration on every new project.
If they were to make a toy action figure of you, what would your accessory be?
A bottle of 'Keep Calm' pills to hand out to clients and contractors when things get fraught. Things can easily seem catastrophic when your home or business has become a building site but it's rarely as bad as it seems! Keeping everyone calm and focused on a solution is a key part of the job.
To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life within the design world has taken?
I've set up my business twice - once in Oxfordshire and then again in Kent when my husband and I decided to re-locate to live by the sea. I've always tried to tailor the work I do - so it always feels fresh & fun. Recently I have been focusing more on colour training & workshops.
What would be your dream interior project?
A small boutique hotel in Kent with owners who were open to fresh ideas & had a healthy budget! Of course, I would find the same sort of project in Hawaii quite appealing too…
What’s something you know you do differently than most people?
Gauging which clients want to be given a final design - and those that want to be more involved in each step of the design process. Knowing the difference can make a real difference to the end result and the client's enjoyment of their refurbishment. I'm very solution focused - and good at coming up with creative solutions to the inevitable 'challenges' that come up during a refurbishment project - be it around design, budget or time constraints!
If you could go back in time and speak to your adolescent self, what advice would you give them about the design world?
Trust in yourself and follow your dreams. I wanted to be an architect or interior designer when I was at school but an unfortunate work experience in a male-only architects office convinced me that I couldn't make it. I came back to design as a second career - and I am so glad that I did!