Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to the Interior Design Business, the monthly podcast produced by the interior design community for the interior design community.
My name is Geoff Hayward and today I'm joined by my co presenter, Susie Rumbold, creative director of Tsuto Interiors and a past president of the British Institute of Interior Design, for a BIID Awards special.
Today we're looking at what makes an award scheme worth entering and how to present your projects to give you the best chance of success.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: Entering a special project for an interior design award can be a great way for designers to raise their visibility and credibility both within the industry and with prospective clients.
But there are many competing interior award schemes in the UK and not all of them are created equal. Given the effort involved in producing an award winning entry, how can designers be sure that their chosen award scheme has real merit and industry recognition? How should they present their special project to capture and hold the attention of the judges? And how can they best showcase their design skills and the details that bring their designs to life?
Welcome to the interior design business.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: We are delighted to be joined by Jennifer Hamilton, director of multi award winning practice, the Vaudrey House for this part of the conversation.
Jennifer, welcome to the show.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Hello. Hello. Lovely to be back.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Now, can you just give us a brief introduction into who you are and the Vaudrey House.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: I started The Vaudrey House 12, 13 years ago now and we, we began as a, you know, residential interior design practice but we now do both residential and commercial, which is, my background was actually commercial design originally, so we sort of span both now.
There's 12 of us, we're in a lovely studio in the countryside outside Haywards Heath. We sort of, we span everything across the southeast really and we've got some projects abroad now as well. So what we'd really like to know is what motivated Vaudreu House to enter the BE the BIID Interior Design Awards and what did you hope to achieve by participating? I mean, I think it's so important in the creative industries actually to have that recognition. We all work so hard for to please our clients and to please everybody. There's always a multitude of people to please on every project. We're actually trying to please our own design sort of aspirations, we're trying to please the client, we're often trying to please contractors and joinery people and all. We're sort of trying to keep this happy balance all the way through a project from start to finish. And there's often multiple stakeholders involved, particularly, particularly in commercial projects actually, where you really do have a multi tiered Client, sort of family tree, as it were. Everyone involved wants something slightly different out of a project. And so, you know, you can reach the end and you can have. You can have sort of ticked all of those boxes eventually along the way and worked incredibly hard to keep all of that ticking over.
And actually, this is our little thing. Thank you. And a hug at the end. I think if you can get. If you can get to the point where you finally get to photograph this beautiful project, you know, and really appreciate that, for me, it's the photographs at the end of the job is my. Is my prize. I love it. And then if you can then go on and submit those photographs for others to look at and to say, oh, how fabulous. Yes, that's the best one I've seen.
That's, you know, that's an amazing accolade, I feel, you know, it's what, it's what we all. We don't necessarily always get the monetary prize at the end that you would want sometimes in our industry, do you? So it's very much, I think, the way we express our sort of success at the end sometimes. Yeah.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: And with so many design award schemes out there, how do you decide which ones are worth entering? And what made the BIID awards stand out for you in that context?
[00:04:09] Speaker B: Much like the REBA awards, you visit the projects and it's one of the only awards that does across the board. And I think that makes it really unique.
We've entered many different awards over the years and. And there are a lot out there which are quite, you know, you. You pay your money for the entry and it. You can pay all sorts of levels of tiers of money, which always feels a bit like, oh, okay, so if I buy the more expensive entry, do I stand a better chance of winning? I'm not really sure.
Um, but it sort of never. And then really, when they flip through the awards, it's just bang, bang, bang. Image, Image, image. It's a. It's, you know, you've sent in five pictures and you win on the basis of those five pictures.
And, you know, it's. It's a little bit more of a. Of a sort of. I can't imagine that it's very easy for the judges to choose on the basis of five pictures either. So.
But when. When we enter the biid, I feel, you know, there's a lot of information that you. That you require. There's a lot of written information and you really read that and you have to. Have to really, you know, engage with the project and understand it obviously I have judged as well in some years and you know, we've done the assessor role and you know, there's a lot of information to read. You really have to get into the project and understand it and then the fact that you actually come and visit as well means that you're seeing it in the light of the real project. You're seeing not just what it looked like on that one given day that you took five pictures, but you're seeing 30 images and then you're coming to see it in the flesh and you're seeing the people living there if it's a house or you're seeing people interacting with it if it's a commercial space. So, you know, there's really no better way to judge a project.
[00:05:55] Speaker C: So.
[00:05:56] Speaker B: And from your perspective as a multi award winning practice, as we were saying earlier, what does the recognition of being an award winner mean to you and also for you, your, to your team and your clients? You know, we've always found the clients love it actually. The clients really, you know, majority of our clients love the idea of being in a magazine afterwards or, and you know, obviously winning an award is even more amazing and you know, it's, we, we do leave it totally up to them, of course. And you know, some clients are a bit more private and don't, don't want to be featured, but actually the awards is a great way to do that because it's not the same as being plastered across a magazine. And actually the award entry doesn't go anywhere other than the awards itself. So it works very well for a client who, who doesn't want the press coverage. But usually they're happy at least for us to photograph the project. So, so yeah, the clients really, really like it and there is definitely, you know, I've seen it many times that they really, really appreciate. They're like, wow, have we won? Wow, our house. My gosh, how amazing.
Um, and of course it's brilliant for the team as well. Really brilliant for the team. When you've worked on something for, you know, couple of years usually and got so involved in it, in the detail to see it, you know, to see it up on, up on stage effectively. And winning awards is fantastic.
[00:07:14] Speaker A: And what was your approach to putting that successful submission together? I also want to draw out any tips for designers listening who might be thinking about entering too.
[00:07:23] Speaker B: I'll be honest, I always feel all the awards we've entered, you want to make it look good. You know, we are designers and it's, you're trying to describe something visual and you're trying to describe something that you've. You've, you know, you can see.
So we just pepper our award entries with images, even when we're not asked to. I think a lot of the awards just say you want a 500 word description, 100 words for this, 100 words for that.
We will always put that into an indesign presentation and we'll break that down into paragraphs and we will dot images is amongst it. So you're telling a story and you've got the pictures there with it. We'll put plans in, we'll put sketches in, we'll make it as vis. Visual as possible, because you can usually always at least PDF then PDF that and enter it. And I think, you know, I think a lot of people, because it doesn't say necessarily that you can do that. I think people just enter words.
But we've always found a way, even in some very wordy awards, at different, you know, different awards that we've entered, we've always found a way of getting our pictures across because I just think it' you know, they speak A thousand words each, you know, and I think if you can. If you. If you can demonstrate the process and you can demonstrate how you've thought about the design, give them something more, actually give the judges something more than just the description that they've asked for. You know, they obviously want to know how big it is and how many bedrooms there are and. But if you can. If you can pinpoint that concept and you can pinpoint how you've met the client's brief and how you've understood the client's brief and how you've given a little something extra in every decision you've made, then I think that's the key thing, because you're trying to stand out. You know, everyone, everyone has, oh, yes, we've done this and we've done that. We've got X number of amazing spaces. But if you can pinpoint why that matters even more to your client, then I think that's, you know, I think that's really key.
It sounds as though preparing an entry like that would be incredibly time consuming. How did you weigh the effort, the cost? Because obviously you've got staff time to pull this, all this documentation together and make it look gorgeous and indesign. It's not a quick process.
The cost to you against the potential benefits.
It is time consuming. It's definitely time consuming.
And I would say that actually, you know, this is probably the first year that we've had one of our team, Emily, who's brilliant, and she's been working on a lot of these entries for us and putting them together. But up until this point, really it's been us late nights, just doing. It's an extracurricular activity, isn't it? You finish your day job and you move on to your night job, which is the marketing and the awards and all of that side of it. So, yeah, it is definitely time consuming. But as I say, if you put the effort in, we've always found, you know, if you've got the project there and you've put the effort in, you can, you can, you can sort of get a short listing, you can, you know, even a shortlisting is fabulous. You always feel really, really pleased to be on a short list. And it's really nice to see, I think, to see who you're sitting there with, you know, to see your, your contemporaries up alongside you. And whether you win or not, that's always really, really lovely. You know, the other benefit that you find from this is at the end of a project, you know, you don't. It's very easy to just, you know, you kind of get so caught up in the next job and on your role and you sort of forget to look back. Actually. It's very easy to just kind of be too busy to really reflect upon a job. And I feel like doing the awards process just like it is when you decide to put it on the website and, you know, write marketing press releases and things like that to go out to press. We find it's a really good point to, to take a breath, to really appreciate and celebrate that project, to sort of enjoy it and look back at it and actually a lot of the stuff you write for an awards becomes really useful for press and press releases as well.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: And can you measure any tangible impact, Jennifer, things like client wins or collaborations or just even measure your brand visibility increase?
[00:11:27] Speaker B: I think it definitely does help.
We get a lot of comments from clients going, oh, I've been watching. You've done this, you've won that. Fantastic, well done.
We hear a lot of that from our current clients, I think new clients. I haven't won a job on the basis of I've appointed you because you're the award winning, you know, interior designer of the year from the BIID or anything. I haven't had that exact description, but I definitely think it puts a little bit of weight behind, you know, your profile. And people look and they say, oh, well, they must know what they're talking about. Because they're continually been recognized in this way.
So, yeah, I definitely think it's, it's, it's definitely worth its weight, you know, in gold, really, to, to be able to do that. But just the personal enjoyment of it as well, I think is in itself worth it.
And, and how have you gone? Have you got kind of strategies for how you go about maximizing the impact of a win? Probably not enough, but, yeah, we do, as, you know, we do social media. You know, it's good fodder for social media, isn't it? You can be sort of, oh, we're excited. We're off to the awards. Let's see if we've been, you know, shortlisted. You can obviously put that on your LinkedIn and your social media when you get shortlisted. You can then mention it again at various periods that you're building up to it. You know, you can then obviously have an exciting day at the awards, which is another thing that you can publicize.
And then you can do the gracious loser sort of message as well, saying, oh, well, we missed out this time, but we've had a lovely day, you know, but it's all, it's all just raising your profile and showing that you're out there doing stuff. And I think, you know, it's really nice for clients to think that you have a life outside of this, you know, that you're not just talking about the drain blockages and this and that, that, that you were often stuff of every day where you're kind of like, oh, yeah, let's have a look at how we can fix this again. But actually, you do have a bit of a glamorous life when you're out there doing these lovely things from time to time, much as the most of them are, you know, so. And then I think obviously we put, you know, when we do win, it's on our website and we try to sort of.
We do kind of a. A Christmas card mail shot to all our clients and we say that we've won something if we have in the year. And, you know. Yeah, generally I think it's, it's, you know, we do try and, try and try and wave it about a bit because we're very proud of it.
[00:13:50] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: As you should do. And one other question that I've got for you, Jennifer. You talked a little bit about how with the BIID Awards, the judges actually visit the property. Are there any other elements that make the BIID Awards unique in your view?
[00:14:09] Speaker B: The breadth of the sort of categories across the country? Is really interesting as well because it's, you know, I think there's been a lot of criticism of our industry. It's very sort of London centric potentially. And you know, there's a lot of designers all clustered together in certain areas, all competing and you know, and actually it's very difficult if you're on the outskirts of that to sort of get, get a mention.
I also think what's really, what's really interesting and what we found is, is it's just lovely to be UK actually. It's lovely to be, you know, most of the projects are recognizable to us. They are houses or buildings or commercial spaces which we might visit or already have visited a very similar property. We recognize them. We feel, you know, we feel that it's comparable to the work we're doing. And I think some of these awards that you can enter are very, very international. A lot of the interior Design awards are national and so you're, you know, your sort of little London townhouse is up against a yacht over here and a California ranch over there. And you know, and actually you just feel like, well, I love my job and my project and I feel like it looks really good but actually next to some of these other very aspirational things which we just don't have in the UK necessarily, it sort of doesn't ever seem to match up. And I think actually what's really lovely is that it is the British Institute of Interior Design Awards. And so you are seeing your house next to another house which is very, very similar in scale and style. And we all recognize each other's projects and you can see, see those problems there. You can see the low cottage ceilings that we're all familiar with. And aren't they clever to have got round that so well by doing X, Y and Z? And you know, I think it's. Yeah, so it's, it feels very, and actually, you know, whenever we've been to the awards event, it's, there's a lot of really like minded people there. I feel like it's interesting that you've very much attracted a very specific group, I would say. And I think, I think everyone is sort of of the same mindset and working in very similar way throughout the British Institute of Material Design. And I think obviously you don't have to be a member to enter at all, but I think most people end up joining once they have been involved in the awards. I think you're probably the very best person to answer this one, actually. What would be your top tip for any Designers out there that might be considering entering the British Institute of Interior Design Awards for the first time obviously definitely do it. I think you'll have a lot of fun. I think the event itself is fantastic as well. So it's really, really something to work towards and look forward to. It's the best awards event that we've been to. It's got windows and daylight and lovely and you know, you're not in a, in a basement and actually as I say, there's always a really interesting speaker and it's also really, really lovely talking to everyone there.
But you know, the key thing is it gives you a chance to really reflect on your own project and to really enjoy that. And I think that what you just need to do to give yourself the biggest chances, as I say, really delve deep into why, the why of your project and you know, what were the things that made it difficult? What were the things that you poured over late at night worrying about? You know, those are the things to get across actually because, and I think that's very much everyone's approach is to look at, you know, if you can show how difficult it was and how you've succeeded anyway, that's the main thing to get across actually. It's not just, oh, what a fabulous project and they had loads of money to spend. It's kind of what made it really hard, what made it really difficult for you and so why are you extra proud of it now that it's done, you know?
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Fantastic. Just one final question, Jennifer.
What for you has been the most exciting or most memorable part of the BIID Awards experience?
[00:18:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I would have to say the first year, you know, it was a new awards and we didn't know what to expect and we had won awards before but yeah, we sort of arrived the first year not really knowing what to expect and we were absolutely thrilled to go home with the interior design of the year and, and also win the Greater London region. And you know, it was phenomenal. It was, and it was a wonderful event and it was just so great to hear the judge's comments which, you know, again it's really great. They share the judges comments, you get to hear what everybody said.
So yeah, no, really fantastic. Yeah.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Susie. Inspiration.
[00:18:48] Speaker B: Yeah. So inspirational. Always. Thank you.
[00:18:51] Speaker A: Now I am delighted to be joined by another award winning designer. This time it's Melinda Kiss from Keyhole Interiors. Melinda, welcome to the show.
[00:19:01] Speaker C: Hi Jess, thanks for having me.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: Now before we begin, can you just describe you and Keyhole and the sort of work you do.
[00:19:10] Speaker C: As you said. My name is Melinda Kiss.
I am the creative director of Keyhole Interiors. We are a teeny, tiny studio based up north, predominantly working on residential high end projects. We've been going for, gosh, it's been eight years now. I can't believe, I can't believe that.
And we're very, very passionate about where we are and who we are and who we work with. And yeah, it's, it's a small, I always call it a tiny but mighty studio.
[00:19:44] Speaker A: Lovely. Excellent. And from your perspective, what truly defines an award winning interior design project?
[00:19:51] Speaker C: I thought about this so much last night and I think there are so many elements that have to come together just right in order to create something that has the potential to earn award.
And obviously I'm not an expert, but I think for me personally, I think at the core of it and an award winning project is defined by the people who bring it to life.
If I try to strip it back to the basics, I think an award winning project is the result of genuine client designer and build team collaboration. I think when everybody is aligned and everybody is working towards the same goal and invested in the outcome and guided by a really strong sense of architecture and respect for it and respect for the location, I think all of that together, I think that has to be just right and just perfect in order to create something that might be suitable for an award.
[00:20:54] Speaker A: Now, I introduced you as an award winning interior designer and you were the recipients of an award in the BIID Awards last year.
What elements of that particular project do you believe stood out for the judges?
[00:21:09] Speaker C: It's. Oh gosh, there are, there's, there were so many details in that project that I'm, I'm proud of and I'd like any designer, I'd love to think that everything was noticed and appreciated.
And I think if, if, if I'm correct, I think it probably comes down to the material itself, materiality and the finish of the project.
We spent so many hours trying to iron out every detail and choosing every single material and finish that went into that project and making sure that it all sat seamlessly within the beautiful architecture that we were so luckily given.
And I still remember days when I was standing in the main living space and looking over 30 paint samples of all different tones, different sheen levels, waiting for the sun pop out on a very dull March morning, which is a task in itself in the north of the Lake District, just so that I could glance that one finish that felt right in that exact moment and I'd like to think that level of obsession over the finishes, it was felt. It was felt by the judges when they looked at the project.
[00:22:29] Speaker A: And can you just describe that property for us, the property that you worked on, just so you'd give us some context as well. That would be really useful.
[00:22:36] Speaker C: So Eskdale used to be a vicarage for many, many years, and it's one of the main properties that are known in the local community. Everybody, just the way people describe it in the community, it felt like. It felt like it's been there forever.
So obviously it used to be a vicarage. And then it went through lots of changes and eventually it was left behind and became pretty much derelict. And a lovely gentleman from Cheshire found it on a walk, actually, and thought that it deserved some love and some attention. And we were very lucky because he didn't just want to rebuild it from scratch, he wanted to take it back to what it used to be, to his former glory. And he wanted to create something that the local, local community could be proud of again. And that was a big driving force behind how the project eventually came together.
[00:23:39] Speaker A: And how do you balance creativity with the functionality that you have to deliver on a project like this as well? That would be really interesting to hear about.
[00:23:48] Speaker C: Well, this question actually made me chuckle last night because I think we're all, as designers, we're all guilty of chasing beauty.
And then you sort of have to pull yourself back and look at the project and think, okay, how do I make sure that this space remains beautiful over time?
And just as importantly, how will it function for the people who will be using it? Because we might be designing it, but we're not going to be living in it and using it.
So we need to make sure that it's stands the test of time. And functionality is such a crucial part of that and such a crucial part of timelessness, in my opinion, ensuring that a space lasts through time, through people, through weather, through wear and tear, it's such a big part of what makes something timeless. And if we can achieve that, I think that alone makes a space worthy of an award.
And the only way to do that is to create an ideal world scenario of a design in our head and then take a step back and look at how functionality comes into that. And that can come. It comes through materials, it comes through finishes, it comes through quality control, craftsmanship, and the care and attention and love of the people who are building it. Basically.
[00:25:16] Speaker A: Wonderful. And there's a lot that's also said about storytelling and how important the Narrative is in creating an award entry. So how did you go about that? And was it something you're very conscious of when you're. When you're putting an award entry together?
[00:25:32] Speaker C: I didn't. With this particular project, I was really lucky because I still. Retreat was already a story in its own right when I was appointed for the project.
And all I had to do is lean into it and work with it and sort of allow it to become the basis for the whole concept.
And I think as a person as well, I'm a storyteller.
That's what makes me care about a project. So I think whether I like it or not, I tell a story. If there is a story to be told, I will tell it.
And yeah, I didn't have to work to craft a story for this particular project.
The story was the building itself, its heritage, its age, what it meant for the local community, and of course, its location as well.
And I do think that having a story when you're trying to convince others of how special a project is, if you can make them see it through your eyes and make them understand its meaning, it definitely helps in winning an award because they can feel what you've been feeling while you were working on the project.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: And it sounds also that you had a wonderful client on this project. So the role of the client and collaboration from that client is also super important for any successful award entry. Do you want to just describe that process on this particular project?
[00:26:57] Speaker C: Yes. Well, I mean, this recognition really wouldn't exist without the client.
If I had to pick one single thing that absolutely has to be right for a project to become what it should be, it's the client designer relationship and the sense of compatibility between those two parties.
I think clients need to trust not just the project itself and believe in the project, but also believe in the designer. They need to believe that you are the right person for the job.
They need to believe in your expertise, in your advice.
And everything else tends to fall into place. And to be honest, every project I've ever worked on that's been praised in some way has had that level of trust from the client.
Trust that we were a great addition to the team.
And when a client is genuinely interested and engaged throughout the process, that's such a driving force behind the scenes. And it really pushes me and it pushes everybody else to do our best work. And on this project, I felt like I was really lucky because the client was someone who didn't just come in and pay the bill and sort of let all of us to Run away with it. He was engaged throughout the entire process.
He had ideas. He did background research on the history of the property. He made sure that we all knew about that so that we could.
We could get a sense of what we are working on. He was there at every single site visit, not in a disruptive way, not in a questioning way, but in a supportive and encouraging way. And I think, yeah, it was a really lovely experience.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: And awards often celebrate exceptional detail.
What details do you think in this project made it stand out or gave it the biggest impact?
[00:29:03] Speaker C: I don't know if it's a detail, but I think from what I can feel when I walk into that house and other people I've spoken to, the one thing that everybody noticed and commented on was the feeling of that sense of place, that they didn't just.
They didn't just know in their minds that they were stepping into the house in the heart of the Lake District. They could feel it as well. And there wasn't much noise in the design.
It was exactly what it needed to be in a property in the Lake District. But when I was working on this project, I worked really hard on trying to convey that sense of place and the location, because we were so proud of it. And that was my biggest aim. And funnily enough, that is the thing that people comment on the most. So I'm not sure if it's a very specific detail, but I feel like it was the most important element that I wanted people to take away from it, and I'm hoping that maybe that was what the judges picked up on as well.
[00:30:09] Speaker A: What did you learn from the process of creating and submitting this project for the BIID Awards that you think could help other designers aiming for an award win?
[00:30:18] Speaker C: I think, first and foremost, if you are proud of a project that you have created, just go for it and submit it. And I know that this is probably the most basic piece of advice anybody could give, but it's so incredibly easy to talk yourself out of even trying. I know that from experience.
It's easy to fall into the trap where you convince yourself that although your project is beautiful and you might have poured your heart and soul into it, it won't stand up against all the talent from across the uk, which you will never know unless you try, as it. As it turns out.
So, yeah, don't talk yourself out of it and just do it.
[00:30:59] Speaker A: Just do it. Brilliant advice. Thanks so much, Melinda. Look forward to catching up with you in 2026.
[00:31:05] Speaker C: So do I have a lovely year.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: Thank you, Jennifer. And Melinda for joining us on this show. Plenty of valuable advice to take away for our listeners. If you want to find out more about the BIID Awards scheme, then Please go to biid.org.uk awards this episode of the Interior Design Business is a wildwood plus production.
