Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] My name is Claudia Dorsch and my studio is called Claudia Dorsch Interiors. I set up the company in 2009. I've been designing residential properties since then, and my work spans three city, ski and surf.
[00:00:24] It's the life that I have grown up in that I enjoy with my family.
[00:00:30] And over the years, my work has progressed from predominantly being based in London to being in the UK and also working abroad. And they're also working on properties that are by the beach or by a lake and in the mountains. And so more recently, I have decided to really refocus and rebrand the company as an interior design studio that offers a really broad service for homes in these three worlds, in these locations, because the families that I work with, they often have, you know, more than one home, or when we start working together, they maybe have one home, and then over years, we stay in good contact and they might buy another property. And as family life develops and as your life changes, you expand and you move.
[00:01:21] And so I have very good relationships with clients and I've been doing it for many years. And so I am very lucky to be working in multiple locations.
[00:01:29] I'm very grateful and honoured that decorex approached me in January with an idea whether I might like to design and furnish the VIP lounge.
[00:01:41] And when I heard that, I was really, really awed and, you know, just so thrown and so thrilled that they would, you know, reach out to me. I mean, it's been designed by some fabulous designers in past years. I remember going to the spaces that were created by Tolu last year, Brian the year before. And before that, I remember Nicola Ditwan and, you know, other designers. And these VIP spaces are, you know, they're secluded within the big hall, within the big space. It's quite busy on the day. There's a lot going on. You want to cram in a lot of information that you're discovering, but then to step into a mini world that sort of transports you and takes you somewhere else and gives you a relaxation and a break from everything that's going on outside of the lounge is really wonderful.
[00:02:33] And I mean, these. These lounges, going to other fairs, you know, I go to Milan and Paris, and they can be. They're just a bit like an airport lounge sometimes, you know, But Decorx, these lounges are really setting the bar. And I have experience, experienced more than a decade of going to decorex, how these rooms are setting the bar high and high every year. And so I think as an interior designer doing, creating a room like this it's hugely intimidating and it's a bit stressful, but it's obviously a huge honor to be designing this space and I am so much looking forward to unveiling it and to seeing how it all comes together.
[00:03:09] The VIP space at decorex this year will be a chalet, but it is a back to the future reimagined chalet. You will enter through a very surprising theatrical curtain. Not your usual curtain, something different. You'll arrive in an entrance hall that invites you to touch the walls.
[00:03:28] You will then travel into a bar space that invites you to get a drink, sit down, study what's on the walls.
[00:03:38] And then you can enter a big lounge space where there are many different seating opportunities.
[00:03:44] And again, it's going to be decorated with beautiful art and objects, with a fireplace, which I think is so essential and evocative of having a cozy time in a mountain place, summer or winter.
[00:03:57] And then you are invited to step through some beautiful glass doors and get onto the balcony terrace and hopefully feel like you are truly in the mountains.
[00:04:10] Now. Decorex is all about inspiring an audience and giving you new ideas, seeing new products and seeing things in a different way, discovering something new. So I'm not creating, hopefully not creating something that you'd completely expect and be like, oh, oh yeah. I know that I am reimagining, reinventing in some ways, looking back in some ways, looking forward with this space. I'm using products, brands that maybe you wouldn't ordinarily immediately associate with a mountain home. I'm personally very excited about renovating or building or redesigning the interiors of chalets. It's something I've done now number of times. I travel a lot to the mountains and I know from first hand experience, you know, the spaces that feel good, look good and many are a bit traditional and outdated and they just provide the expected.
[00:05:15] And what I want to provide is something that, you know, leans on the past but is looking to the future and is inspiring, you know, and that's what decorates is all about. I would like people to step into this 250 square meter space and really feel like they're somewhere else. They're not in, you know, Olympia in central London. I mean, one of the brands that we worked with in their workshop, they actually said this is the first time we're doing, delivering a mountain piece in central London, you know, and it's, it's that idea that you, you don't know anymore that you're in central London. I want the whole experience, you know, with touch and Seeing and sound and smell and. And sort of. There's some audio visual elements as well to really transport you. I mean, we are a little bit limited in what we can put on in this show, you know, for four days, but it's ambitious and it's hopefully going to be really fun. I mean, yes, I am kind of presenting my work and I hope to impress people in a way, but also, it's just about, let's have some fun. Let's enjoy an hour outside of our, you know, working time while we're at Decorex. I think we're running now at a list of 40 brands that are supporting us. And this is extraordinary. Everyone, you know, from companies that are supplying a huge amount, let's say, value of what they're. What they're contributing to. The smallest contribution is really valuable to creating a variety of experiences in the space. When I'm thinking about lighting, we have a partnership with Cameron Design House.
[00:06:48] They are making bespoke chandeliers for the lounge spaces and we have several spaces. And I'm very excited about the walkthrough and the way that we've organized the journey through the chalet. I think it's a really great journey of discovery.
[00:07:08] We have a joinery company, Hux, who is creating something very unique and beautiful for us.
[00:07:16] I approached them with an idea, a concept. I wanted something very specific, a backlit onyx, stone and wood and metal to be integrated in a design of a big piece of furniture, which they're realizing, and they brought their own ideas to the table as well.
[00:07:33] So that's a wonderful development.
[00:07:35] We then have, obviously the seating and the seating is a huge commitment and hugely central to everyone being able to sit down and have a good time. Yeah. And so Ben Whistler Blue Label have very kindly stepped up and are making to our design all the furniture. A big bunket seating area, which is a big convivial, big lounge space, but also armchairs and poufs and sofas as well as.
[00:08:04] We then have a collaboration with Colours of Arley. This is a brand that I'm absolutely in love with. They make bespoke fabrics in striped designs, but they also branched out. They're not just doing stripes, they're doing other designs. Now, basically, you can create your own fabric with your own colours.
[00:08:20] Minimum is a meter. So we are doing a collaboration.
[00:08:25] It's very essential to the. The whole idea of the scheme and that is a deck chair. So we're launching together Colors of Ali and my brand. We're launching a deck chair at decorex at the lounge that you get to experience and sit in in a bespoke colored design.
[00:08:42] And then there are many other lighting brands, Italian lighting brands, Teddani.
[00:08:47] There's usm, which is a Swiss brand. They make furniture, kind of metal modular furniture that is used in increasingly in residential settings. That's why I always use it. But it's traditionally come lot of office interiors. I love working with USM because I can create something completely tailored to the space, how I need it. Been working with them for many, many years. My entire office here is. And in my house I've got many pieces. So they are a great collaborator. And they were very, very enthusiastic to make something for us which will be a room divider.
[00:09:25] Then there is the important element, which is the fireplace. And there's a company, Kaleo, that make, well, make and sell and install fireplaces, and very generously came on board very early and volunteered to sponsor a beautiful freestanding fireplace for the design. It was quite challenging making a fireplace that doesn't actually have a fire inside and doesn't heat up. But hopefully people will still be quite amazed by the effect that it gives. I mean, it is 250 square meters, and it's like building a house. You know, we are building 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 big spaces.
[00:10:00] Each one has lighting and wall finishes. I haven't even mentioned Arte International and Philip Jeffries, all the fabric brands who are very generously donating fabric. We are working with Pierre Frey, Romo Kirkby, Dedar, Hulas, Casamance, and they are so generously offering us fabrics. I mean, I do work with them regularly on commercial, you know, projects, and I select fabrics from them a lot. And we've selected some wonderful materials to showcase. A lot of them are new designs. Some of them are maybe more existing designs in their collection. They're just so wonderful that I wanted to use them. But I tried to select a lot of new fabrics, which is going to be really interesting to see them in situ rather than just, you know, on a sample in a fabric book. I've deliberately created lots of breakout zones, but they don't feel like you're shut off in a corner. They are just nooks within the bigger spaces. So it's for people to have meetings, you know, show their clients, discuss something with the client or a supplier or a contractor. So it's also, you know, my intention is that people would use it as a working space. We've got two dining tables, beautiful dining tables that you can sit at and, you know, pull your Plans out and, you know, make, make, make some decisions. I'm basically using materials and the suppliers in ways that isn't completely typical, it isn't completely traditional. But I'm still looking back to the future, not creating a modern house on a mountain. And that's really important to me to keep that message, get that message across. This is not just a modern house or modern hotel in a mountain setting. It is very much embedded within the tradition of craftsmanship. Long, you know, family holidays. A home that is built over a period of time as a, you know, family retreat, you know, sort of gener the experience of where places build over time. Not everything is new, not everything looks brand new. It's kind of collected over time. And that's where I'm going to decorate the space with art and with some objects, some vintage pieces, so that not everything is brand new. And it's really important to me in the interiors that I create that things are added to over time. A home is not just static and it's not, it's not, it's not telling of its time. I don't want people to feel like, oh, that was 2026, you know, it's supposed to be quite timeless. It's a much overused word maybe, but I really believe that's possible and that is true. One company that is actually essential to this is Ibanisteria Marelli. I'm not sure I'm pronouncing it completely collected correctly, but they were a company at Decorex exhibiting last year. I discovered them through an online search actually, and then found that they were at Decorex, which was like, oh my God, you're here. And they make mouldings. It's an Italian family run business that is crafted, you know, over generations, timber mouldings. And they're so essential to the design. The joinery design, quite traditional joinery design, but they also have some modern mouldings and they are partner for the lounge. And they're creating a lot of different parts of mouldings all through the space, which is super important. And I think that's where you combine the heritage, the traditional, the looking back with the reimagined, the modern pieces. But so that the whole interior is not just old fashioned or not just modern.
[00:13:44] It's a timeless combination.
[00:13:47] I would really like people to think about their interiors in a, in a creative way.
[00:13:54] It, it doesn't have to be the way it has always been. So let's say just because we've always used a particular material or a particular color, it has to stay that way, especially with the mountain homes, let's say the chalets. I mean, I travel a lot to the mountains, and I travel a lot to mountain hotels. And they. They have a habit of. They'd look a lot. Very similar. It's the one typology of building and hotel and home type that looks very samey. And I think there's just so much more that we can do without making it. Turning it into something it's not. But we can be more creative. We can look backwards and forwards and create spaces that are a bit more interesting, a little bit more colorful as well, more textured, and still retain the. The essence of it. So craft wood, stones, you know, a lot of natural materials, earthy colors. But there's so much more that can be done. And I think people will hopefully, especially people who maybe have a mountain home or a country home will think, oh, actually, you know, we. We could do this with the space. We could. We could do something different. So to feel inspired and come up with a new idea, I think it's also really for people to have a good time. I think, you know, this space has to be used.
[00:15:15] A lot of time and effort and generosity goes into it.
[00:15:18] So I really hope people will go there, visit it and enjoy it and spend some time there. And we've got a couple of nice surprises there. It should be really a fun experience. And I want people to go in there and have a good time and have a. Have a really great experience and enjoy the VIP lounge at Decor X this year.
