As Leeds-based designer Amy Wilson celebrates one year since appearing on national television and opening her own interior design company, Bethan Andrews sits down with her to see how it’s all been going
From appearing on BBC’s Interior Design Masters to launching her new interior design company, it’s been a busy few years for Leeds-based Amy Wilson. Infectiously joyful and incredibly passionate, it’s not hard to see how Wilson has made such a success of Amy Wilson Interiors, as well as having built up a large Instagram following too.
There’s a real sense of perseverance when you talk to Wilson, and I find it unsurprising that she landed herself a position on the well-loved TV show. She has always had a successful marketing career, working for herself on a consultancy basis, but the dream of pursuing design work has also always been bubbling away in the background. So, a year on from her time on Interior Design Masters, where is she now?
“It was a long and winding road to get to where I am today, as interior design has always been a passion but also only a hobby,” she says. “It’s very hard to know when to take a leap of faith, but going on Interior Design Masters was a good catalyst for this. Once I got on the show, I realised it was an opportunity I had to grab.”
Wilson describes her time on the show as being short but sweet, yet she warmly credits it with giving her a lot more experience than you see as a viewer. “It gave me the confidence to think: ‘You know what, I’m going to give this a go on my own,’” she says. “I’ve found a real happy place now where I’ve retained a couple of my marketing clients who are all in the interior design world, but I’ve been able to pursue interior design more, and now it’s pretty much my full-time job.”
Although Wilson was starting to bill as an interior designer before the show, it was never something that had been branded or pushed particularly hard. “The show was an opportunity whereby my profile was going to be raised, so I decided to do some proper branding and create a website for Amy Wilson Interiors,” she tells me. “I was fortunate that I’ve got a reasonably sized interior Instagram following, not huge, but it was enough to see what people wanted of me.”
This idea of working with what people want of her is clearly important to Wilson – she’s incredibly giving and oozes selflessness. When it comes to her approach to design, it’s all about making people’s dreams come true and allowing their vision to shine through. Amy Wilson Interiors is all about creating thoughtfully designed family homes with joy, bravery and boldness instilled within them.
“I always approach it from the client’s point of view,” she says. “Don’t get me wrong, I have my own personal taste and style and, inevitably, people come to you because they are drawn to that. I can’t recall a time when someone has come to me asking for a very pared-back, neutral scheme, for example. But I go into a client’s home with no preconceived notions of what they want and help to unpick what the space means to them and what feelings they want to evoke when they walk through the door.”
Wilson wanted to create an open, authentic interior design company too, where her prices are published on her website and there is no hidden mystique. “I even considered not calling myself an interior designer,” she explains. “I wasn’t all that comfortable with the title but, in the end, it’s easier to do what it says on the tin.”
Fast forward to today, and although still incredibly modest about her skills, Wilson is often called upon for her expert opinion by the press, too. “It’s been great to get my name out there as a bit of an expert in the field,” she smiles. “I don’t think interior design will just be the complete version of what I do – I think there will always be other strings to my bow.”
Wilson’s most recent new work is a great example of this, as Huddersfield-based 247 Blinds have brought her in as an in-house interior designer to consult and to design her very own collection, out this month.
Speaking of a large Yorkshire-based design company, I wonder what Wilson thinks about the design scene across the county. There’s no doubt that we have our fair share of leaders in the industry, particularly when it comes to textiles, but there are also a huge amount of talented interiors Instagram accounts from people in Yorkshire, too. Not to mention the fact that the two finalists in Wilson’s series of Interior Design Masters were also both from Yorkshire. “The interior design community is fantastic up here, there’s a big one and it’s very supportive – it’s a really nice environment,” she smiles. “There’s oodles of talent in the county.”
Wilson tells me about their most recent project which is renovating a four-storey Victorian terrace in Whitby, whereby the big ambition is to source everything from Yorkshire, from labour to craft to products. Fitting for someone who raves about the design power in the north, it will become something of a Yorkshire showcase. “I don’t think we’ll struggle, quite frankly,” she smiles.
And where does she seek her inspiration from? “I get outside as often as I can to gather inspiration,” she says. “I head out to the Dales for walks and for inspiration from the natural environment. I’m also really drawn to the architecture in Yorkshire – I think it’s so inspiring. I don’t understand why The Piece Hall in Halifax isn’t world famous! I love the buildings in Harrogate, too.”
When I ask what she’s most excited for this year, it’s clear that her collection with 247 Blinds is a big achievement. “It’s a dream come true. As a designer, you’re always collating and recreating someone else’s work, so it’s exciting to be able to think there are products out there that I’ve created from start to finish,” Wilson beams.
