Tell us about Claire Moran Designs. When did you start the studio and why? 

I’m a residential interior designer from South East London specialising in modern, mostly family homes. Designing beautiful aesthetics alongside lots of practical solutions, such as hidden storage and helping the clients make their property feel well and truly theirs. The studio has been set up now for just under two years. I realised that after we completed our own house renovation, I have the bug for designs and renovating other people’s homes.

How does your design process work? How do you come up with ideas and what inspires you? 

With any project we follow, generally a three step process. Starting with the concept, then going into detailed designs and lastly going on site to make sure it’s all being implemented properly. I get a lot of inspiration from nature, woods, neutrals, monochromes with a hint of colour thrown in to elevate the scheme.

What would be your top tips for someone considering a building or renovation project? 

First of all, get to know your home really well. Where does the light fall? Try to understand what it is you want to achieve. That leads on to the second tip, which is to always create Pinterest boards. Start to save references that reflect your interests, and you’ll get a feel for styles you like and what styles you don’t like. And then last of all, it can be so tempting to rush it. Don’t rush it. And always trust your gut feel, so something doesn’t feel right. Don’t do it.

Why do you love working with HOLTE Studio? 

I love working with HOLTE Studio for a few reasons. First of all the wide range of colours and materials provided for the door fronts and drawer fronts. That could be the Fenix or or the wooden accents.

Secondly, they supply and make door fronts for IKEA carcasses. I absolutely love working with IKEA carcasses because of all the flexibility that they offer for our clients’ needs.

Lastly, they are such a friendly team. I’ve often brought my clients into the studio, where we sat down, [we’ve] made decisions. It’s made the process really really easy for me as an interior designer to enable our clients to see the door fronts and feel them in person, and understand what they’re going to have as an end product.

What are your favourite styles from HOLTE’s range?

I’m a massive fan of anything dark. I love a dark kitchen and there are so many different dark colours that HOLTE provide – including the Fenix fronts. They can be lightened with the wooden door fronts and cut out handles, so we’re bringing a different accent into the kitchen.

It goes back to the fact that I love bringing in wood and nature into my projects. The great thing about Fenix is that it’s perfect for families and mess! The door fronts are super easy to clean, and they don’t show any sort of shine or dirt.

What are your top tips for someone designing a new kitchen?

The most obvious one is always plenty of storage – you can never have too much! Try and add in as much as you can. That can be a mixture of wall cabinetry, open shelving so it doesn’t look too heavy. Always go for as much storage as you can and to suit your needs.

The second thing is to always integrate all your appliances. It creates a much smoother and sleeker finish.

Finally, make it look beautiful. Make it look as though it’s furniture in your home. That’s where HOLTE can really come in – all the door fronts are stunning. The door fronts can be translated into bench seating, wardrobe door fronts, so you can have the full complimentary HOLTE, suite of products across your home.

How can someone make their budget go further? 

A top tip is to choose physical handles rather than the cutout handles. The advantage with the physical handles, that it’s easy to open [the] fridge, dishwasher and freezer. It also adds another detail and accent colour to your kitchen design.

Spend your money on what you see. So spend your money on the door fronts, the drawer fronts, the worktop and high quality appliances. Another area where you can save is by selecting IKEA carcasses. Although it will take a bit more planning as you will have to source the drawer and door fronts separately, you will save money doing it that way.

Which of HOLTE’s bespoke elements would you choose if you were to be doing your own kitchen now?

I would choose the dark Fenix door fronts to avoid any fingerprints from my children showing up. I’d also opt for more cutout handles with the wooden core to add more interesting detail to the kitchen.

I would swap our tall wall units for a combination of shorter wall units and open shelving, just to make the kitchen feel a little bit more open and balanced.

Last of all, I’d incorporate a pantry into my kitchen design with the worktop inside. Then I can hide away the toaster, the tea and sugar caddies. Just to keep everything really neatly enclosed and out of sight.

Follow Claire on Instagram @claire.moran.designs for Interior Design tips and kitchen inspiration.

Photography credits: Anna Yanovski @anna.yanovski