Top tips from interior designer Aliénor Cros
Aliénor’s Home by Milo Brown Photography
Aliénor Cros is an interior designer and consultant with a background spanning historic and contemporary spaces — from The World of Interiors to decorative arts studios and design houses. She’s also the creator of Artfully Crafted, a video series spotlighting today’s leading makers. (Check out some of the interviews throughout this article.)
We asked Aliénor to share her tips for makers who want to work with interior designers — from what makes a great pitch to how to get your work noticed.
Can you tell us about yourself and your career journey?
After a few years working in luxury hospitality, my first role in the creative industries was at The World of Interiors in 2019 to help curate the content of their website. It allowed me to really deep dive into all things interiors, including crafts and decorative arts. I then worked for Ottoline, a fabric and wallpaper designer, and most recently for Sterling Studios, a decorative arts workshop. These experiences made me really passionate about wanting to promote, enable and support crafts, through working as an interior designer as well as through my YouTube channel, Artfully Crafted.
What types of projects have you worked on, and how does craft fit into this?
I have worked on all sorts of projects, historic and contemporary, residential and commercial, UK and abroad. Crafts can fit into projects in all sorts of ways – whether to repair existing decorative features, as part of the fabric of the building if for a new-build, or as part of the objects curated in the space, whether it’s functional or to form part of a collection.
How do you select objects for a project? What makes a maker or their work stand out?
Understanding a client’s taste, how they will use the space, and what their priorities are is paramount. Part of my job is understanding where there may overlap between a client’s need and a maker’s work, even if it’s not obvious to both at first glance. This is why I like to get to know more than a maker’s work as seen through their website and social media. I want to know about their motivations, inspiration and techniques, so that I can get a real sense of all the possible applications of their work and where they could go with it.
What practical information does an interior designer need before they can consider work for a space?
What I like to know above everything else is the lead time to make something they’ve made before vs the lead time to create something entirely new. That concept stage often gets overlooked and squeezed out of project timelines. I also like to understand the lead time to order materials and whether that varies at different times of the year – sometimes factories close in August, or wait times get longer in the autumn, etc. And what other work/holidays/fairs the person has coming up. It’s frustrating when you build an entire timeline around something, only to find out that if it gets shifted by a month all the timelines change due to factors you weren’t made aware of. Communicating early and clearly is key.
Have any makers ever pitched their work directly to you? What makes the perfect pitch?
I tend to reach out to makers who I have met at fairs and exhibitions or who I have gotten to know through Instagram. The perfect pitch is someone who tells me about the themes they can work in, the materials they can work with, what their dream commissions would be, and also gives me a sense of the smallest and largest projects they would consider taking on.
Are there any current trends or shifts in interiors that are creating new opportunities for craftspeople?
I think it’s important to focus on continuously developing your skills and innovating within your craft. You don’t have to follow trends if you are the one making them.
You’ve also worked as a Sales & Projects Manager for a decorative arts workshop.
What did that role teach you about how interior designers and craftspeople collaborate in practice?
What it’s taught me is that the best interior designers work with the same people again and again, build a relationship so that the design process becomes intuitive for both sides, and where they can trust that the job will get done to a high standard. If you see a designer that’s jumping around, constantly working with different people, that often says more about the designer than the makers they have worked with. Designers will want to work with you if you are reliable and easy to communicate with so that their life is made easier and if your work is of consistent quality so that the client is happy. Price tag and lead time are less of a deal breaker so long as you communicate those from the get-go.
Is there any other advice you would give a maker who wants to work with interior designers but isn’t sure where to start?
Much like when pitching to gallerists, have a look at a designer’s portfolio first, think about whether you think your work would fit within the style they work in, then give their office a call and ask to speak to their sample librarian to organise a visit to their office to present your work. Interior designers are always happy to have someone visit to present their work to their team. Sample librarians are responsible for bringing them all the latest and sometimes work for multiple designers, so it could even lead to an introduction to more than one studio.
Do you have any resources that you’d like to direct makers to?
Having a look at both House & Garden‘s and Country Life‘s Top 100 is a great place to start looking for designers to approach. Most interior designers in the UK tend to read The World of Interiors and House & Garden, so building up a rapport with the editorial teams is a great way to start to get your name out there. The Design Centre at Chelsea Harbour [in London] is where most interior designers gather twice a year during Focus in September and London Design Week in March, so if you want to invest in a stand anywhere that’s where I would go.
