InFocus | Fine Interiors
Challenges of designing dreams
Julie Johnsen has helped to shape some of the most beautiful rooms in the UAE. She shares a working day with us.
- By Maria Dowdall Stapleton, Feature Writer
- Published: 23:25 December 2, 2008
- I spend a lot of time travelling to and from meetings with suppliers, clients or technicians who are preparing drawings for me, says Julie Johnsen, Interior decorator-designer.
- Image Credit:
Julie Johnsen has helped to shape some of the most beautiful rooms in the UAE. She shares a working day with us.
Julie Johnsen is an interior decorator-designer at City Palace in Dubai. The 26-year-old Norwegian has been in Dubai for four years. She has been involved in the fit-out of many homes and commercial properties in the UAE including Embassy Nightclub, TBWA offices and most recently the Alpha night club. She describes her working day:
I arrive at the office between 8am and 10am. The first thing I do is check the "to do" list I wrote before leaving work the previous evening. I am most creative in the late afternoon and evening so I will schedule meetings in the morning or just after lunch. Although every day is different, I spend a lot of time travelling to and from meetings with suppliers, clients or technicians who are preparing drawings for me. I also spend time in the City Palace workshop ensuring the furniture that I have designed is being manufactured according to my specifications.
Projects are huge co-ordination jobs and it is imperative I am organised. Every project I work on is unique and I rarely repeat furnishings or fittings.
Sometimes clients have very specific requests that can be challenging to fulfil. For example, they may have seen something in a magazine or on their travels and want a replica of the item for their home. I spend a large proportion of my time trying to source furnishings so that I meet my clients' demands. When I am out of the office doing this, I also try to find time to fit in everyday errands.
Unlike an interior architect — who is sometimes referred to as an interior designer — I do not deal with any of the structural modifications to a space. Instead I focus on the finishing touches and aesthetics. I will select floorings, door finishes and customise existing furniture or design new pieces for the space.
In the afternoon, I start working on mood boards for current projects. I collect all the pieces of materials I want to use for the interior, from floorings to soft furnishings, and display them on a board. Once I start this process, I can get carried away and end up staying at the office very late. Sometimes, I work through the night. Normally it takes days if not weeks to finalise the concept of one project. Once the project is clear in my mind, I then move on to detailing it and developing drawings.
Fashion first
I started in this field by training as a visual merchandiser in Norway and after completing my course, I spent two years teaching at the design school I had attended. After a summer training in fashion design with Dolce and Gabbana designer Thomas Chopin in Milan, I decided I would prefer to work in furnishings rather than clothes. But it was only when I came to Dubai, after being headhunted to work for a popular retailer, I moved into home design.
Since then, I have worked on the interiors for several homes in addition to some of the UAE's premier nightclubs.
I love working for myself as I have more freedom to choose the projects I want to do. When I first meet a client, I make sure I find out exactly what they are looking for from the design to ensure that I will be able to create a space that complements their lifestyle, fits with their requirements and reflects their personality.
If I think I can't accomplish this then I will not design for them. Although I do not like to disappoint people, I think it is better for them to find someone who can help them achieve their vision than for me to create something they are not happy with.
The vast majority of my clients come from word-of-mouth recommendation. In my profession, reputation is crucial. At the moment, I am in the fortunate position of having more work than I can handle and I have given several projects away to other designers. I prefer to do this rather than try to take on more than I can manage. It also means that in the future, these designers may reciprocate or at the very least do a favour for me.
My favourite part of the job is seeing the finished product. Although I always produce visual representations of the end result for the client and I can visualise it perfectly in my head, seeing the finished space is always rewarding.
Recently, I completed a villa on the Palm and at the end the client was really impressed and appreciative. That gave me a great sense of pride in my work.
I will check my e-mails just before I leave the office each night and I will also write the "to do" list for the following day. I will either leave the office before 5pm or I wait until traffic has eased and leave at 8pm.
I head straight to the gym before I go home. I try to socialise at least once a week and at the weekends, although sometimes I will pop into the office on a Saturday, when it is quiet.
I fall into bed very late and I prefer not to think about work. Instead I like to dream about my future.
One day, I would like to open a small interior design and decor shop. If I do not return home to Tromso in Norway to establish my business, I would like to open my shop in Westport, a town situated on the west coast of Ireland. This past summer, I travelled there and completely fell in love with the place and the people.
I look forward to living somewhere where the pace of life will not be quite as hectic as it is in Dubai and I will have time to relax and enjoy life.
Share this article
