Hawksbee in Conversation with Karen Oliver

I caught up with Karen Oliver of Karen Oliver Design to discuss design and where are we with it right now?

I know Karen understands the value of good lighting but what I am interested in, is understanding how she explains this value to her clients. ‘It is really important to understand what the client wants from the lighting itself, and how they want it to affect the use of that space. Clients want adaptability. Part of my design process is spatial planning; this is fundamental in understanding not just the feel of the space but also its use’. Spatial planning has never been more important. Working from home isn’t necessarily a new thing, home-schooling has been one of the biggest changes, alongside the ‘working from home with every other member of your household’. This is a little challenging at the best of times!

We talk about the potential remaining zen zones left in our households – strangely, mine is the kitchen, because thankfully it isn’t big enough to have a table, otherwise that would be another room that becomes a multi ‘work’ space, the only space remaining as work free in our flat is currently the bathroom?! For those with kitchen come dining areas, Karen does raise a great point that the kitchen is no longer simply a space for cooking; it’s multi-functional and adaptable for tasks such as dining, entertaining, home-schooling, work meetings and so on. ‘Working from home has been challenging, but home-schooling was for many people another story. Spare rooms are being turned back into offices, and some people now prefer to work from home but they still want to mix-it-up. My daughter is doing her A-levels so she might one day prefer to work in her room, next day on the sofa, next day work in the kitchen – she doesn’t want to work in the same environment the whole time’.

Something that seems to be echoing in many people’s design thoughts, with reference to the kitchen is that ‘over the last few months I’ve heard clients wish to include bars or wine cellars and fridges within their kitchens; we’ve realised we’ve been drinking more in our own home and we’re not visiting bars and restaurants half as much’. This is where I couldn’t agree more (adaptability… that is), where lighting plays such an important role in providing this adaptable environment for our tasks in a single room and this can quite simply be through the control of lighting.  So, whether it’s a kitchen, cellar or workstation, this topic of control led us onto the fact that even though we have the ability to turn on individual lights or circuits within a scene from a mobile device, we both still resonate with simplicity and ease of use. 

However, we move from discussing absolute control to having no control, ‘one of my pet hates is not being able to dim lighting; no dimmers. Why would you want that lack of flexibility within a space for something so simple to integrate?’ I understand completely, sometimes lighting designers are brought on at the last moment and this is also key to Karen in her designs.  ‘We work collaboratively with our clients but also other skilled designers and architects. I believe clear communication is key and being brought on to the project as early as possible is the best chance we have to achieve the client brief and to work seamlessly with those on the design team’. It is great to know that designers and their clients understand the importance of lighting and interior design; they should work seamlessly together.  

Our homes and our tasks are personal. In conclusion from our conversation is the ability to control lighting to suit the task at hand whether that is one floor, a 12-bed mansion or a micro-home, it is just as important to get it right.