Olga Ashby Interiors is an interior design studio based in London, England, founded in 2014 by designer Olga Ashby to provide clients with customized creative solutions and professional design services. Olga Ashby's international background enables her to understand and appreciate different regional cultures and to work on multiple design projects simultaneously in multiple countries or regions.

Yinjispace：Your work has a warm feeling. How do you achieve this?

Olga Ashby：I don’t use clean, signal whites. It helps to make the colour palette a bit softer and reduce the contrast. When I need to paint something off white I normally use 105 little green paint, it looks almost white, but has a lovely creamy accent. 

At the same time, I’m mad about using lots of textile and textures, to be honest I’m starting every project from layout and fabric selection. I make sure we have enough contrasting and different textures to make the tactile experience interesting. On the final stage I’m adding up throws and cushions to make the interior even more comfortable and lived in. It is important to me to hide the fact that the room was just created a month ago, I want everyone to think it was there for years. 

Yinjispace：How do you think of the functionality and aesthetics of the space? How do you combine them?

Olga Ashby：I always think how people would use the space, would they play board games, would they read, would they cuddle on the sofa, how many friends they would invite, how would they entertain. I play different scenarios in my head and try to get them all covered. When you get the function right you might start working with aesthetics. Home is only home if it is usable, otherwise it is a museum or an exhibition stand. 

Yinjispace：Your work is rich in details. How do you integrate these in the concept stage?

Olga Ashby：I do a lot of preparation, I buy some pieces for the rooms before we start the building process, vintage and antiques are the most interesting. Sometimes when I meet the client I can already see they would be interested in a certain piece and I might order it and create the space for it specifically when developing the layout. 

Some pieces are quite big and if not considered on the concept stage might not fit in later.  During concept stage I work with CGI’s to identify key pieces like big vases or statement objects. I consider shape, size and texture. To be honest I’m very big on preparation, but the final touches before we pass the key to the client are always spontaneous, though even spontaneous things are shortlisted at the concept stage:-).

Yinjispace：Do you have any colour palette principles?

Olga Ashby：The color palette really depends on the project, but normally we are not after bold colours, we love making a splash, but not really going after anything shocking. If the house or a hotel is mostly outdoor oriented we will be getting our inspiration from the landscape trying to blend indoor and outdoor, using earthy colors. 

If it is a city space, let’s say a penthouse, we would go for a more glossy and slick look use plush velvets and lots of blues, grays, darker greens.  

Yinjispace：How do you think the placement of art collection in space?

Olga Ashby：I believe art is absolutely essential and we plan art placement while working with the layout. Normally I would combine ceramic, paintings, photography, tapestry all in one place to make it more interesting. Art in our projects is never accidental the space for it is always planed from the very beginning.

Yinjispace：How do you divide the space for different function areas? 

Olga Ashby：Normally I would like the spaces flowing and be semi isolated. I like open spaces and using functional devision , it is only obvious to sit on a sofa and eat at the table so people can easily identify those functions, but I also would love to add a space for reading, having a cup of morning coffee, sharing secrets with a friend, those functions are not obvious straight away but should also be considered. By smart placements of side tables, little table lamps, shelves, throws and cushions you can navigate people to use the space in a certain way.

Yinjispace：How do you think of the future trend of interior design?

Olga Ashby：I think interiors would become more and more personal, more reflection of the owner’s inner world than of his or her social status . Minimalism is a strong trend and I’m sure it will stay for a while due to its comfort. As our life gets more intense we would treat our homes more like a sanctuary. At the same time I’m really looking forward to see what we can do with AI to make our houses even more interesting, I believe there will be more digital and immersive art coming with it.