The Author
Under her company name, f o r m a n d c o l o u r, Wende Reid practices architectural, interior and furniture design and fine art consulting. She began her career in New York and has been awarded twice for excellence in her designs.
During her career, she has held licensing agreements in the US and Europe, under her own trademark and for clients.
She has developed numerous best selling collections in decorative textiles, wall paper, bed linen, rugs, lighting, dinnerware and flatware.
Her work has been featured in highly prestigious stores, residences, five star hotels, international sporting events and publications in New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, the sovereign nation of Kiribati, and five star resorts on Lizard Island, Vanuatu and Fiji.
She has been commissioned to develop designs for dignitaries and royalty.
She founded in house product development for the home furnishings at Federated Department Stores and, in the US, developed the early framework on which coordinated home furnishings collections are based, such as Ralph Lauren and Martha Stewart.
Our Tutors
Leta Keens is an award-winning journalist who specializes in architecture, design and the arts. She started her career on the interior design and architecture pages of a Fleet Street newspaper and has since worked in Australia, Italy and in the United Kingdom.
Leta has written for a number of publications, including Harper's Bazaar, House & Garden, Elle Decoration and for a number of years has been editor-at-large of Belle, the internationally acclaimed architecture and design magazine.
Her job takes her around the world, inside some of the most beautiful houses and also allows her to meet some of the top people in the design business.
Camille Ellis is a Design Consultant for “Coco Republic”, which is a high-end retailer of furniture, home wares & Interior Design Services
Camille helps her clients with creating beautiful, comfortable and functional spaces that reflect the client’s individuality and style. “I encourage my clients in creating their own oasis from the outside world with all the elements and aesthetic delights that feed and nurture their soul.”
Camille has her own free-lance business styling for T.V commercials in Home Furnishings. Camille creates visuals for the accompanying T.V commercial scripts, creating the mood and setting with an array of props, furnishings and lighting to portray a specific image to the consumer. She has over 10 years experience in this field, which originally started primarily in the art of food presentation and quickly followed on to styling interiors as well. She showed a natural flair and passion as a Stylist culminating concepts & information gathered at briefings with the Advertising Agencies and Commercial Clients and bringing this to fruition in a visual format to best present the product or services being advertised.
Over the years she has participated in various fine arts and experimenting with different mediums with drawing and painting. “I believe we all have the ability to tap into what is aesthetically pleasing to us by starting to observe different environments we expose ourselves to and seeing & feeling the effects that the various elements to these spaces have on us. Do they inspire us to feel happy, relaxed or the opposite effect? This is the start to making conscious design decisions and the whole exciting world of discovery!"
Richard Finch
I first identified my consuming passion for Interior Design with studying A-Level Art and Design and Design and Technology. This was swiftly followed by a Foundation Art Diploma at the University College Suffolk in 1997.
In 1998 I pursued a BA (Hons) in Art and Design, but quickly decided this was not the direction for me and instead transferred onto a HND in Spatial Design. It was here that I began to learn the basics of spatial planning and the beauty of Interior Design. The course covered theatre and exhibition design, as well as introducing me to the design software AutoCAD.
In 2005, I made a determined effort to set up my own interior Design Practice and launched Chakata Designs, whilst completing an OCN Interior Design course at City of Bristol College. From here I enrolled with the Interior Design Institute and ended up graduating a year later. This catapulted my profile in many directions, as well as vastly improving my career opportunities, which led to me securing a full time role as an In-house Interior Designer within a small Architect Practice. It was here that I learned the invaluable lesson of how to oversee a project from the feasibility stage and inception through to completion.
My Portfolio comprises of Landscape Architecture and Interior Design projects within a wide range of sectors mainly residential but has also included: hospitality, mixed use, Leisure, Retail and Commercial Developments. I have designed show apartments, house extensions, and been involved in regeneration and restoration programmes and worked on Zero-Carbon Sustainable builds both here in the UK and in India.
www.chakata.co.uk
Wendi Todd started a career in theatre specializing in Costume and Set Design for student and professional productions at the Alexander Theatre Monash University.
She stayed there for 10 years before working with theatre producers such as Michael Edgley, Kevin Jacobson and Cameron Macintosh.
Her 25 year career in theatre took her around the world where she educated herself in Architecture and Interior Design.
She left show business to work with property developers as an Interior Designer in commercial but mostly residential applications.
Today Wendi works as a tutor for The Interior Design Institute as well as running her own Interior design company and consulting on predominantly domestic projects, specializing in kitchen, bathrooms and colour schemes.
Kylie Watson was always passionate about art and design from a very early age, particularly in the areas of residential architecture & interiors.
She always had a strong ability to conceptualise and co-ordinate. Developing a huge appreciation for colour and texture, Kylie decided she'd study interior design and specialise in residential. During this time, she managed a premium contemporary furniture store and consulted as in-store designer for a couple of years before branching out on her own.
Nowadays, Kylie's business is contracted to the #1 renovations company, designing an array of things ranging from kitchens, home theatres, bathrooms and even re-structuring.
Eventually, with the right tools and contracts, Kylie plans on venturing into becoming a property developer.
Samantha Miller
After a foray into Fine Arts majoring in Photo Media, Samantha Miller was inspired to continue her studies in Interior Design at Enmore Design Centre. Samantha has experience in interior styling, set design, commercial and residential interior design.
With a passion for design history, theatre and the arts, Samantha looks forward to a constantly challenging and varied design career.
