Get to know me

I'm a maximalist interior designer and the founder of Feather&Fossil.

 

​Much like maximalism itself, my path here was an alchemy of art and science. I combined the two throughout school, a place where I loved to learn and worked hard doing so. When the time came to leave, all advice pointed towards a "sensible" job, something more science related perhaps. And so I began a fine art degree at Plymouth University.​​

​

​​It took only a short time to realise that the overly prescriptive course didn’t sit well with my yearning for creativity, so I changed lanes, destined for a complete pivot and with it the world of human nutrition. The years to come would bring a career as both a nutritionist and a project manager in a health enterprise and research department, squeezing in a masters degree and prince2 project management qualification along the way.

​

I had my son Finn and moved back to Plymouth with my partner John, buying our first house and renovating it whilst working part-time as a community engagement manager for a large painting and decorating company. I filled the house with treasures, some salvaged from skips, some carefully considered contemporary purchases, and some upcycled to bring new life to old practicality.

​

And so you begin to see the threads of a career in interior design knitting together…

​

Positions with the NHS followed, none of them satisfying my appetite for a more creative role, until a project developing plans for a new health centre alongside a large architect firm piqued my interest and changed my trajectory.

 

I bolstered my natural flair with a British College of Interior Design diploma and Feather&Fossil became the culmination of a lifetime’s experience in art and science. Just as my career has blended the two, so too does maximalist interior design. 

​

To me, maximalism means fun, playful, luxurious, interesting, different, stand out. A form of art, it embraces difference and celebrates lots of things.

 

Maximalism celebrates cultures and ideas. It is deeply unique and personal. It means heritage - taking ideas from history and either reinventing and modernising them, or incorporating them as they are. It means problem solving - throwing lots of things together isn't going to work, you have to research it, fit the puzzle together, try lots of options, and understand the underpinning of design.

 

Maximalism to me is pulling the chaos of components together into considered cohesion. I adore it.