Michelle LAYNE

It was the time that Michelle spent with her aunt that inspired her to become an interior designer. Michelle’s uncle built yachts and her aunt designed the interiors, she’d often take Michelle on shopping trips to find pieces for the yacht and they’d watch home design shows together. Fast forward a few years and Michelle studied interior design at university and went on to work as a designer in South Africa before moving to New Zealand with a stint working on superyachts in between.

Every day is different for Michelle, sometimes it’s creative and other days it’ll be more technical but it’s something she says she really loves about the role, ‘I knew I didn’t want a job where I did the same thing everyday. Some days I’m working on CAD drawings or furniture schedules  and other days I might be designing an accessible bathroom or putting together a visual of pretty fabrics.’ 

Michelle is drawn to residential projects because you can let the personality shine through the design and in particular she enjoys designing cabinetry such as bathroom vanities and kitchens because it gives that mix of both technical and creative. Always with her camera to hand, Michelle is constantly taking photos of things that inspire her so she can refer back to them when she’s designing. Some days it might be a cool restaurant, other times it’ll be looking over her photos from her extensive travels around the world.

As for Michelle’s favourite style it’s Scandinavian. ‘I love the light and airy look with lots of natural woods and white tones - and maybe a little pop of colour!’