Ash Design is a London-based interior design studio, but that
wasn’t always the case. More than ten years ago, Ash Design’s
founder Sharon Elafouf was travelling around the globe, gathering
experience and expertise in the interior design world and working
with some of the best names and challenging clients.
Having earned a degree in Interior Design, Sharon Elafouf started
her journey as an interior designer in Paris in the most “organic
way”, as she nicely puts it. Working with mainly French clients
and achieving successful results, her business came to grow by
word of mouth and it ended up changing as the years went by.
From a work based on “decorative schemes”, Ash Design’s founder
switched to projects that involve “space planning and architecture”.
It was around that time that she integrated her approach, “offering
clients a new dimension” of what she was doing. However, the
choice to embrace this profession was something that came fairly
easy to the interior designer, seeing as she was never a stranger
to the world of travelling and staying at different hotels within
each stay. This enabled her to “experience hotels and restaurants
of authenticity and of significance”, meaning her vision and
perception of these places ended up being different than the ones of
an ordinary person. With this strong perception background, and
with the growing interest in collecting contemporary decorative
art, Ash Design’s founder believes her work is an extension of her
private life and all the experiences that influence her on a daily
basis. And even though this is one of the ways she keeps up with
the latest trends - visiting all the art and design shows, travelling
between Paris and Miami all the time, and keeping a close eye on
a handful of her favourite interior designers - the most important
element in every Ash Design project is their timelessness. They
try to create spaces which are to be enjoyed by families and that
at the same time “must be carefully thought out spaces that stand
the test of time”.
But of course that, in order to create these unique spaces, Ash
Design’s founder must find inspiration somehow. And she had
just told us that one of her biggest sources of inspiration is Peter
Marino. Why? Because “his work encapsulates the benchmark
brands he is designing so accurately through his sophisticated and
forward thinking interior architecture, textiles and art”, as Sharon
Elafouf so gracefully stated. However, Jean Louis Deniot and his
architectural choices and colour palettes are also at the top of the
list of inspiring interior design personalities for the Ash Design
team. It is with this in mind that they always decide upon French
artisans and craftsmen in their bespoke work for clients, as well
as vintage and contemporary decorative art, which enables them
to be in constant touch with many galleries and artists, sort of
becoming their own source of inspiration.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
WITH ASH DESIGN
