Owl Design: Bold & Joyful Design from East London’s Creative Duo
people • designers
Founded in 2014 by Simone Gordon and Sophie van Winden, Owl is an East London-based studio born from a shared passion for bold, joyful design. Specialising in interior design, styling, and consultancy, Owl brings creative flair to both residential and commercial projects.
WEBSITE: owldesign.co.uk INSTAGRAM: @owldesignlondon
Words: designeers
November 2024
designeers
Could you please give us a quick introduction? When did you first decide you wanted to become an interior designer?
simone gordon
Hi, my name is Simone, and I am one of the co-founders of Owl, an interior design studio based in London, UK. From a young age, I aspired to be an artist and loved drawing. As I grew older, my passion for interior design grew as well. Inspired by weekend trips with my parents to stately homes and furniture shops, I would come home and re-arrange my bedroom on an almost monthly basis and try my hand at making cushions alongside my mum who sold them at craft fairs.
During school, I completed work placements with Nina Campbell and Hopkins Architects, which truly inspired me. It was amazing to see how interior spaces could influence emotions, and the idea of creating spaces that enhance people's lives motivated me to pursue this career.
After graduating, I freelanced for various interior design and branding companies before taking a job in events, designing stands and styling room sets. This allowed me to work on a wide variety of projects and gain experience in both commercial and residential design. These varied roles enabled me to experiment with different designs and styles, helping me develop my own unique style.
Having my own business was always a dream of mine. Sophie and I used to joke in university about starting our own company one day. Realizing we both had something unique to offer the interior design world, we took the plunge and founded Owl.
designeers
How did you and your design partner Sophie meet and how do you split the design work between yourselves?
simone gordon
Sophie and I met whilst studying for our degree in interior design environment architecture at Ravensbourne. We became great friends during our studies and shared a joint love for more organic forms and playful patterns.
When working on projects we always begin by bouncing ideas off each other, as we find the best designs evolve when we come together. Once we have created the initial design direction one of us will take the project lead but we work collaboratively throughout the project.
designeers
What is fundamental to your design practice – your philosophy and your process?
simone gordon
Our practice does not follow trends or a strict design ‘look’ as we believe every client and project needs to be treated individually. We do however tend to have elements we like to include throughout our projects, such as bespoke headboards, patterns through form, we like to call it Minimal Maximlisim. We love bold shapes and silhouettes, but we feel too much clutter and pattern can feel messy.
We create spaces by mixing bespoke joinery, interesting sculptural shapes and forms through furniture and accessories with carefully curated fabrics and materials. Our focus is selecting fewer pieces but letting them sing within a space whilst still allowing some room for fun and personal expression. Our philosophy is that your interior should make you smile and should reflect your personality and inspire you.
We also believe that interiors need to become more sustainable to create not only healthier homes but have less impact on the environment. We work with suppliers who align with our views wherever possible, from paint to fabric and craftsmen.
designeers
Do you have any tips or tricks you could share with us that help you in your day-to-day?
simone gordon
Don’t keep anything that creates clutter in your home or office that you don’t need. Sell or donate as someone else may really appreciate it, whereas for you it could subliminally be causing stress. Less clutter means more mental power for things that matter. I believe that the famous saying by William Morris is still more relevant today than it ever was:
“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
“We do however tend to have elements we like to include throughout our projects, such as bespoke headboards, patterns through form, we like to call it Minimal Maximlisim.”
simone gordon
designeers
What was one of your biggest lessons learned since starting your firm?
simone gordon
Creating sustainable and affordable Interiors still has a way to go. There is still so much to learn and more innovation needs to happen as well as a change in our attitude towards how we consume/ purchase products. Social media has now created ‘fast fashion’ within interiors, creating trends which move on and are constantly updating, that, along with affordable High Street furniture, which although convenient at times means that sometimes furniture and products aren’t built to Last like they used to be.
designeers
What’s next – can you share with us your vision and some of your goals?
simone gordon
We are planning to launch a range of some of our key furniture designs so sell directly to the public using sustainable fabrics and materials. We get quite a few enquiries about our headboards, and where to get them from so it seems an obvious next step to develop our own range of designs..
designeers
One gallery or museum that inspires you?
simone gordon
John Soane Museum is my favourite museum. The collection of architectural artefacts Soane collected are truly inspiring, it’s amazing how to see how such antiquities are still inspiring design to this day.
designeers
What are some of the suppliers you love working with?
simone gordon
We love sourcing unique items, and re-upholstering vintage chairs and one of our favourite things to do is to wander around the stalls around Ardingly Antiques Fair. I always like to pop into McCully & Crane in Rye, a treasure trove of beautifully crafted statement furniture, bold art, lighting and unique objects,. We like to work with smaller suppliers too, especially ones who take the sustainably side of their business like Fallen and Felled who are a London-based timber company that repurposes fallen urban trees into hardwood timber and furniture. On & On Designs is a great platform to source unique crafted accessories by European designers and selected designers and brands in the UK market. Kirby is great for a wide range of fabrics, and they are growing their range of sustainable fabrics too.
designeers
Best designed hotel you’ve ever stayed in?
simone gordon
My favourite place to stay is One Bruton, Somerset. I love the British countryside and staying here is always such a joy, with it’s unique history and modern English interior. It’s also partnered with my favourite restaurant, Osip, which does amazing food made with local ingredients and also has a stunning interior, so definitely worth a visit!
designeers
Design hero?
simone gordon
I don’t have one design hero as I love and appreciate so many different design styles, for example I love Kelly Wearstler’s use of bold large furniture and mix of textiles, but at the same time I really admire John Pawson and his timeless, paired back serene interiors and architecture.
