My Creative Process: From Concept to Completion

There can be no single answer to the question of what kind of creativity, what kind of process or formula, gets interior design projects from concept to completion. Different designers have their own unique methods for delivering homes that begin life as a mere twinkle in a client’s eye.

This week, Darren Price, Design Director at ADAM Architecture, Georgina Fraser, Managing Director of Jeffreys Interiors, and Tolù Adẹ̀kọ́, Founder of Adẹ̀kọ́ & Co, share exactly what goes into making their clients’ visions materialise, from open and creative collaboration to creative problem-solving.

Darren Price

For architect Darren Price, successful design begins with collaboration. "Establishing collaborative working methods in the early stages of a project helps to ensure there’s a thread running through, holding it all together," he says, noting that early involvement of all major stakeholders is crucial to make this work. "By embedding clients, designers, architects and investors into the project’s DNA from the beginning, we can move beyond the more traditional, transactional side of property development," he says.

Georgina Fraser

At Jeffreys Interiors, Georgina Fraser believes building a team of people who love their work is the secret to success. "The success of our projects is born from the passion to create something unique and personal,” she says. "This commitment and enthusiasm gets projects over the line. Our designers, clients, makers and installers become invested in the process, and that carries through from concept to the last few accessories being placed just so."

Their multi-award-winning project, Tempus, a boutique hotel, perfectly captures this. "The brief was to stand out from the crowd, be Marmite, and we were given the creative freedom to go wild," she says, adding that, "When the time came, we had this huge bank of inspiration to pull from.”

While creativity, enthusiasm and a can-do attitude are vital for getting a project from concept to completion, Fraser also prizes problem-solving as another must-have skill amongst her team. "Interior design is 80% problem solving," Fraser says, warning that the next surprise is always around the corner. "Enter the giant structural pillar slap bang in the middle of the master suite," she says. Rather than hiding it, Fraser’s team celebrated it. "The solution was to embrace it. We wrapped it in the same undulating patterns of the leafy wallpaper, and let it do its thing, embracing the architecture and making it a design feature."

Tolù Adẹ̀kọ́

Adẹ̀kọ́ describes his design process as one rooted in storytelling and a genuine connection to the work. “As designers, we consider ourselves storytellers first,” he says. “Our approach is journalistic, investigating a building's history, its architectural character, and the cultural background of its inhabitants.” This deep research is foundational to the studio’s work. “Whether it's a private residence or a large-scale hospitality project, it’s the emotional connection to the story that keeps everything moving forward.”

Adẹ̀kọ́ believes that the principles of storytelling and journalistic enquiry help to solve problems, even as challenges start to hit a project. “Constraints are an inevitable part of any project, whether budgetary, spatial, or time-related, but this is precisely where creativity finds its edge,” Adẹ̀kọ́ says. “We don’t just work around limitations, we embrace them as springboards for innovation.”

My Creative Process: From Concept to Completion

Darren Price

Georgina Fraser

Tolù Adẹ̀kọ́

Anya Cooklin-Lofting

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