Meet the interiors expert who will redesign your home online
Athina Bluff, founder of Topology Interiors, tells Sam Wylie-Harris about her online interior design service and 2021’s key trends.
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Your support makes all the difference.Confined to our houses for the best part of a year has brought on a boom in home styling, something Athina Bluff, founder of Topology Interiors (topologyinteriors.com) – a predominantly online design service centred around affordable interiors – is thrilled about.
“Because we’re spending so much time indoors, everyone’s thinking about how they can make their home nicer – a place that’s actually relaxing and enjoyable to be in. So, yes, there’s been a huge surge in wanting an interior designer, which is great for us,” says Bluff, noting there’s been a 500% increase in business.
Having started her interior journey working for Kelly Hoppen Interiors as a design consultant, it was while she was working in the luxury furniture industry that she decided to take stock – and start something that was slightly more attainable for the mass market.
“I came up came up with this concept of creating presentations, shopping lists and visuals for clients, and I did that as a bit of a side hustle from my day job. Once I started to grow a client base, I decided to take the plunge and go full throttle into Topology,” explains Bluff.
London-based, she runs her design studio with the help of a few other designers, alongside her award-winning blog – which offers interior inspiration and style tips – she’s worked closely with big brand names, such as Ikea and Habitat.
“Affordable can mean £50,000 to one client and £500 to another, so the reason we try to market ourselves as ‘affordable’, is because we like to cater to all our clients’ budgets,” she notes. “Essentially, they give us what they want to spend, what they can afford, and we’ll endeavour to stick to that as much as we can.”
Bluff says they have to be resourceful and work out which areas are worth spending money on. They might splurge on a new sofa, but as a result, need to strip back on accessories, for example. “We might say, ‘You’ve got quite a nice bed, so why don’t we keep that – which frees up a bit of budget elsewhere?’ We can get that slightly more expensive piece of furniture to really bring the space together, so that’s how we try and make it ‘affordable’.”
When designing a room, Bluff says it’s important to have the client’s trust, because the best spaces are the ones where they’ve allowed her to do what she wants. “You might get a client saying, ‘Oh I’m not sure about that’ – and we’ll never push someone to implement something they don’t want to.”
Hot trends Bluff is loving right now include greens and exoticism, neutrals and the Eighties revival.
“Green is key – there’s this holiday and exotic vibe, unsurprisingly, as we’ve spent so much time cooped up indoors. We want a bit of escapism, so there’s a surge of greenery, earthy tones, rattan, tropical plants and Moroccan tiles.”
The big neutral trend is something that’s quite personal to her: “I absolutely love neutrals. Think whites, creams, beiges, earthy materials, terracotta, lots of jute and wicker. I think it’s because we want these down-to-earth materials that connect us with nature – they calm us down, they’re not synthetic, typically they have an artisan approach, and we’re looking for stuff that’s got more of a back story.
“There’s a huge resurgence in pottery, too, and this will be heightened when the new film about ceramic artist Clarice Cliff comes out [The Colour Room is currently being filmed, starring Matthew Goode and Phoebe Dynevor].”
The Eighties revival trend she says is “about breaking the rigid rules of design, which is why we see elements of complete interior madness that bring us so much joy. The height of fun, experimental and loud design in a time we can all remember. We’re also seeing a revival of matching your curtains to your walls – something we thought was a bit of a faux pas is now turning back into a hot trend.
“Again, this calls for vintage or rare designs, and an appreciation for handcrafted items which reflect the past – and remembering a decade of craftsmanship and freedom. Typically, pinks, oranges and reds are quite strong in this retro scheme, and there’s been a huge boost in people buying off Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace, hunting down these gems.”