Nicole Scott
Nicole Scott is a Victoria based Interior Decorator and Stylist. With many years in the design business and with a history background, her approach to design comes more from a cultural background rather than what is trendy right now.
Nicole loves giving life back to those furnishings that have been forgotten, yet still beautiful. A challenge for many designers, it is a creative outlet for her to make these pieces work. In essence, each piece gains a new identity with her creative take on things.
Nicole’s designs are colourful, casual and eclectic. Her clients love her approachability to design. Her strength is creating rooms with soul. Rooms that connect with their inhabitants and express their unique sense of style while telling their story. Rooms that are memorable, comfortable, yet unique. This synergy between client/space has created long lasting relationships with her clients as she continue designing seasonal homes for them in other provinces.
Have I said Nicole is one of the nicest colleagues in our industry?
Interiors by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – What was your first experience with design?
Nicole Scott – As a kid I loved to play house, and I’m pretty sure it was the set up that I liked most. I had the usual doll house experiences, but on an even bigger scale I used to make houses from hay bales on my family’s farm in northern Alberta. Full size furniture, walls/windows the whole bit…think of it as giant Legos. I loved to play house and entertain guests and I guess I still do!
Interiors by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – What is design for you?
Nicole Scott – Design is my talent wrapped in a service and it’s all about them. In practical terms it is listening to my clients, listening to their home and developing a totally unique plan that tells their story, looks amazing and functions really well.
Interiors by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – For our readers who don’t know you, what is the story behind your design studio – Why did you start designing interiors?
Nicole Scott – When I moved to Victoria, BC in 2009 I started my design blog and renovated my own house room by room for the content. I gained followers and exposure and within a year I was taking on local clients who liked my approachable voice, my philosophy of re-use and my approach to interior styling which is personal and authentic. I still pay allot of attention to my website and the blog and it has netted me allot of business from Alberta and overseas as potential clients use the internet to find design help in Victoria with their properties.
Interiors by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – What is the best advice you could give to somebody who is new in the world of design?
Nicole Scott – Listen more than you talk, and be honest when you do. Ask lots of questions, smile and be open to learning from people you are working with. My saying is always that “it’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice.”
Interiors by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – How do you see the design scene in Victoria?
Nicole Scott – Sourcing products is sometimes a challenge here on the island. I envy designers working in bigger cities with large design centres at their fingertips, but it just means I have to be more creative. I certainly would not want to live anywhere else…so I guess my answer is that there is an ample supply of designers and decorators in Victoria and a great deal of consumer demand so the scene is busy and I am really happy to be part of it.
Interiors by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – How do you keep your designs fresh and current, what inspires you?
Nicole Scott – I am inspired by images. I love Architectural Digest and great design books that inform my aesthetic and re-affirm that what I’m thinking and what I like will work when I put it all together. I use my blog as a bit of a style lab where I experiment with looks and new products I like – hoping that I’ll have a brave client soon that will let me try something cool. For specific jobs I am inspired by my client’s things and I always use their pieces when creating my concept(s). The inspiration is often art, a piece of furniture or a piece of fabric – these are all great places for me to get sparked and take off in a direction that incorporates what they love.
Interiors by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – What is your current favourite material, and why?
Nicole Scott – I’m a real fabric person. I love vintage and I scour the earth looking for authentic textiles and I often make pillows with them. My favourite textiles du jour are historical neutrals like a Moroccan Blanket I purchased from an antique dealer. For larger pieces little remnants of vintage fabric will not do so I turn to archived woven designs like Kravet’s Anvil pattern in Cinder which is adapted from African Kuba Cloth designs. LOVE that one right now.
Interiors by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – In your opinion, what is the main element that every home should have?
Nicole Scott – Every home should have the client’s stories & memories woven into the design. And of course some custom pillows.
Moroccan Pillow by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – 5 things you can’t live without?
Nicole Scott – In a designer context my five things would be….My iPhone, Coffee, Measuring Tape, Car (esp the back where I store everything), and my assistant Kelly.
Interiors by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – Do you have a hidden talent?
Nicole Scott – I have a photographic memory which comes in quite handy in this business.
Interiors by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – What is your guilty pleasure?
Nicole Scott – Probably pasta. I think about it way too much.
Interiors Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – What is your favourite project, and why?
Nicole Scott – Honestly whatever I am working on is usually my favourite. Right now I am working on a bathroom reno with cement tile that I’ve been wanting to do forever and a sexy basement TV room that I’m very excited about and a historical home that is like a dream come true in terms of decorating …so I get pretty pumped about the projects on my docket at any given time. I think what all of these jobs have in common is great clients who like and respect me and my ideas. My work style is inclusive and we are very much a team throughout the process which builds trust and lasting relationships and makes it easy to say they are my favourites.
Interiors by Nicole Scott
Iván Meade – Lastly, you have already created a stunning body of work. What would you like your legacy to be?
Nicole Scott –If you are only asking only about interior design, and not me personally, I would want my legacy to be spaces that were personal and timeless with the right amount of layering, lighting and decorating to make them feel casual, comfortable and like home.
I invite you to visit Nicole Scott’s site and learn more about her approach to design:
NICOLE SCOTT DESIGNS INC
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