Q&A with Interior Designer Liam Mooney

PHOTOS Claire Gunn; Supplied

Interior designer Liam Mooney shares the lowdown on the recent restructuring of his successful design business, as well as some tips, trade secrets and favourite things

What would you say you’re known for?

Generally, I think people might expect our work to be a little more out of the box perhaps. Superficially we might be known for our use of colour and pattern, as well as mixing many different styles.

Tell us about your new four-pronged approach to your décor and design offering.

For over a decade our company has been hired to do a very wide variety of creative projects – everything from interiors, to designing scents, to consulting on branding and also architecture. Multiple furniture designs were in the mix too.

I decided that it was time to ‘clean up shop’ so to speak and create four different companies that offer our services neatly.

Liam Mooney Studio remains our interior design company – we offer interior architecture, interior design, decorating and styling.

Crozier, our architectural division, was named after my Irish grandmothers maiden surname. The company offers small scale architecture interventions – renovations, extensions and small scale new builds.

Valentim, named after my master carpenter Portuguese grandfather, offers a small capsule collection of furniture as well as bespoke furniture commissions for clients.

Design Balm is our consulting company – consulting on all aspects of creative industries.

What makes this new approach different in the marketplace?

We don’t aim to be different, just as much ourselves as possible.

What’s your single go-to piece of decorating advise?

Contrast. To highlight the beauty of one aspect, it’s best to pair it with something contrasting. I so often say to my staff, we wouldn’t know hot if it weren’t for cold. The same applies to design. Mix rough with smooth, old with new and so on

Minimalism versus maximalism… discuss!

Neither are right or wrong… personally I wish I had the restraint to be a warm minimalist. Unfortunately, I just love so many beautiful things. I also tend to feel enveloped in a wonderful way by rooms that are slightly fuller.

What’s your approach (and advise) regards art in an interior space?

First of all – forget about value and buy what you love. Secondly, consider pairing a couple of pieces together to create a completely new dialogue. Alone a painting might mean one thing to you, but when paired with another one or two pieces, you might find a completely new meaning.

What’s your dream project?

My own home is my dream project – I get to experiment with abandon. If something doesn’t work, then at least I only have to answer to myself.

That being said, I love working on hotels.

If you were pushed to choose between texture or colour, which would you choose and why?

That’s an impossible question, but if I absolutely had to choose, I would choose colour. Texture is so important, but it doesn’t make me happy like the perfect shade of egg yolk yellow does.

What’s an easy addition to an interior to spice it up?

Least effort, highest impact would have to be a book collection.

Your thoughts on trends?

I don’t think about trends – I rarely read material that would even bring them up. So besides the totally obvious, I couldn’t tell you what’s in and what’s out. My advice is don’t waste your money on anything fleeting, by what you love and forget about the rest.

Weekends are for?

I like to have, or go to one dinner party, and mostly just be by myself at home. I’m an incurable homebody. Maybe walk around the village, pick up some bread or the paper.

Favourite design book ever?

I’d have to say interior designer Jacques Grange’s book entitled Jacques Grange Interiors. The book is a compilation of his best work. It’s big which I love and features a lot of photography by the best interiors photographer in the world, Francois Halard.

Favourite creative person in the world?

Jacques Grange (obviously). He’s the best interior decorator designer in the world. The way that he mixes periods, styles, textures, colours and art is genius. He is totally unpretentious in his way of decoration. And judging by the calibre of art and furniture he uses, he has all the right in the world to be very pretentious. He is also completely unpredictable which I find intriguing.

What’s been your most impactful interior design lesson? And how did you come to learn it?

I’m a self-taught interior designer, so every lesson has been very hard earned. Honestly I think I would say the fact that not everyone is going to like what you do, and that’s ok. In the beginning I would fall apart if a potential client didn’t like something I showed them. It’s a little easier now for me to take the rejection, it’s not personal.

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