Best Things: Ilse Crawford at Maison

I’ll be in Paris in early September to put up a Skinny laMinx stand at Maison et Objet. I’m a little daunted, but super excited, and I like to think that Ilse Crawford might also be feeling a touch of nerves about Maison, where she’s to be feted as Designer of the Year.

Our shared feelings about Maison (well, my speculation thereof) are likely where our similarities end, because Ilse Crawford is one of those extraordinarily accomplished humans – founder of Elle Decoration magazine, head of a department at Design Academy Eindhoven, principal on any number of massive design projects including the interior of Vitra Haus (I recently paid a visit), author of books – who appears to get on with it all while radiating steadiness, warmth and enjoyment.

Yes, I’m a fan! And it’s not just about her achievements, or the beautiful colours and light and shadow she creates in her interiors, but about her warm, human-centred approach to what she does.

In her interior design work, instead of starting with some kind of conceptual ideal, she starts by considering the emotional life of a person, and how this environment will support and improve that life. She talks about creating interiors as “creating a world”, and as “the personification of a life”, rather than, as they often are approached, “just a shopping list”. I strongly agree with how the New York Times once put it: “her work doesn’t have a signature style, but a signature feeling: emotion and deeply rooted to the place.”

Read more about her achievements, watch her speak about her work, see what she’s written books about and look at images of her work below, and I’m quite sure you will be an Ilse Crawford fan too. Lots more on the StudioIlse website.