Calm, collected, and putting the faux marble challenge of last week's football hospitality boxes behind her, interior designer Lia Gold, 34, from east London, is the winner of the seventh series of the BBC's Interior Design Masters.
The two remaining designers, Lia and Sophie Newlands, were thrown into the lion's den at Longleat safari park, Wiltshire, to transform two tired holiday cottages into idyllic retreats.
With three days, two carpenters, three decorators, a budget of £7,000 each and the pick of a partner from previously-eliminated contestants, the self-confessed 'maximalists' set to work.
Their brief was to bring the hallway and landing, living room, dining room, twin bedroom and main bedroom back to life.
Taking her inspiration from the surrounding nature, Lia told us, 'we're going big, we're going bold, we're going botanical'. And from the 'tapestry' wallpaper in the main bedroom to the cute cocktail nook in the reconfigured dining room, it worked.
Guest judge, interiors guru Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, proclaimed Italian-Glaswegian Lia 'a very empathetic designer. She understands what rooms feel like and what people would like to feel in that room.'
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Meanwhile, head judge Michelle Ogundehin raved, 'There was something so magical about Lia's holiday cottage. I stepped into a world, and I just wanted to stay there.'
Lia's prize, a homewares collaboration with Next, launches this Thursday.
House Beautiful caught up with Lia following her win...
What's happened since the show ended?
LG: I've been very busy in a very secretive way, setting up my own studio and the collaboration with Next.
There's a very heavy Italian influence on the range. Tomato vases, striped bedding, gorgeous tableware with pasta shapes, and a massive lighting collection. They were amazing to work for, too, made all my dreams come true.
I absolutely loved it, it’s definitely made me want to do more. I don’t know how you balance the time between interior design and product design, but it was so, so, so much fun. An incredible experience and I'm super super proud.
Why choose Jonni Knight for your final partner?
LG: Jonni and I clicked instantly from episode one. Not just as designers, but just generally as humans. We got on like a house on fire. I knew he was going to be a friend for life after the show.
He's amazing. We talk every day. I would make him drive to ridiculous lengths. He would answer the phone every time I rang in a panic over something. [For the final], he ordered all of my paint; he placed this enormous paint order. Jonni just pretended to be me on the phone. We meet up at least once a week. He only lives about 40 minutes from me. We get to spend a lot of time with each other.
It was really brave to swap the living and dining rooms around and add that arch. Did you worry it wasn't going to work?
LG: No, I was so set that the arch was so important to that room. We had two carpenters. I'd worked out roughly how long the arch was going to take, so one could concentrate on that. Jonni and I were going round with the drills. I knew we could pick up the little things so the carpenter could concentrate on the big build. It was a very good decision. It came out so well and it created that wee cosy space at the back.
Your love of a social space was number one with the judges. What’s your rule to make it work?
LG: There has to be a good anchor point to it, a hanging light or something that will draw you to that space, like a moth to a flame. I channelled that in my own house. I have my wedding flowers [dried] dropped over my kitchen island, so instantly when you walk in, you're drawn to it. It kind of hugs the kitchen island.
Dried flowers: tell us your top tips
LG: I dry my own, in the house, which drives my husband mad. I just can't bear to throw them out. I'd recommend hanging them in bunches and hanging them upside down for a week in a dry, dark place. They always say somewhere dark, but if you don't have somewhere dark, it's not the end of the world. Just keep them out of direct sunlight, as it can drain all the colour from them.
I always spray mine with a light coating of hairspray. That keeps them in place. They do become very brittle. But I've had my wedding flowers dried for over three years and they're fine.
Michelle is known for hating faux foliage. How did you keep getting the dried flowers past her — she even praised the boxed ones in the hall this week?
LG: I feel like I'd really turned her in the end, with the ones in the boxes. I do think there is a difference between artificial and dried flowers. Ultimately, dried flowers are just dead real flowers and fake ones are plastic.
The judges wondered if you should have extended your £500 tapestry wallpaper in the main bedroom up to the ceiling. Did that idea cross your mind?
LG: Yes. I did want to. The wallpaper came in two-metre rolls or three-metre rolls and I couldn't afford three metres on the budget. It was so expensive. It wasn't like another £100, it was like another £300/£400.
Tell us one thing that goes on behind the scenes that viewers don't know about…
LG: You don't see half of the meltdowns that happen. I think the editing is very kind sometimes. Especially for me in semi-finals week. I had a lot of things that just went wrong.
My paint had gone missing accidentally, and a table was broken. There were lots of little things, half of them you don't see on screen. I think I sat down in a corner and cried for an hour, but you would never know by the edits. I just say if you swear enough, they can't use the content.
What's the most surprising thing you've found yourself doing?
LG: At the start of the competition, I'd never done any big builds. For me, it was always being aesthetically pleasing through wallpapers and paints, rather than how you can transform a room through builds.
I think as I went on, I really challenged myself on the builds that we could do. Designing the gorgeous backlit arches for the semi-final [Brighton and Hove Albion hospitality boxes] was very architectural. Then, when I got to the final, I was brave enough to build a massive arch that divided the room (below).
What does interior design mean to you?
LG: Interior design has the power to make you smile, make you happy, and change people's moods.
When I worked at Uniqlo, the staff rooms were really depressing. There were a lot of issues with staff morale and staff retention. I did up four; the impact that it had was amazing. I had area managers from Europe ringing up and asking if I could transform theirs. That’s when I decided to quit Uniqlo. I thought if I can make a difference to people’s lives like that every day, how amazing is that? And then I got the call to say I was on the show.
Time to manifest... Tell us, where do you hope to be this time next year?
LG: Having done the show and the creative collaboration with Next, it's opened up my eyes to so many creative paths I didn't even know existed before.
I really want to design a really communal, welcoming restaurant or café. And I would also love to design a cookware range. Pots and pans, but not ugly air fryers. They’re the ugliest things in the world and will never be seen in my kitchen. I understand why people find them so handy, but why can't we design one that looks amazing?
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