10 Design Essentials with Interior Designer Alexandra Donohoe Church (Design Masterclass)

We discussed 10 design essentials with interior architect Alexandra Donohoe Church, founder of interior design and architecture studio Decus. These must-haves include superb textiles, weighty handcrafted pieces in metal and timber, and what she believes is “one of the sexiest chairs on the planet”.

The 10 design essentials with interior architect Donohoe Church video covers her go-to pieces.

When asked what her essentials say about her, Donohue Church replied: “probably that I’m not particularly practical in my choices, and I have very expensive taste.” Be that as it may, her curation is a delectable concert of materials from silk, linen and wool to rosewood and glass, unified by a tapestry of warm, earthen tones.

The first of these 10 design essentials with interior architect Donohoe Church is Studio Henry Wilson’s modular system of cast aluminium panels, which feature abstract motifs. “You can rotate each of the panels to create a different relief,” she says. “It almost feels like the effect is a little bit endless or limitless.”

Similarly, Decus’ series of timber textures, created in collaboration with Tim Noone, are noted in this video of 10 design essentials with interior architect Donohoe Church. Expressing a dappled surface – the scale of which varies depending on the size of the drill bit used to carve the timber face, and specified for joinery facades or wall panelling – these textures are infinitely versatile.

A common through line in these 10 design essentials with interior architect Donohoe Church is an affinity for warm, natural and “dirty” colours. Nothing is too pristine, and the effect is of layered, visually interesting palettes. For instance, The Equilibrium Rug by Atelier Fevrier, which features a geometric pattern in a golden, toffee tone, is a favourite. “For me, the palette of this rug is my absolute spirit animal,” says Donohue Church. “As a studio, we tend to err on the side of the dirtier, more earthy colour palettes, so I’m here for this.”

Linen and wool blankets from Society Limonta express a similar palette of deep forest greens and rusty hues, which can also be layered and casually tousled for maximum effect. A slightly more opulent inclusion is Green Interspace by Dimore Studio: a “totally outrageous upholstery that is not for everyone,” admits Donohue Church. She describes the design as “a little carnival, a little Memphis, a little 1993 opulence,” adding that she loves it “because it’s really unexpected”.

Among the 10 design essentials with interior architect Donohoe Church, she shares one piece of furniture: the Presidential Armchair by Jorge Alzupen, which is her “all-time favourite armchair”. Designed in 1955 in Brazil, it exudes many of the ideals redolent of this context and era, like the prominent use of rosewood, the diaphanous frame that facilitates air flow and the decidedly sculptural silhouette. “It’s one of the sexiest chairs on the planet,” she concludes.

00:00 – Introduction to 10 Design Essentials with Interior Designer Alexandra Donohoe Church
00:25 – 10: Decus Special timber textures by Decus Interiors and Time No-one
01:12 – 09: Presidential armchair by Jorge Zalszupin for L’Atelier
01:55 – 08: Wall Relief Study 290 by Studio designer Henry Wilson
02:41 – 07: Green Interspace upholstery by Dimore Studio
03:29 – 06: Splatter Rug by Martyn Thompson from Tibet Sydney
04:18 – 05: Iris Field upholstery by Dimore Studio
04:58 – 04: Sand-cast glass vessel by Studio Vogel
05:45 – 03: Throws & Blankets from Society Limonta
06:27 – 02: Équilibre rug by Atelier Fevrier
07:07 – 01: Sand-cast bronze tray by Michael Verheyden

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