The legacy of luxurious interior design

TEXT: SCHEENAGH HARRINGTON | PHOTOS: VANINA HENRY

Home is where the heart is – so the saying goes – and it certainly holds true for luxury interior designer Vanina Henry. She brings her passion for colour and comfort to private commissions and commercial projects across Luxembourg, Germany, Spain and Marrakech, taking inspiration from these diverse cultures to create spaces that are both unique and beautiful.

Our modern world is fast-paced and endlessly busy: people are connected all the time, whether to work or social media, so down time can be both rare and precious. That drives our need to find comfortable places to rest – from hotels to our own homes.

“Comfort and elegance are key words in my designs,” says Henry. “For me, the most important thing is to create places in your home where you can sit in an ex- tremely comfortable seat, surrounded by a soothing, calming colour harmony and be somewhere that does not require you to think.”

She swapped a career in the luxury hospitality industry for studying interior design at the prestigious Boulle School in Paris, before opening her first shop in 2007 in Trier, close to the border with Luxembourg. Since then, Henry has expanded both her store and range of expert services, enabling her to take on and complete interior design projects from start to finish.

She is currently working on projects in Luxembourg and Germany, is also busy with the interior design for a luxury Mal- lorca property, as well as a “very enriching” project in Marrakech.

Her clients often provide the initial inspiration, whether it’s something physical or something less tangible. “It could be an antique object in their home, a painting, a move, a new life, a different profession or nationality. There’s always something that will inspire me,” Henry explains.

An interior design intermediary

“What interests me is knowing how clients are going to feel inside this universe, how they are going to evolve inside it and what their daily needs are. Also, their family life, whether they have children or not. Of course, they’re going to live there, and they always have the last word. I’m just the intermediary, but I aim to make everyone feel at home.”

Colour has been at the heart of what she does from the earliest days of her interior design career. For Henry, it remains the most important thing, even in an industry that reinvents itself all the time.

“The surprise is that we are still so attached to colour,” she says. “It’s the basis of interior design because colour is in all the materials we use. I’m not interested in pure, white spaces. I want to tell a story and give a soul to an interior with worlds inside: corners, atmospheres, lights. Designers need to express themselves. With every project, we develop our own aesthetic, and clients always end up with something beautiful.”

Henry has customers across Europe and relishes that multicultural environment. “I like to be able to adapt and increase my creative abilities, use new materials and new colours with different atmospheres linked to the country where I’m working,” she says.

Despite her global outlook, she stays close to home when it comes to manufacturers. “I prefer to work with local businesses that we have good relationships with, and who make really customised products to make sure the carbon footprint is under control.”

Like many other industries, the world of interior design is also seeking to protect the environment as much as possible – a sustainability shift that has been reflected in design trends, such as the recycled furniture and objects made by brands Henry represents in her online shop.

Brands with passion

Those connections are another fundamental part of her business. She has enjoyed a long association with paint manufacturer Farrow & Ball and counts Liberty among the many brands she works with. Yet when it comes to forming and cementing these professional partnerships, one thing is key: “The brands I work with create because they have a passion,” Henry says. “I still have it, and I always turn to passionate people who continue to create and don’t forget how they started at the beginning of their journey. I don’t gravitate towards brands that produce things on an assembly line. I’m interested in creating customised spaces that give people a feeling of comfort, well-being and harmony.”

For Henry, every interior design project is about developing and maintaining trust with a client. “It involves many different phases and, from the moment you develop the ideas to the final execution, there are hours and hours of work, communication and coordination with different craftsmen. It’s imperative you have confidence in your interior designer.” www.vaninahenry.com