5 minute read
At home with Dee Gibson
Dee Gibson worked for 10 years in the financial sector but eventually followed her heart and became an interior designer. Her company, Velvet Orange, pulls together teams of builders, architects and craftspeople to create unique, luxury spaces. In 2017, she built a magnificent boutique villa, Kalukanda House, in Sri Lanka and in 2020 she was a silver winner in the UK’s national Best Business Women Awards for Most Inspiring Business Woman. She talks to Lynda Clark about her first step on the property ladder, her fascinating career and gives some excellent advice for first time buyers
FTB: Tell us about your first step on the property ladder?
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DG: I was pretty late getting on to the property ladder but I bought my first ground floor garden flat when I was about 28. I had been living in east London and I played hockey for a club, so we used to travel to various places in London to play matches. We used to go to south London and that’s when I discovered Clapham, which I really liked, and it was always a great place to socialise in as it has so many bars and restaurants. I had a friend who lived in a top floor flat there and she told me that there was one for sale on the ground floor. I went to see it and decided it was perfect for what I was looking for, so I went ahead and bought it. As I had been working for quite a time I had a little pot of money, so I had a decent deposit, and as I had a secure job with a good salary I didn’t have any trouble getting a mortgage. I still live in Clapham today and love it. It really ticks all the boxes – there’s always so much going on and I think it’s living a London lifestyle without being right in the centre of town.
FTB: Tell us about your career?
DG: For 10 years I worked in the city for
Arthur Andersen but secretly I was always a frustrated architect. Then there was a huge financial scandal and Andersen’s went down and I took redundancy. It was the perfect opportunity to follow my dream and I found an interior design course with a focus towards interior architecture, which was perfect for what I wanted, and I studied for a year at The Interior Design School in Queens Park. It was an exciting time to re-train for a completely new and different career at the age of 31. While I was there I made friends with another student who had been an estate agent. We decided to set up a business together and hit the ground running! We had to find clients, of course, and so we did a lot of free work to build up our portfolio. Eventually she moved on and I have been running Velvet Orange for 10 years now on my own. I had a short career break when my children were small but I got back into the saddle quite quickly. I did some property developing where I bought
at auctions and then did the homes up and either sold them on or rented them out. It was very interesting as I always had to watch how the market was performing. I did many design projects too and in 2017 I built and designed Kalukanda House, my boutique villa in Sri Lanka, and I was delighted when we became part of the HIP Hotel collection.
FTB: What else keeps you busy?
DG: Through my company, Velvet Orange, I also work with my clients who often want advice on what they should do to add value to their homes. This might be an extension or re-design and I have a wonderful relationship with them which is built on trust and it is very much a collaborative process. I am also a mentor for a charity which helps girls aged between 16 and 21. Recently I have been mentoring a girl who was doing her A-levels and wants to become an architect and now she has just started at university. It is very rewarding and I am also a trustee of a charity in Sri Lanka.
FTB: What are your plans for the future?
DG: I really hope that the travel industry will return to normal soon. Bookings at Kalukanda have started up again and I really want people to enjoy their time staying there. I really support sustainable design practices and Cradle-to-Cradle concepts – this is where products at the end of their use can be either recycled or dismantled for parts for re-use if they do not naturally degrade. I also love speaking about sustainable and emotional design that innovates and improves our wellbeing while also supporting communities and the environment – I hope to do more of this in the future and raise awareness in the design and travel space.
FTB: What advice do you have for first time buyers?
DG: Buy a home that you feel comfortable in and don’t feel that you need to do everything immediately you move in. A home is a place you want to feel happy, safe and secure in, so before you buy look at the basics – things like the heating system and the windows for example – and be sure to get a full survey done. Don’t leave it all to the experts, but take some responsibility and ask lots of questions. Try not to let your head be swivelled because you fall in love with the property, but look at the details too. You can set your own style in your own time and make your house the home you really want it to be.
