Design your world
My Brave New Girl guest this week is Dee Gibson, a London based, residential interior designer with nearly 20 years of experience working with private, residential clients and focusing on whole house refurbishments and extensions. In 2018, Dee opened Kalukanda House, a boutique hotel in Sri Lanka which she designed and built. But life wasn’t always how she designed it to be.
Dee started out doing engineering followed by accountancy, but it wasn't where her heart was, and after the accountancy firm she worked for (a top 5 global practice over 100 years old) went under, and a friend died, she decided to do a radical life makeover.
DREAM IT- LIVE IT
Dee believes courage is finding the willpower to listen to the whisper and take the first step towards it.
Dee retrained in Interior design and found what she was looking for. This is what she was meant to be doing. She built her practice and developed her style. She kept this message at the centre of her work “ How can I make people happy, add value and leave a positive impact?”
She thinks about a space differently, sources ethically, the longevity of a scheme, and how it can benefit communities. She joined the BIID sustainability committee in order to help drive thinking and build sustainable policies, & business contributes to a charity in Sri Lanka empowering abused women and girls through safe housing and education.
It is in her homeland of Sri Lanka that she also built another dream: Kalukanda House, a boutique hotel that reflected her values of design and ecological responsibility. They encourage conscious travellers with an adventurous spirit, creatives who are looking for rest and inspiration and anybody looking for a place to entirely unhook and enjoy time feeling empowered in nature.
Hip Hotel Member - also featured in top 5 "slow travel destinations" for 2020, it was also Finalist in the "Best New Business" category of the UK wide Best Women in Business Awards 2019. They have have hosted retreats, writers crafting TV shows, entrepreneurs launching businesses and families enjoying time together amongst others.
And back in UK she has co-founded Hera Leadership with programmes for working women to action career change with a focus on mind, body & business.
Thanks so much Dee for helping us to understand how we too can be more creative in the way we design our lives and the environment we build around us. Thanks also for showing us we can change direction when it no longer serves us, and create a more sustainable life for ourselves and the communities we are part of.
You can find out more about Dee’s work on https://velvetorange.co.uk/ and follow her on Linkedin @DeeGibson
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