Sophie Seeger runs Seeger By Design, a creative company for interior design, decorating, property styling, colour consulting and art sourcing.
Sophie was immersed in art and design from a very young age, having “caught the bug” from her grandmother, a sculptor, and both art-loving parents.
She studied the history of art, colour and design, interior design and journalism. Her career to date has successfully married her passion for art, design and writing.
While running a contemporary art and design gallery, Sophie developed a commission base for her paintings and also discovered her joy for commercial design development, identifying sustainable opportunities and incomes for artists and designers.
This led to two Indigenous rug and textile ranges with licensed deals for clients, including DFAT, Qantas and public libraries. Sophie has a licensing deal for her own abstract art and has works in private collections throughout Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the US, UK, Denmark and Singapore.
Sophie has worked as an art and design mentor and a guest curator, and she continues to work on residential and boutique retail interior design projects.
She is a contributor for Houzz and a member of the DIA.
While my early career led me into magazine publishing and marketing, my passion for art and design was a constant. I followed my dream of opening an art gallery, and that was the true beginning of my interior design journey: from art sourcing, it then led into colour consulting and interior design. It was an organic process.
While working in the field, I am also passionate about identifying art and design commercial opportunities; leading me to develop and curate Indigenous rug ranges; a fabric range; and licence my own artwork. The art and design development means I can offer my clients bespoke pieces.
It was, and is, the perfect marriage of my writing and editing skills; and that of my art and design career. Having mentored creative interns and artists in their early stage careers, tutoring means I get to mentor and guide students every day, in my chosen field.
Every interior designer should possess:
My values are guiding students to feel confident in exploring a new way of thinking; honing skills; or offering them a sense of enjoyment in the process of developing their interior design skills. My goal is not to teach, but to help the students find the answers themselves i.e. equipping them with the tools.
With my knowledge of art history, and being a painter, I feel I bring my eye for composition, aesthetics; and knowledge of colour into the space planning, colour ; and mood and sample board creation areas. Having previously worked in marketing, module 12 and the Advanced Module in Business and Branding is familiar to me whereby I can share my experience.
While being familiar with trends, I don’t follow them in my design style. I like an eclectic and timeless look that is chic. I like each piece to carry a story so that the space is unique and collected. I like a touch of the unexpected, mixing styles. I am inspired by travel, and moody, brooding landscapes. My taste is: Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, and New York chic.
Anyone who features in Architectural Digest - my bible. Laplace, Steven Harris Architects, Sara Story Design; Redd Kaihoi, Studio Volpe, to name a few.
Being available to such a wide range of wonderful people; from diverse backgrounds, countries; and a range of ages and experiences. I am a people’s person so I get to communicate on a personal level; hopefully encouraging the students at every step of this creative journey.
Be passionate, dive in… there are no rules but only challenges and learning…
Image source: Sophie Seeger from @seegerbydesign.
With the confidence I gained from the IDI course, I was able to acquire a job in an Interior Design firm in Singapore and the knowledge I gained greatly assisted me with the projects I have been doing so far for the firm.
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