Join me and award-winning interior designer and TV presenter Alexandria Dauley as we discuss her approach to creating contemporary and modern interiors from her studio. Celebrating 10 years since establishing her interior design business on her own, Alex has slowly built on her practice as a fearless leader in her industry.

Co-founding United in Design in 2020 to tackle issues of diversity within the interior design sector, Alex strives to improve opportunities and access to creative industries for underrepresented ethnic minority groups.

Surrounded by the most organised shelves filled with all kinds of wallpaper, fabrics and samples, ready to whip up a mood board at a moment's notice, we talk about growing up in Wales, her love of modernist architecture and what it was like to be the expert on Channel 4's The Great Home Transformation as she steps into a new and confident chapter after turning 40.

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I'm interior photographer Tiffany Grant-Riley and you're listening to Curate and Display the Podcast, a short series podcast where we dig deep into the processes of Black and mixed heritage creatives to talk about the highs and lows of their chosen craft, the spaces that inspire them and the music that drives them to create.

Alex, thank you so much for inviting me to your studio today. It is a treasure trove of swatches and textures and I kind of just want to dive in and see what you've got! So we'll embark on a deeply personal design journey with you very shortly but first I wanted to talk about what sparked this love for transforming spaces, in particular a black G-Plan dining set I think is a memory that you mentioned in an interview that I read.

Alex Dauley [: 01:55

Yes, so my mum bought this amazing circular G-Plan black ash table when I was probably about eight and we lived together in a little tiny two-bedroom house in Wales and you know, all my friends had their, you know, typical sort of pine furniture which was very en-vogue in the 1980s but mum was a little bit different. She was, yeah, she was a bit out there which I think at the time was probably quite embarrassing to eight-year-old Alex, however her taste in interiors was fantastic. So we had this deep pile sort of teal carpet and this gorgeous table which I know that she saved up such a long time to be able to buy and then we sort of bought a dining chair a month when, you know, we could afford to buy it to add to the set and it was just gorgeous. And I think that's really where my sort of love of design started because I just saw how much care and attention mum poured into that house for the both of us.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 02:52

That really connected with me because I grew up in a single parent household and my mum was very much into making the house feel homely, but to do it on very little income at the time it was amazing what she managed to achieve and how personal she made it. Whether it was just moving the furniture or painting a piece of furniture or something just to make it a little bit more interesting.

Alex Dauley [ 03:17

Absolutely, I think because, you know, there wasn't, you know, a huge amount…mum worked -she's a nurse. She worked really long shifts and she worked, like, super hard but we didn't have lots. But I didn't know that as a child, you know, it's only as you you grow older and you go “oh no, well we didn't have that”, I didn't notice it. But we had a really lovely home and that was our kind of space just for us and I loved it and my bedroom was always done as I kind of wanted it and you know, I didn't know how hard she'd kind of work to obviously get those things, they just you know, they were just there and it was yeah it was wonderful for me.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 03:57

So you've taken that meaningful approach to creating a home and carried it into your own studio now, but you didn't start out as an interior designer did you? You moved to London with your husband?

Alex Dauley [: 04:10

Yes, yeah so I met my husband when I was 19 in Wales He was he was just visiting but he's from London. And then I moved here to be with him sort of six months later and, yeah, didn't go into interiors at all. I actually started off working at an estate agent but obviously new to London fresh from Wales suddenly working in Fulham and Chelsea and all of these places seeing these amazing houses, so I really gained an appreciation for beautiful architecture and gorgeous interiors in that first job. Then I moved across to become a relocation agent again doing home finding for expats so looking again at beautiful houses on a daily basis and you know, seeing, you know, what people sort of put value on when they were looking through that kind of home finding experience as well so that was really insightful. Then I had my children and I went and worked in a completely different field and went to work in a primary school just because that fitted in with with family life and I did that for a few years and I worked in the school office and had a wonderful wonderful time because I'm quite an administrative sort of a person so that suited me. And then we'd renovated our home I loved it and then felt like creatively there was something missing I didn't really know what I wanted to do when I left school and having met my husband when I was quite young, I didn't go to university at the time so I just always had jobs but hadn't really found my niche as a in a career. And then as I say, renovated our house, watched all the programs religiously bought all the magazines and then Gareth just said to me one day “Alex like why don't you just go and do a course just to see if you like it even if it's just to, you know, further your own interest and passion for it“ not really even thinking it was going to, you know, lead to a career. But the day I stepped into KLC on that very first day, that very first session which was just an introduction to interior design, it was a eight week course on a Friday afternoon, I was sold absolutely hook line and sinker - this is what I want to do. I loved it this is it , yeah.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 06:33

So what did the course entail for someone who doesn't know how to train in interior design and what is the process?

Alex Dauley [: 06:41

It was really as it said an introduction to interior design. So we would do - one week would be on sort of colour theory then we do another week on design styles, and then we did a little bit of lighting and then we did of looking at kitchens and looking at bathrooms and how you could potentially run project mainly at that stage he was talking about for, I suppose, yourself if you're running like a home project for yourself. But it gave you an insight into the industry and into the key sort of elements of interior design.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 07:17

And was it one of your tutors that asked you to stay on afterwards and help with the classes?

Alex Dauley [: 07:22

Yeah, I mean, I particularly got on with all of my tutors, so I did two courses there before I then went on to do my certificate. But on the second course that I did I met my tutor, Evie Dunbarin Hearns and she was really instrumental in my decision to then go and start my own practice. And she took me under her wing. I was the one at the class that was, you know, if there was a question I was like “I have the answer” you know, like literally and she's like “anyone? else does anyone else have the answer?” apart from me. I was just so keen, yeah, and I'd always stay after class and like, mine her for information and she just said at the end “you're not actually going to go away are you?” and I was like, “oh no I can if you want me to?” she's like, “it's fine, I can tell you're really passionate, come and sit with me in my studio a couple of days a week for as long as you want and shadow me and I will just show you the ropes” and really that's what she did. And she was so generous with her time.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 08:20

That's so invaluable to have that experience…

Alex Dauley [: 08:25

Yeah, I think she just saw something in me and and she had the skills to help. I mean, she's such a person that gives back anyway, she gives over and above to her students. And yeah, I was incredibly lucky to have her and still have her. I still revert to her all of the time so she's just there if you need some advice. She's 20 years in the business so yeah, she's been there, seen it done, it got the t-shirt. We celebrate wins, we talk about things when things haven't gone… as I as expected, things have gone wrong, and she's always there with with advice and a pick me up.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 9:06

And then you founded Dawley Designs on your own in 2016. How did you find clients and build up the team that you have today from scratch? That must have been really quite daunting…

Alex Dauley [: 9:20

Yeah it was quite hard. I mean interior design is an industry where, you know, you kind of need to know people and hopefully have some amazing clients that you could always tap into straight away and I didn't have any of those things. I was literally starting from zero and so I had a business coach who was really really helpful because it was an overwhelming task and she helped me to break each section down into manageable bite-sized pieces. So first of all it was like, okay well, who do you want to work with, you know, who's your ideal client? what does that look like? what services are you going to offer? you know. So it was really small steps and I advertised because I had no money really to do any advertising, but I used to offer to write blog posts for local mum sites online, Net Mums and local area sites on Facebook which kind of would establish…I would establish myself as an expert I suppose in that in that discipline and that was free because they're always looking for content. So I would write the blog post, I would send them off and then I would then, you know, maybe pay for like a small advert but on those posts because I figured I want to work with it's mainly women that were the decision makers back then at that time in the home, 25 to 55, they're all on those sites. They're mainly mums and I did start getting quite a few jobs via via that and then I think from the first job I received from there I've then had four jobs just off that one job because then it was word of mouth, you know, friends of friends, the sister-in-law etc. so that's how I started off. But no money really because any small fee that I charged I always put it back into the business to either make sure that I had those professionally photographed or that I would then add a little bit more money into the marketing budget so I could take out a larger advert. So yeah, it took a number of years to then get the bigger projects because, you know, I didn't have that little black book that so many people do.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 11:30

How do you hold on to your confidence when you're heading up such a personal project as someone's home?

Alex Dauley [: 11:36

It is tricky. I always put the client at the forefront, I'm not a designer that kind of forces my own aesthetic onto somebody. Obviously I have my own style and I have my aesthetic, people mainly come to me because now they're like “you're contemporary, you're clean lines, you're all of those things” and I am, but it's always client-led. I'm confident. My confidence comes from the fact that I can work with people really well, I can understand what they want and then it's my job as a designer to to listen, to take those ideas and then to elevate them beyond something that they could do for themselves but so that they can always see themselves within the schemes that I've created whether that's aesthetically or the fact that it just functions as they want that space to work. So I think it's just the confidence in knowing I can understand and interpret a brief.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 12:40

Absolutely- I used to work as a wedding planner and yeah, I agree with what you're saying, it's… you really have to guide the client but also keep them at the forefront because it is such an emotional process.

Alex Dauley [: 12:57

It's hugely emotional they're trusting you they're letting you into their home and there has to be that level of trust that you have listened and you are going to deliver exactly what they want which is the best outcome for them.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 13:13

As you mentioned, your signature style is contemporary with a modern aesthetic, it's warm, it's functional- tells a story. How did you develop your personal taste?

Alex Dauley [: 13:25

To be honest it's how I like to live, you know. Every project that I do I just think I could stay in this space, I could live in this space, I could be happy in this space. I like clean lines, I like things to be ordered, I like there to be a space for everything but I also like to celebrate beautiful things as well, so it's not that everything needs to be behind a cupboard. Maybe the things you don't use, the mundane everyday things, but then we celebrate the beautiful things and we have them on show. And I like colour and I like pattern and I like texture but similarly I do like things to feel calming when I walk into that space, or for at least there to be an emotion that is going to come from that space.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 14:11

Do you bring elements of your Caribbean heritage into your work at all or is that just a secondary…is it not necessarily something that is intrinsically part your design process?

Alex Dauley [: 14:23

Yeah I don't think it is intrinsically part of my design process and only because I'm quite honest about my upbringing. So my mum was actually adopted which is how we ended up in Wales. So actually, my dad wasn't around and my dad is from the Caribbean and my mum from the age of four grew up in Wales, you know, she's of mixed heritage. And my grandparents, so my mum's adopted parents, were white, so my sort of cultural heritage you know, my mum's mixed-race and my dad's from the Caribbean but my lived experience is that I grew up in a village in Wales as a minority. And only really started to discover my Caribbean heritage or be exposed to it when I from the age of around 13 when I started to do athletics and I kind of came out of the village and went to Cardiff, which is the biggest city, which is far more multicultural, so I've really learned about my culture in more sort of adulthood, meeting my husband who's of Jamaican heritage and coming into that world I've had to really understand and do a lot of learning and a deep dive into that but I feel like for me it's really important that I'm always authentic to myself. So I almost feel like it wouldn't be truly authentic if I was to sort of start including things from a background that I didn't live, that I really did not live that so whilst I can absolutely appreciate it I wouldn't say it's prominent in my design style.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 16:15

It sounds to me that you and I have had quite a similar journey because I didn't grow up with my father he didn't really know his father who was from Guyana, so all of that cultural heritage was lost so I didn't really start delving deeper into that probably until my mid-20s. But even now it's not something that I can wholeheartedly embrace as something I have experienced my entire life, so it's, yeah, it's been a really interesting journey from adulthood learning about that heritage but having not directly connected with it it's not something that is part of my life on a day-to-day basis.

Alex Dauley [: 17:00

Yes absolutely. I mean, I was so keen to learn and so open to it, so when I had my daughters I said to my to my friends, “please teach me how to cane row their hair” you know, and when I met my husband I used to sit with his mum every Sunday and she would teach me how to cook, you know, “this is how we we clean the meat and this is how we season the meat and this is how we we fry the fish” and I don't think I ever progressed from cutting plantain with her because it was like, “I know you can do it but I don't trust you”, but you know, I learned and I was a student of the culture shall we say, yeah you know, I wanted to learn, I wanted to embrace it. I was coming into this family where it was important and it was important for me as a black woman navigating her way in the world for me to be informed, but to also have the knowledge that I can pass on to my children and also support them as black women as well. So yeah, I think in some ways my upbringing has been helpful in navigating my way through the industry of interior design because, you know, I can stand in a room and be the only person there and I don't feel uncomfortable because that is my lived experience. I was the only person in many rooms in many school situations in many forms of employment, you know, growing up in Wales, but you know, it allows me, I think, to be able to look at both sides of the coin.

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Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 18:43

I want to talk about the Soho Studio Brixton project you did because it's my favourite -absolutely loved it. Talk us through the space and how you created the design for it.

Alex Dauley [: 18:55

Yeah, I mean, lived in Streatham for many many years and used to go to Brixton all of the time, and you know, we would buy our goat and things like that with mum and everything there and you know, I loved Brixton. I've seen it change over the years, I've been here for over 20 years now but it was always a place that just had such a vibe and energy and when I was approached to do that project it was very much - this space needs to reflect the place in which it sits and it was about celebrating the heritage of Brixton. And also, all of the living rooms that I'd ever been to of family, whether it's my Caribbean family when I went to visit them over in Barbados, there was always a feeling it was always really warm and welcoming. And it was always really bright and vibrant and colourful, lots of pattern and texture and that informed the colour palette. I wanted it to feel like that front room that you would go into and you would see these really saturated colours and lots of art and plants and for it to feel warm. And for us to also celebrate some of the amazing people that came over in that Windrush generation. I decided that I was going to honour Pearl Alcock who was an LGBTQ+ rights activist back in the 70s and yeah, she lived in Brixton and she was an amazing woman and also an artist as well. So we celebrated her in that bar and it's just a really lovely space.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 20:50

It is, I think you've done it really well, you've approached it in a way that honours Brixton's cultural heritage.

You founded the charitable organisation United in Design in 2020 with interior designer Sophie Ashby following the death of George Floyd and I remember it distinctly because suddenly the floodgates about representation were open to real conversation. Can you tell us how the organisation came about and how it's developed since then?

Alex Dauley [: 21:22

Yeah so in 2020, you know, the murder of George Floyd- everybody was was talking about Black Lives Matter and real light was shone on the fact that not just in our industry but in most industries, if not all industries, there is a disparity in the amount of black and Asian people that are working there whether that's or the opportunities that they're afforded in industry, in employment, in education, you know, across the board really. And everybody was putting their black squares on Instagram and I just thought well fine but this is a moment where we could actually enact some change and do something. So I just reached out to a few people, lots of them I didn't know, never spoken to or had any dealings with before and I just said “look - this is great, but you know we could do something here and I've got an idea” and to be fair, most people were incredibly receptive and at least gave me an audience to share my idea. And then I was put in touch with Sophie who I didn't know before - I knew of her, I knew her work but I didn't know her personally, and we had a call and we just we just we were aligned in our thinking that now was the time and our industry does have a huge issue and a huge problem. And I knew that from just going to KLC back then and not really seeing anybody that looked like me and as I went through my years in the industry often being the only black person at any event or etc.

I'd had actually quite a positive experience in the industry, I hadn't had any kind of negative experiences shall we say, but to not see yourself represented even when you opened a magazine or anything like that, you know, it was disheartening and it didn't need to be like that. So we we set up United in Design having really no idea of how to run a charity or how to set it up, but we were determined and it's now grown. We're going into our fourth year we have an amazing apprenticeship program and fantastic businesses that have supported us, many of them from day one and they support us year on year because they also want to enact change, they want to do the right thing, they want to be exposed to the best talent actually at the end of the day. It makes business sense and a lot of the time they just didn't really know how to access that talent. Often, it was the easiest thing just to go to the same places to hire time and time again which as we know, you keep doing the same thing again you're going to come up with the same results which are identikit designers that have come through sometimes prohibitively expensive design schools, whereas we're actually casting it a little bit wider and go to just normal universities where there is far more diversity and that is what we've done. So we give people a pathway, both businesses and individuals wanting to come into the design sector at any stage that they're coming in whether that's as a postgraduate or somebody who's a career changer like myself, a mentoring program. There’s a schools outreach program and we realise we need to get the message to those people that are younger to say “look, you can have a career within the creative sector”.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 25:07

I think that's really important because often if you're not given an example of what's possible you think that that's not, you know, it's not a route for you as a career path.

Alex Dauley [: 25:18

Yeah absolutely and I think culturally as well, inherently there may be some reservation about encouraging your children to go into the creative fields because there's this worry that they're not going to earn any money, they're not going to be able to support themselves. So it's about saying yes of course, your child may go down a more traditional route but that's not for everyone and they can have a meaningful career within this sector. And there's so many different paths to follow even if you've studied interior design or interior architecture, you know, you can do so many things. I mean, we did a spider graph for some of our school students and they were amazed at all of the different things that you can do in so many different sectors of the industry as well - set design, you can go into TV, you can go into film, you can do lighting, you can do textiles, you can do, yeah, a lot.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 26:11

World's your oyster.

Alex Dauley [: 26:12

100%.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 29:17

So you also work with the Interior Educators charity to provide work experience with makers and suppliers. What sort of a range of companies do they offer within that area?

Alex Dauley [: 26:27

Yeah, so Interior Educators operate across, I think it's about 56 universities in the UK. So we work with their course leaders to find amazing talent and then we place them. So, for instance, we have people working at Julian Chichester and Pookie Lights and Porta Romana and Tom Faulkner. And so, they are able to see not only what the interior designers do but also what the makers do and what the suppliers do as well because it's important for them to have a really clear overview of the entire process, I suppose, of making a project come to life.

We have publishing pools so they can go and do three months at House and Garden or Livingetc or ELLE Decoration, so again, it's about giving them the broadest overview of the industry as possible because they come out of university not a hundred percent knowing which direction they want to take. And we've had students on our course that have said, “I really thought I wanted to do this but actually now I've been exposed to this other sort of area, I think I'm going to pursue that instead”, which is great.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 27:37

That's so interesting that they're given sort of a broad range of different careers so that they can solidify their own sense of where they want to go with their own.

Alex Dauley [: 27:48

Yeah, brilliant. We want to give them a sense of ownership, I mean, you know, in an ideal world, and this will happen because it will happen, I don't want them to work for people forever, you know, this is about - you go there, you work, you earn your stripes, you work hard, you develop your skills and your network but I want to see your name above the door in like five years time or wherever. Actually, don't even put a time frame on it, when you feel ready I want to see your name above the door and that's when we will start to see a real change in the industry, is when they are then the leaders and they are leading the narrative.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 28:30

And I suppose ideally, I think about this all the time, I would just love to be able to live and work in a world where the word diversity isn't used all the time, it just is.

Alex Dauley [: 28:44

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, we will exist as a charity for as long as there is a need, we would love for there not to be a need for United Design and we would love for there to be, you know, completely unbiased hiring and recruitment processes and nurture of people and support and promotion, irrespective, you know, this is based on, it should be always based on your talent and your skill, not on who you know, where you've come from, what your background is and that is about creating that level playing field and giving people the opportunity. Yeah, I see United Design as very much, you know, we are opening the door and, you know, I say to our students all of the time, there's a long, long line of people that are waiting to replace you at the drop of a hat, so you go into that space and you own it and you give your best 100% of yourself to prove not only to everyone else but you're proving to yourself, you know, you are great, you're amazing, you're so talented, you have something different to offer, so I think it's about leaning into that difference as well and celebrating that uniqueness because that's ultimately what will make companies better is to have all of the different influences coming in from different lived experience, culturally, background, etc.

It just makes it far more interesting.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 30:20

It makes it all the more richer, doesn't it? I utterly applaud you for doing it, I really do, which leads me on to your role as interior designer in Channel 4's The Great Home Transformation, which I found really refreshing because rather than going straight to aesthetics and trends, it looks at the sticking points in an existing home and then you create solutions to improve what's already there. What was that experience like for you being on television?

Alex Dauley [: 30:49

Do you know what? It was one of those things that was never on my radar to do and we'd come out of lockdown and I was approached, just randomly approached, and I thought, well, you know, what's the worst that can happen? It'll be good fun and it's an experience and something to tell the grandkids, you know, and so I went into it very much with that mindset and I did have the best time. I had a wonderful time, it was a great crew, wonderful cast, great homeowners, but I wanted to, I really wanted to do it justice for them and, you know, I watch all of the interior design shows and I often find it's sometimes led by the designer and it's not about that, it's about listening, you know. I wanted them to walk in and go, yeah, no, she gets that, I don't want them to be like, I hate orange and then I go, no, you're going to have orange, yeah, but we don't like it. No, I think it's like, no, it's not about that.

And that show was great in that respect. We worked in a limited space of time with, you know, limited budgets, but I pushed hard for the things that I felt were important to the homeowner and I was quite stubborn, I suppose, and I said, well, actually, no, this is what they need and this is what will really work and this is what they deserve. They deserve to have really nice things and things that are going to last as well, you know. I don't want to build something or create something that then, you know, they're going to be lumbered with because it's, you know, it hasn't stood the test of time.

So, yeah, from a design perspective, I, you know, had quite a lot of control over that and I feel like we delivered the best possible outcomes for those homeowners as we possibly could within the constraints of essentially what is a TV programme.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 32:48

Yeah, and you used some sort of heat technology, heat sensor technology to watch the family over a couple of days or a week or so and see how they interacted in the existing space.

Alex Dauley [: 33:02

Yeah, because often you'll speak to people and they'll say, oh, this is the issue and this is the problem, but then when actually you observe them, you're like, yeah, but you hardly spend any time in that space or it's only this person that spends time there or this is how you're actually using that space. So, a lot of them were quite surprised by what the heat mapping showed and it just meant that we had a really good idea of where to concentrate our effort on what were the pinch points and the trouble areas within the home.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 33:21

I really loved, I think it was the first episode, the woman who'd been recently widowed and she'd got two daughters…

Alex Dauley [: 33:27

Oh, Becky. Yes, she's lovely.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 33:31

This fabulous mid-century modern home she had and you pulled the carpet up and there was a bloody parquet floor underneath it.

Alex Dauley [: 33:37

I know. And the thing is, I was so nervous because when we went to do the recce, I said to the producer, I said, I'm sure if we pull this up, there might be something. And she said, well, I tell you what, Alex, we're not going to do a test.

We're going to film it live to see. So, I was like, oh my goodness, because often, you know, you will find it can start off being parquet in a corner, but then the further along you go, it can then turn into something hideous halfway or there could be exactly or there could be a huge section that's missing or damaged or whatever. So, we had to do it live.

And so, my reaction is a real reaction because I was like, yeah, it's parquet and it's gorgeous. Thank God, the relief. I know, it was such a relief because obviously the homeowner was like, I really hope it is, I really hope it is.

And to save so much money and, you know, stunning floor.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 34:48

We know that interior design has a huge impact in the way that we experience a space and the mood that it conveys. What advice would you give to someone who's looking at their home and wants to make it work and feel better for them?

Alex Dauley [: 35:01

I always think it's about the function first. Other people might disagree, but I apply the Bauhaus principle of, you know, form follows function. So, I mean, I've never actually gone into any brief and had the client say to me, I don't like the colour of this room. Never. It's always, “this isn't working because of this. This room makes me feel a certain way. I feel stressed walking in here because there's clutter everywhere. There's not enough storage.” So those are all functional issues.

If you address the issues with the function, and it can be something as simple as having an edit on your home, getting rid of some things, donating them, keeping a mindful eye on how much you're, you know, you're buying to then replace this. Just have a good clear out. Have a good sort.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 36:06

Just so you can see the wood for the trees.

Alex Dauley [: 36:08

Exactly. And then I would say also paint is your friend. Really cheap, can transform a space relatively quickly, hassle-free, something that most people can do themselves if you don't want to get somebody else in.

And it's something that is easily updated as well. And also sustainability, I think, is huge. So it's always better for you to buy a secondhand piece that has been really, really well made. And that is something that you will have potentially for generations. And I would always advocate buying, you know, if it's a sofa or something like that, really, really good quality. And then you have it reupholstered.

You know, people have sofas and pass them down because they're that well made. So that's why I would say. But definitely sort, you know, start with why isn't the space working for you and sort out that functional element first.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 36:58

So we've talked about some of the spaces that you've designed, but could you tell us about a space or interior that you absolutely love spending time in or would love to visit?

Alex Dauley [: 37:11

So I would love to visit. It's on my bucket list of places to go to. I want to go to Fallingwater, which is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed home in Pennsylvania. I love that style of home. I love that mid-century modern aesthetic. It just is me.

Just the clean lines, the light, the connection to nature, the inside, outside, living. It is my dream to build an L.A. style bungalow, probably in the middle of Surrey somewhere. So not quite the L.A. weather, but it is my dream to build that from scratch. I would very happy to live there for the rest of my life in a space like that, surrounded by trees. So I will definitely go there. But yeah, that is a space I would love to go to.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 38:14

It's stunning, isn't it? He, I believe, designed it for the Kaufman family, who were owners of apparently Pittsburgh's largest department store in 1935. And he was very inspired by Japanese architecture. But the house itself is cantilevered over the top of the waterfall. And this location the family used to visit during their holidays, they weren't expecting him to put it over the top of the waterfall. And it really does just bring a whole different perspective to living within nature, doesn't it? To be right on top of the water and have the sound…

Alex Dauley [: 38:57

100%. I feel that the older I get, the more connected to nature I want to be. I went on holiday to Thailand with my husband last year. And it was a transformative holiday. And I don't say that just as a throwaway comment. It genuinely was a transformative holiday. We were in the middle of the jungle. And it was so beautiful. And I'd always thought of myself as loving the city, et cetera.

But actually, I think because my formative years were spent in Wales, I suppose I always just hark back to that. You know, I like quiet. I could very happily not have any neighbours.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 39:40

Oh, God, yeah. Yes, please. Don't get me wrong, I love my neighbours, I really do. But yeah, it's the dream to be out and on our own.

Alex Dauley [: 30:51

Yeah, I suppose I'm a bit of a sort of introverted extrovert. You know, I can be life and soul. And everybody would say, oh, no, no, Alex, you're so loud. And I am. But then I love to be at home. And I love it if people cancel. I'm like, oh, I can stay home. Great!

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 40:11

Same! I'll put my pyjamas on then!

Alex Dauley [: 40:15

Yeah, you know, I love to be at home with my husband and my children. That is where I'm happiest. Don't get me wrong, I can turn it on. And, you know, I do love going out and I do love seeing friends, et cetera. But I could very happily be in a woodland setting in my house. And just, yeah, that'd be me, happy forever.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 40:36

It seems that your career has really been on an upward trajectory over the past few years. And you celebrated a rebrand quite recently on your site that feels like you've truly arrived. But what is next for Alex Dauley?

Alex Dauley [: 40:51

I think the rebrand was so important. And I don't think I could have done it before. I think it's come at the right time. I, for so many years, had imposter syndrome coming into this industry. I found it really, really difficult second-guessing myself. And I think with age comes wisdom as well.

And this year in particular, I thought and felt I need to step out. I need to, I finished design school and I just did what everybody else did or what I thought they did, which was set up a really generic site. And it was all a little bit vanilla.

And because in some ways I didn't want to put my head above the parapet. I didn't want to be different. But actually, as I say, on that holiday, which was transformative, there was a lot of, there was a deep dive into me and what is the USP? And actually the USP is me and the fact that I am different and the fact that I want to approach my projects differently. I want to enact change within the industry. I want to be a leader.

I don't want to follow. I want to run my business on my own terms. I want to hire on my own terms. I want to be authentically myself in everything that I do and not be afraid of ruffling a few feathers if that's what I do. I don't think I would because I'm just not that type of person. But it was very much a, do you know what? Here I am and I'm here to stay and I'm going to do it in my own way. And I want to grow and continue to design beautiful spaces for my clients. I want to do more work in the television space to really shine a positive light on interior design as well or just design in general. I think it hasn't done a great job at doing that and celebrating the hard, hard work that we do as designers. And I think I can do that. I can really say this is what we do and just display interior design in a really good light. So I'd like to do that. I'd like to write a book. I'd like to develop a product range. I'd like to do all of these things.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 43:19

All of the things, Alex!

Alex Dauley [: 43:21

All of the things and I can do it. I don't even think it, I know that I can do it. And I just want to do it in my own way and work with wonderful people and have fun with it ultimately. I do this job because I'm incredibly passionate about interior design. I love it. It's part of who I am. And I'm so excited. I feel for the very first time, I think, in my career that I'm so excited and I'm saying yes to things and having bigger opportunities come my way. And I truly feel like I'm ready for it.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 44:09

I'm always intrigued to know what other people are listening to and what's driving their work as they listen. So I'm putting together a playlist to share at the end of this season. What four essential tracks would you put on a mixtape to motivate you when you're creating in your studio?

Alex Dauley [: 44:26

Oh my goodness me. I've been listening to lots of like house and things recently because when I'm working, I find sometimes lyrics will get in the way. So, you know, but yeah, I suppose I love funky house and R&B. I'm a sort of 90s R&B type of girl.

So Stevie Wonder, Don't Worry About A Thing. I think that is just definitely like a mantra by which you should live life. Don't sweat the small stuff and, you know, keep focused. I love Jill Scott. I went to see her last year in July.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 44:55

You did!

Alex Dauley [: 44:56

I did.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 44:57

I didn't go to that one. Oh, my God. I wish I had. I went to see her…it would have been 2004/5. It was when Golden came out.

Alex Dauley [: 45:10

Yeah. I mean, phenomenal, amazing, amazing woman. Great concert. So, yeah, love Golden.

Days Like This, Shauwn Escoffrey just reminds me of being like in the car in the summer, windows down, maybe going to the beach or something like that. I just love that. And yeah, Golden Lady, which is a really cool remix of a Stevie Wonder song, which Tony Momrelle did. It's just a really cool upbeat song. I mean, all those songs are like super upbeat.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 45:43

They're uplifting.

Alex Dauley [: 45:44

They're all uplifting and happy. And yeah, that's that's that's the vibe. That is the vibe going forward. It's with positivity and focus and conviction. That is what I'm leading with this year and beyond.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 46:01

Well, thank you for your positive vibes, Alex. I've loved talking to you today.

Alex Dauley [: 46:06

Thank you so much for having me on. It's a great pleasure.

Tiffany Grant-Riley [: 46:08

To immerse yourself in Alex's impeccable sense of style or to book a one to one design consultation, you can find Alex online at alexdauley.com. For interior design tips and insights, follow her on Instagram at @alexandriadauley. And for more information on United in Design, visit unitedindesign.com.

So we've come to the end of the series. I hope you had some aha moments, some moments of validation and have come away with a few more tools you can apply to your own creative journey. I'm taking a break now, but we'll be back in 2025 with new guests, some of which I already have in mind. But if there's someone you'd love for me to sit down with, maybe it's you.

And they're based in the UK. Send them my way via Instagram or contact me through my website. For now, though, all my guests' most motivating music recommendations, including mine, are ready to go.

Kick back with the mixtape. Just search Curate and display podcast playlist on Spotify. See you in a bit.

Curate and display. The podcast is produced by Tiffany Grant Riley with music by Rob Riley. To continue the conversation, find me on Instagram at @curatedisplay or head to the show notes page on curateanddisplay.co.uk.

Tiffany Grant-Riley https://www.curateanddisplay.co.uk/

Episode 4 - Interior Designer Alex Dauley On Diversity in Design

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