In this episode of "Live Life in Colour," Justine Knox, an award-winning interior designer, shares her journey from a childhood fascination with decorating to becoming a successful business owner. Justine recounts her early experiences, including her first interior design project as a child and the challenges of renovating a derelict property with her husband. She discusses the evolution of her career, from running a scuba diving centre to establishing her own interior design and home staging business. With personal anecdotes and professional insights, this episode offers inspiration for aspiring designers and anyone interested in the creative process behind stunning interiors.

0:00 Intro

3:40 Sibling Recorder Story

8:38 Lack of Exposure to Interior Design

10:41 Living in a Fixer-Upper

14:22 Starting from Zero

18:50 Learning from DIY Home Renovation

21:09 Importance of Practical Knowledge in Project Management

23:52 Transition from Scuba Diving to Interior Design

31:13 Transition from Labourer to Business Owner

35:54 Starting a Home Staging Business

39:52 Visualizing Floor Plans

Welcome and Introduction

- Justine Knox introduces herself as an interior designer and queen of dopamine decor.

- She shares her passion for creating environments that inspire happiness and comfort.

Early Inspirations and Childhood Memories

- Justine recounts how a childhood bedroom project sparked her lifelong passion for interior design.

- She shares anecdotes about growing up with her older sister, Tracy, and their shared bedroom.

Family and Home Life

- Justine discusses her birth at home in the UK and the bravery of her mother in choosing a home birth.

- She describes the unique features of her childhood home, including skylights above the doors and a dormer house design.

First Interior Design Project

- Justine talks about moving to a bigger house and choosing a small room to decorate herself.

- She details her first interior design project, including selecting furniture and creating a practical, cosy space.

Living in a Ruin

- Justine and her husband Bruce's brave decision to buy and renovate a derelict property in Andratch.

- The challenges they faced, including no electricity, running water, or sewage, and how they overcame them.

Building Skills and Knowledge

- Justine shares how living in and renovating the ruin taught her valuable skills in building and project management.

- She discusses the importance of appreciating simple things like electricity and running water after living without them.

Transition to Interior Design

- Justine's journey from running a scuba diving centre to becoming an interior designer.

- Her first staging project: preparing the dive centre for sale by making it appealing to prospective buyers.

Developing a Business

- Justine's decision to start her own company focused on home staging and interior design.

- The challenges of introducing home staging to the island and shifting her focus to second homeowners.

Building a Team and Managing Projects

- The importance of having a reliable team of tradespeople and the time it took to build that team.

- Justine's role in managing projects and ensuring high standards are maintained.

Client Relationships and Project Management

- Justine's approach to working with clients, offering practical and creative solutions.

- The value of her hands-on experience in building and renovating homes in understanding project requirements.

Educational Journey and Continuous Learning

- Justine's commitment to learning, including courses in home staging, feng shui, and interior design.

- The impact of her education on her ability to provide professional and personalised services to her clients.

Conclusion and Call to Action

- Justine encourages listeners to subscribe to the podcast and leave a five-star review.

- She expresses her passion for living in a colour-filled world and sharing that message with others.

Speaker A [0:05 - 2:05]: Living life in colour. Welcome to live life in colour. My name is Justine Knox and I'm an interior designer and queen of dopamine decor. I'm passionate about helping you to create the perfect environment for you to live in, where you'll feel comfortable, happy and inspired to be the best version of yourself for you and your loved ones. Living life in colour. Ever wondered how a childhood bedroom project could spark a lifelong passion for interior design? In my latest podcast episode, I dive deep into my journey from a girl fascinated by decorating to becoming an award winning interior designer. Vicki Macleod. And I speak about the pivotal moments that shaped my path along the way to becoming a successful business owner. So, join us for a conversation which I hope will inspire you with personal anecdotes and professional insights perfect for aspiring designers and anyone curious about the creative process behind stunning interiors. So, I was the younger sister. I have one sister, she's four years older than me, Tracy, and the first. So I was born at home, actually, going way back now. Wow. Yeah. So back in the days where you could have a home birth. Second one, I think you were allowed to have at home here in the UK. In the UK. My mum tells me that if your first birth went without complications in the clinic, you were allowed to have your second child at home and she chose to have me at home. I think that's really brave, actually. I wouldn't have chosen to have either of my children at home in case anything went wrong. So I would have rather been. I was, you know, there where everything was available.

Speaker B [2:05 - 2:09]: I personally, I was completely down for a home birth in the beginning, but it all went wrong.

Speaker A [2:09 - 2:10]: Yeah.

Speaker B [2:10 - 2:11]: This is not about births.

Speaker A [2:11 - 2:36]: Yeah, sorry. Anyway. Yeah, we sidetracked. So, anyway, so where was I? So my. I was born at home. Yes. And so I shared a bedroom with my sister. And there's one quick little funny story, I'll tell you about that. In this house, above the doors, there was like a little skylight. So instead of the wall being above the door, there was like a little window.

Speaker B [2:36 - 2:36]: Yeah.

Speaker A [2:36 - 2:37]: Above the door.

Speaker B [2:37 - 2:37]: Above each door.

Speaker A [2:37 - 2:38]: Above each door, yeah.

Speaker B [2:38 - 2:40]: So let lights into the hall.

Speaker A [2:40 - 2:57]: Yeah. So that was the style. It was a. It was a really cute little house, actually. I think it was called a dormer house. So that the second floor was almost like in. The roof had slanted. Slanty roof, yes. And that was my parents bedroom and bathroom.

Speaker B [2:57 - 2:57]: Pitched room.

Speaker A [2:57 - 3:40]: Yeah. Pitched, yeah. So that was my parents bedroom and bathroom upstairs. They'd moved into this house as just a young couple without any children and my sister and I shared the downstairs bedroom with the little window above the door. And so at night my parents would put us to bed, read the bedtime story and all of that, and then close the door and off they went. And we used to then wait a few minutes and then my sister would either start playing the recorder under the quilt, thinking that no one could hear her. Do you remember having to. Yes. Do you remember having to play the recorder at school? Three blind mice. It was all the time. How old was she then? Oh, well, she would probably have been, I don't know, six or seven maybe, something like that.

Speaker B [3:40 - 3:42]: So she was serenading you with the record.

Speaker A [3:42 - 3:51]: She would be under the. No, she was practising under the quilt because my parents were so sick and tired of hearing three blind mice that they used to take this thing off regularly.

Speaker B [3:51 - 3:53]: We like seeing your mum even more.

Speaker A [3:53 - 4:26]: So she'd be under the court playing fever. And then when she'd had enough of that, we'd decide to practise our gymnastics on the beds. So leaping up and down in the air, you know, doing the splits and whatever, thinking that we getting away with all of this. And then eventually we'd be worn out and we'd go to sleep not realising that my parents in the lounge could see our heads bobbing up through the window that was above the door. And they would just sit there and say, oh, they're at it again. They'll wear themselves out in a minute. You know, they'll burn themselves out.

Speaker B [4:26 - 4:27]: Just don't go in and interfere.

Speaker A [4:27 - 4:28]: Exactly.

Speaker B [4:28 - 4:30]: We'll just scoop them off the floor later.

Speaker A [4:31 - 4:59]: So that was the first house that I lived in, sharing a bedroom with my sister. And then we moved to a much bigger house. It was a very grand move, actually. And again, a brave move on my parents half. And there we had a bedroom each. And my sister, being the eldest, chose which bedroom she wanted out of the two spare rooms. And I ended up with the smaller one, which was fine. It was cosy and it was more than adequate.

Speaker B [4:59 - 5:01]: And that's the way of the world if you're a sibling.

Speaker A [5:01 - 5:36]: Yes. You're going to get the smaller 1 second choice. Hand me down clothes. And. Yeah. So I had this room. So then when we moved into the pub, my parents said, well, okay, Justine, you can have first choice now this time round, even though I was the youngest. So there was my parents bedroom and then there was a second bedroom which had little patio doors that went out onto a flat roof. And it was a nice big room and it was beautiful.

Speaker B [5:36 - 5:37]: That sounds nice.

Speaker A [5:37 - 7:43]: Yeah. Great. I mean, real great. Great room. Or there was a little. What I can only call a box room. You could barely swing a cat in there. It was tiny, with a little window that looked out over the front of the pub onto the. Onto the street below. The other bedroom was at the back, going out onto this lovely roof terrace. Anyway, I chose the small room and my mum was amazed because the other room was done. So I would be just moving into that room as it was all done. The box room, however, was empty and I would get to choose my furniture, decorate it how I wanted to. And so that was probably when I think. Obviously, I didn't have a clue at the time, but when I think back now, that was probably my first interior design project. So I chose my furniture and because it was so small, it had to be practical. So I went for one of these beds on the top, wardrobe underneath, and a desk underneath. Perfect. So I had some storage for clothing. I had a little space to work. And then on the opposite wall, I chose a bookcase, floor to ceiling bookcase. The room was so small that from my bed on top of the wardrobe, I could reach a cloth and reach what was on the bookcase. So that was perfect. So things went on there that I wanted to get to from bed, like books to read, etcetera. And then in the corner, I had a bean bag, a little rug and a bean bag and a reading light. And that was my kind of little chill zone. You're so cute. And then I had curtains that matched my quilt cover and ornaments on the window sill that were just part of the whole theme. And I was so tidy. So tidy. I used to come home from school, take my uniform off and put it in the wardrobe and put on my comfortable clothes. And because I didn't have space to be untidy, if I'd left anything out of the wardrobe, I wouldn't have been able to walk through the room or get to my bed or anything else. So. So that was probably my first little project.

Speaker B [7:43 - 7:45]: What was the colour scheme?

Speaker A [7:45 - 7:49]: It was actually pink, grey and black.

Speaker B [7:49 - 7:51]: That's eighties colours for you.

Speaker A [7:51 - 8:14]: Yes, it was. Yeah. Yeah. I loved that little room, actually. It was cool. It was cool. And I even had a little television at one point. I think it was my mum and dad's telly. They had a tv in the bedroom for a while. I want to say it was black and white. I think it may have been black and white, and obviously they upgraded. And so I had that telly and put it on top of the bookshelf so I could watch telly in bed.

Speaker B [8:14 - 8:15]: Perfect.

Speaker A [8:15 - 8:18]: So, you know, it was a great little room. I really, I really loved it.

Speaker B [8:18 - 8:20]: I'm envisaging it now.

Speaker A [8:20 - 8:26]: Yeah. So that was probably the first 1st little project that I did not knowing.

Speaker B [8:26 - 8:33]: But I guess back in the day it wasn't also like being an interior designer felt like a, I probably didn't.

Speaker A [8:33 - 8:34]: Even know what an interior designer was.

Speaker B [8:34 - 8:38]: At that age exactly. And I might have feel like, is that really a job?

Speaker A [8:38 - 9:04]: Yeah, well, I think as well, you know, I come from working class family. Even though they were business people, they started with nothing and so nobody in my family would have hired an interior designer, so why would I even know what one was? We certainly weren't buying, you know, Elle decor magazines. So I probably, I honestly probably didn't even know what an interior designer was at the time, if I'm totally honest. At that age.

Speaker B [9:04 - 9:08]: Do you remember changing rooms, the tv show? Did you ever watch it?

Speaker A [9:08 - 9:48]: Well, there's a big gap in my life of music, cinema and television shows because when I came to the island, we didn't have Sky TV. We didn't even have MTV when I first came here for music. And the cinemas were all in spanish only. Spanish films only. So I missed probably, I'd say there was probably a chunk of, I want to say maybe five to seven years worth of music, cinema and tv shows. So I may have seen that. Was that the one where there was Linda Barker and.

Speaker B [9:50 - 9:52]: Lawrence Lorellin Bowen?