{"id":385836,"date":"2026-04-07T05:40:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T05:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/385836\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T05:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T05:40:19","slug":"martin-hulbert-shares-his-advice-for-aspiring-interior-designers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/385836\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Hulbert shares his advice for aspiring interior designers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You&#8217;ve won awards, including The House &amp; Garden Pineapple Award for Hotel Design. How have these milestones influenced the reputation and direction of the company?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Receiving an honorary award such as your Pineapple Achievement Award is huge validation, not just for me, but for the whole team. It\u2019s a boost of confidence to our clients and us, and reinforces our philosophy to pursue and explore new ideas.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>For someone starting out in interior design today, what practical steps would you recommend in the next five years?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I would recommend embracing a broad spectrum of design, not just interiors. This approach has been a huge asset to me. Get some hands-on experience, even volunteering on projects. Attend workshops, connect with peers and mentors and don\u2019t limit yourself, there are many paths in design.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The dining room from Martin Hulbert's Grecian villa project.\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-dkeESL cQPiWi responsive-image__image\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Massey_HG_HulbertCorfu_140-production_digital.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>What qualities do you value most in junior designers who join your team?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018In junior designers, I value openness, curiosity, a hunger to soak up knowledge and no ego. A balance of creativity and practicality, and isn\u2019t afraid to roll up their sleeves. I don\u2019t like titles, we are all designers.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Often, young designers don&#8217;t have big portfolios &#8211; what are some ways they can develop their eye?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Developing an eye for design is all about observation and curiosity. Drawing trains your eye to see detail. Visit museums, galleries and historic interiors. I often borrow and reinvent ideas from the past. People-watch and absorb the world around you.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>What do you wish more young interior designers knew about the day-to-day reality of working in the industry?<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I wish more young designers knew to just pick up the phone and talk to people. It\u2019s about understanding needs, solving problems, building relationships and gathering insights. It\u2019s a two-way street; you build trust together this way. It&#8217;s also important to be humble, don\u2019t get so caught up in the idea of \u2018designer\u2019, it\u2019s a team sport.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You&#8217;ve won awards, including The House &amp; Garden Pineapple Award for Hotel Design. How have these milestones influenced&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60,65858],"class_list":{"0":"post-385836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-the-list"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}