Holistic Interior Design for Wellbeing in Sydney & London

Katrin

Interview with Mima Romanic, co-founder of interior design Studio Mae. Mima and her business partner Liz are creating a holistic interior design for wellbeing in Sydney & London.

Hi Mima, thank you for taking part in this project and giving an interview to Being Magazine. Can you please introduce yourself?

Mima

I am a London-based Interior Designer and Co-Founder of awards-nominated Studio Mae and I specialize in the design of high-end residences, boutique commercial, and hospitality spaces as well as heritage buildings.

Katrin

How did you start working in the interior design industry? 

Mima

Funnily enough, when I was a child I used to rearrange the furniture and make things that expressed my creative side, but never really put two and two together until I finished school and started my degree. I’ve always absolutely loved that if I put something in a certain place it gives me a certain kind of feeling. I think the opportunity to create something, a place and space was always innate to me and in the end, I just somehow knew there was something more to how we lived that could really affect how good we felt – I wanted to be a part of bringing that feeling to someone else’s life and so began my journey towards becoming an Interior Designer.

Katrin

Share some interesting, curious facts about yourself or your studio.

For us design isn’t just a look, it’s designed with feeling. It’s conscious.  

Mima

Our studio name is short for Mima and Elizabeth (MaE) and coincidentally Mae is also the name of my baby daughter too! 

Have you seen Ricky Gervais’ The Office? Well, the office that my business partner Liz and I were working in in London was like that but with less natural light … pretty soul-destroying for a design firm. I think we became passionate about wellness as a way of dealing with being surrounded by sterile lighting and cardboard boxes and so the birth of Studio Mae began.

I’ve lived in four and worked in three different countries in my lifetime and I have been fortunate to learn from some of the greatest influences in the design world. Beginning my career in Australia, I learned the importance of turning to nature for inspiration and designing spaces where the two sit in harmony. In the Middle East I mastered restraint and fine attention to detail across residential and hospitality projects, then finally worked in London and across Europe for the past decade. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to be a better designer because of what I have experienced so far.

Katrin

What is the vision of your studio?

Healthy and holistic interior design is designing a space that makes you feel good! 

Mima

Studio Mae believes that a well-designed space is a successful blend of architecture and interior design that incorporates the desire to live with well-being at the core.  Curating a life into an interior scheme, combining the old and the new in a way that perfectly complements the existing space, is the instinct behind our approach. In our practice, we create beautiful luxury interiors with finishes, furniture, and fittings that are naturally inspired and without toxins. Our spaces are designed to facilitate better sleep, relaxation, and health whilst encouraging ethical, sustainable manufacture and recycling or repurposing.

Katrin

What does it mean “holistic interior design”? Can you explain this deeper for our readers?  

Mima

It is pretty simple really, our design firm looks at the science behind design and why space makes you feel good. This is made up of a few different elements – think colour and light psychology, world teachings like Feng Shui, and sustainability, because it’s all these elements that make a space improve wellbeing.  So really, healthy and holistic interior design is designing a space that makes you feel good! It’s choosing finishes and furnishings that don’t damage your well-being and the planet but support it.

Katrin

Which role does sustainability play in your designs?   

Mima

Interior design, like fashion, has become fast, cheap, and environmentally damaging and it is contributing to landfill and global warming in the process. It doesn’t have to be that way. No matter what budget we want to show that there are other ways to approach interior design which don’t contribute to the increasing health issues and carbon footprint of the planet. This is the time for positive change and we aim to design in a healthy, sustainable way. We are committed to helping people of all ages to keep, reuse and repurpose their furniture, shop locally and source pre-loved, vintage furniture to reduce waste and landfill, all without sacrificing beautiful, stylish interiors that make them feel happy, homely, and comfortable. That’s why we love to work with specialist finishes, and skilled craftspeople, from furniture makers to decorators with sustainability and ethical manufacture in mind. For us design isn’t just a look, it’s designed with feeling. It’s conscious. 

Katrin

There are so many incredible unique artisans and eco-friendly brands that produce furniture, paint, flooring, etc. Do you have some favorite brands?

Mima

There really is plenty to choose from but if I have to narrow it down to absolute favorites it would have to be Natural Mat as the sleep environment is one of the spaces that is really important to us when we design, especially since we start and end our day there. Another good brand is non-VOC paint like Brouns & Co. Linseed paint is really great when it comes to a healthy as well as a sustainable approach to finishes. 

Katrin

The quality of the furniture, finishes, decor objects and materials can really affect the environment and life of people. How do you make a choice when it comes to the materials of your interiors?

Mima

Our rule of thumb is that if it’s man-made then it’s probably full of toxins, for example, traditional paints and synthetic materials. When designing floors, walls, and ceilings we start by choosing non-toxic finishes – so mineral-based paints with no VOCs or natural-made floorings like timber or woolen carpet – not synthetic. Our projects are healthier for the environment and our clients without compromising on aesthetics. 

Katrin

Here is a personal question. Which profession did you dream about when you were a kid? Was it designed already or something absolutely different?

Mima

I actually dreamed of becoming a Veterinarian as I absolutely loved animals and still do. They are one of the greatest gifts to our planet and therefore should always be cherished. That is why we also like to take ethical manufacturing into account when we begin our design process.

Katrin

I believe together we can change the world for the better. Do you?:) What is your personal view on the future of our planet? 

Mima

There is growing interest in the conscious buying, slow-living movement where consumers are wanting to buy from ethical, eco-friendly, and diverse brands. They aren’t often easy to find. As mentioned earlier, fast interior design is contributing to greenhouse gas. The culture around buying and disposing of furniture, fittings, and décor within short life cycles is contributing to landfills and depleting the earth’s resources. This obsession with new, low-cost interiors that need to be changed with fashion trends is damaging our planet. There is growing awareness within clothing to slow down consumption and buy more consciously. We want to extend that awareness to interiors. By educating our clients and creating communities that will share their newfound knowledge, we can accelerate the slow-interiors movement. We also hope to influence larger manufacturers to adapt their processes and materials, too. This will only happen when consumer demand indicates a need.