Bloggers Interiors : Let's go in Newcastle Upon Tyne with Saxon, an continuously evolving styling

Hello Saxon, on your web site you display continuously evolving styling, you also make refurbishment work for clients and for yourself, let us know your decoration and creative inspiration ? Where do you find inspiration?

I have always been interested in interior space from a really early age. My education is in Fine Art (painting) however my visual interest has gradually evolved, moving away from 2D images to creating 3D physical environments.

I love the possibilities space allows for expression/creativity and the confidence and support a considered/tailored environment can give to personal identity and supporting day-to-day living.

My personal ideas for decorating start with a simple background for the objects/possessions that are placed in it; light is very important and I look for surfaces that are robust, will age well and are easy to keep clean. I do not like decoration that imposes itself on a space; I like objects, books, ephemera of life to add the character and interest to a space. I dislike pretension and always look for ‘real’ usable space that suits the character of the person/s inhabiting the it space.

I get inspiration from many places, books, magazines, film, music, fashion, colour, textures etc. I am always ‘looking’. It is hard to pinpoint inspiration as it arrives from different sources, comes in many, many guises and from all angles.



Pease, your favorites colors?

There are colours that always draw me close: Blues (indigo, Prussian, navy blues), ochre yellows, mustards, strong reds, strong oranges, bright greens… I love primary colour. The only colours I struggle to get excited by are purples through to lilacs, however they present a challenge and I will make my peace with them one day. All colour is important to me and I don’t feel happy in a colourless interior.

Who are yours favorites Designers or creators?

Terence Conran has been a huge, enduring influence on my visual life. His consistency, design ethics and visual integrity have inspired me from the very beginning of my creative awakening. Terence always brings possibilities and optimism and his confidence with interior space and design is infectious.

Another incredible influence is Ilse Crawford. I admire the way Ilse (and her team) investigate the way humans really use and move through space. Studioilse spaces are always effortless, confident, comfortable and authentically human scale.      

One or several piece(s) of furniture would you like to have or acquire soon?

There is a chair I always dream about and I incorporate it in many ‘imagined’ schemes for myself; Mies Van der Rohe’s MR20 lounge chair. I love this chair for it’s flexibility, lightness, elegance and timeless quality, however I think it is a longer-term goal to have one (or two)   

One object could not you live without ?

My iMac! It allows me to explore the visual world beyond my local environment. I would find it a struggle to be without my iMac window on the world, however my relationship with it is a fraught one – I find it technically challenging and I am a bit of a perfectionist so my aspirations usually fight with my technical ability. However I am becoming happier with the advancements I made while building my own website.

What blogs, web, magazines do you follow?

I like Apartamento! Each edition is intriguing, clever and visually interesting - it is very close to my ideal ‘interior’ mag. I have been buying Elledecoration UK (religiously) for many, many years and have them stacked up in my home as a reference to developments, changes, cycles in design, interior fads and the constantly evolving narrative in the interior world. I have stopped getting World of Interiors as it feels formulaic and self referencing.

I have started to narrow down the blogs I look at recently, mainly due to the numbing repetition of images, stories, general lack of creativity/ideas, the self obsession of many bloggers or the growing problem of product endorsement.  

I like: Swiss-miss.com, yatzer.com, showstudio.com and your own obviously ;)

A word to finish?

What I appreciate about real interior design is the opportunity it gives to create an exclusive space, totally about individual taste, that supports our own personal rituals and interests.

Have a look on Saxon Grogan Web site and Saxon instagram

  

Photos : Saxon Grogan
Drawing : ernø