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Tara Bernerd, 33, Interior Designer

Tara Bernerd is founder and chairman of TARGET LIVING, an architectural and design Consultancy set up in 2002 with partner Thomas Griem. Target Living has already been involved in a number of highly prestigious projects, ranging from large-scale riverside developments to bespoke boutique projects.

Career History

Tara studied at the London Film School and went on to work for several years for leading property company Nelson Bakewell. By the age of 28 she had already sourced an original warehouse space in London, designed and oversaw its complete transformation.

This project earned her a place in Andrew Martin's prestigious Interior Design Review - a launch pad for the industry's hottest young talent. Tara then joined Yoo Ltd, Philippe Starck's international property and design company, where she worked on Schemes in locations such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and New York, quickly becoming a partner, and launching Yoo Too.

Today Tara has also been invited to work on some unique one-off projects such as Art House, in collaboration with B&B Italia, which was commissioned specially for The London Art Fair 2004. And in a beach house specially created for Selfridges BRASIL 40º celebration in May 2004, Tara captured the cool hedonism of Brazilian life.

2004 will see the launch of Tara Bernerd's first ever furniture collection.

Why did you want to be an interior designer?
I've always had a strong flair for the two things that are key to what I do today: understanding space and a strong instinct on how to create space or restyle existing spaces combined with a passion for colour is crucial.

Although I realised that I had the right skillset, design is also about experience. And I have, therefore, now worked in this industry for over 10 years, but I still believe that I am constantly learning new things. It's about staying on the ball and appreciating today's lifestyle demands, such as open plan living. It's also about non-stop research into the ever-evolving products currently on the market - so staying very tuned in is really important.

Although it is the career I have chosen, I am really fortunate because I actually love what I do. And creating something from scratch is very fulfilling even though it does require enormous dedication

What do you do?
A typical day would be:

get into the office at about 9am unless I'm working on Bricking It when I'll get in much earlier.
first, I deal with the 15 to 25 emails that would have come in overnight. These will probably lead on to jobs to do which will mean phonecalls to make - mainly one of two kinds:
1) running my company Target Living: so calls to clients etc.
2) working on an actual design project
at 10am we have a team meeting to talk through each project that we are currently working on and to make sure everyone is fully up-to-date. So, at the moment we have 12 live projects and are pitching for 6 more. Everyone has to be up-to-date with both the client information and the design information so that they are completely aware of what's going on in the company.
from then on, the day is often a series of meetings which can be pitching for new jobs (which typically need moodboards, design plans, presentations etc.).
sometimes I do have a lunch break, although this is often work-related - such as lunching with clients
the afternoons are very varied ranging from launches to completing in-house design to project meetings.

What three things do you need to do your job well?

be able to work at 100 mph
be a PERFECTIONIST and attention to detail makes all the difference
have passion - you really can't do the job without it

What are your hours / wages like?
The hours are not the usual 9 to 5 primarily because it's my own business and because each project demands that extra input. On average, the day begins between 8am and 9am (sometimes earlier) and ends between 6.30pm or 7.30pm. And often, my evenings are spent seeing clients.

The wages are NEVER enough!

And when you're just starting your own company, sometimes the wages really don't seem that great as you're building something.

What qualifications do you have?
I'm actually self-taught. When I was starting out I managed to get loads of work experience which led to a jobs including working with Philippe Starck. I then persevered and have learnt and grown through experience, a determination to succeed and a strong intuition on visuals, colour, space etc.

What's your advice to would-be Interior Designers?

NEVER give up
Even though you can study and learn all about design, don't think that you need a long list of qualifications to make it. Some people are born designers with a natural flair for style, space, colours etc. Then it's all about confidence.

And finally...
If anyone is thinking about being a designer then be really open to the work you have to do to get started. Try and get in even if that's just work experience.

If you don't have the right qualifications, don't worry - designing can be inherent in you. The only way to develop it is through experience.

So KEEP TRYING.

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