Balancing Creativity and Parenthood: Interior Designers Share Their Journeys

The intersection of professional and family life can be testing in any industry. For interior designers, the demanding job(s!) of running a studio and raising a family requires serious adaptability, resilience and commitment to both roles. The question of how parents actually do it can elude new or expectant families, so to shed light on this topic, we spoke with four inspiring parents-cum-interior designers, Samantha Pope, Portia Fox, Laura Hammett, and Verity Coleman. Read on for a glimpse into how these professionals make it work, from challenging their mindsets to asserting protective boundaries.

Becoming a Role Model

Samantha Pope, an interior designer and parent based in Hertfordshire, has taken it upon herself to become an example of a parent who can enjoy the best of both worlds. “It’s been a big journey for me,” she says, adding, “I had bottled up fears about not being able to be the career woman I wanted to be, or the kind of mother that I wanted to be. I couldn’t see any role models for the life I knew I wanted.” However, Pope began to erode this negative thinking with the realisation that her own daughter deserved a role model, too. “It suddenly clicked - I needed to show her that I can do this,” she says. “It’s also wonderful for my son to see me thriving in both roles, too.”

Parenthood has become something of an asset to Pope’s work as an interior designer. “Becoming a mother made me a better designer,” she says. “I can design for families from a point of real understanding - I get the practical side to family life that you can’t fully understand until you’re a parent!” When it comes to navigating client family dynamics and the requirements of children’s bedrooms, playrooms or nurseries, Pope encourages children to share their ideas. “Children are creative,” she says, “and watching their creativity change as they grow is fascinating.”

Pope’s advice for other designers navigating parenthood is to remember that your own needs are important. “When you become a parent, it can feel like your life, professionally and personally, is on pause,” she says, adding that “everyone else’s needs seem to come before your own.” Pope believes that acknowledging your requirements for a happy life, such as having a creative outlet or dedicating time to deep work, is crucial to excelling in your professional life. “I need to be creative and if I don’t express this, I’m pretty miserable,” she says. “If I can show my kids I’m capable of this, they’ll be proud of me.”

Giving Yourself the Gift of Boundaries

For Portia Fox, the challenges of balancing work as a studio founder and as a parent have offered opportunities to establish boundaries, allowing herself the simple luxury of enjoying both aspects of her life. “Over time, I’ve learned the importance of setting boundaries,” she says. “Creating clear distinctions between home and work enables me to fully enjoy family time and stay more focused and productive when I’m at work.”

Enjoying family time is something Fox takes very seriously, and has felt regret in the past for not giving herself the time to do this when her son was born. “When I welcomed my son just 18 months after starting my business, life became a whirlwind,” she says. “The company was still in its infancy, and taking extended time off wasn’t really an option. Looking back, I wish I had given myself the space to fully embrace those precious early months of motherhood.”

Share the Load

“Balancing parenthood and running an interior design business is almost impossible to perfect,” says Laura Hammett. “There are moments when I feel like neither is being compromised, but more often than not, something has to give.” For Hammett, sharing the load with her husband, Aaron, has allowed them both to commit to their careers without the fear of things slipping through the net.

“One of the reasons my husband joined my interior design business in 2008 was so I could step back when we had children,” she says. Hammett was able to take eight months off after the birth of their first child, but by the time their second child arrived, the business had grown substantially and it wasn’t feasible to take the same amount of leave. “I worked part-time with Aaron’s support and help from a part-time nanny,” she says. “It wasn’t easy, but it was just the reality of the situation.”

But Hammett doesn’t take this network of support for granted. “I know having Aaron as my business partner has been a huge advantage,” she says. “We’re always aligned in prioritising balance between work and family life, sharing responsibilities both at work and at home.” The success of this partnership is hard-earned, though. Hammett says, “there have been phases of intense work where one of us has had to pick up the slack at home, but we’ve always managed to make it work.”

A Fulfilling Juggling Act

Verity Coleman, the Director of Rascal and Roses, is a passionate advocate for making a life of parenthood and professionalism in tandem. “I do feel strongly that you can be a great, present parent and have a fulfilling career in interior design,” she says. In fact, one of the main reasons Coleman started her own business was in the hope that she would be able to balance a fulfilling career alongside raising a family.

However, Coleman acknowledges that “life is always going to be a juggle, and acknowledging this and understanding you can’t do it all is the first step to making good choices.” It’s all about the trade-off for Coleman, who feels that the ability to attend events at her children’s school during the day is worth the late nights at her desk burning the midnight oil. “For me,” she says, “the flexibility is 100 per cent worth it.”

Balancing Creativity and Parenthood: Interior Designers Share Their Journeys

Becoming a Role Model

Giving Yourself the Gift of Boundaries

Share the Load

A Fulfilling Juggling Act

Anya Cooklin-Lofting

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