creative spaces :: chloe owens - confessions of a design geek

This article was published 14 years

I met the lovely Chloe Owens when she took part in the Southbank’s Boost initiative and was immediately keen to see her workspace. A spare room at her Mum’s house has become Chloe Owens HQ and is overflowing with fabulous fabric and delectable designs…

Chloe has a very impressive collection of vintage fabrics – sha says she can barely leave the house without coming home with another few, and buys them from vintage markets charity shops.

She painstakingly cuts out the motifs by hand and they form the basis of all of her designs. Chloe’s studio is full of natural light and things that inspire her – it’s very much her own space and you an absolutely see how her surroundings translate into her work.

I loved the fact that the materials she needs to hand like cotton and buttons sit side by side with objects that inspire her such as the dolls and the 1980s View-Master (which brought back some memories!).

She is also surrounded by own work such as her incredibly applique pieces and hundreds of little owls.

She has two desks – one for her computer and one for her sewing machine, which creates a nice separation between the creative side and the business side of her work.

It also ensures she has space to spread out when she’s doing something like printing labels. I know I’m a bit of a print geek, but I do think these are pretty cool.

I think using jars for storage is a great idea – you can see where everything is, but it’s out of the way. I’m just trying to work out if I can get away with storing staplers and hole punches in the same way! And it’s always good to have someone around to bounce ideas off…