Menu
Back to All NewsBehind the Design: In conversation with Alice Crawley
We were delighted to catch up with interior designer and furniture maker Alice Crawley, following our collaboration featuring Mirage Pink on her signature Triple X.O. Bench.
Renowned for bringing interiors to life through a distinctive blend of considered detail, personal touches and confident design choices, Alice offers an insight into her creative approach. From the finishing touches that make a space truly special to the inspiration behind her work and exciting projects on the horizon.
Every great design begins with an idea. Can you talk us through your creative process when developing a new piece of furniture?
Each piece of furniture I have designed has genuinely come from a place of need, whether it’s for a project and I simply can’t find what I’m looking for, or it’s something fun for myself / our home (cue Big Friendly Ottoman). I absolutely adore creating something truly bespoke both for my clients and my customers, that strikes the balance between functionality and beauty, practicality and FUN. The inspirations come from far and wide, whether it’s a place (Asia for me), a memory, a treasured antique or a beloved family hand-me-down heirloom that makes you feel happy and homey. This emotion then gets translated into something more solid and technical; we labour over the dimensions to make sure whatever we are wanting to create feels proportionally perfect. And then it’s the really fun bit which is the fabrics and finishes! There is still nothing more exciting to me than seeing something I’ve conjured up in my head as a real object for the first time, it’s truly thrilling.
From the initial concept through to seeing the finished piece in situ, what is your favourite part of bringing a design project to life?
It’s difficult to choose just one chapter that I love most during the design process, I think it would be a joint-first between the design development stage and the final styling for the photoshoot.
My mind goes on complete overdrive during the concept stage, where I’m literally scheming in my dreams, and go into a complete trance at the studio as I lock into the most exciting part of the journey with lots of drawings, fabric and finishes flying around, and where we start actualising the FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) ideas that have been discussed during the concept development phase. It’s the meaty part of the process - and the best bit by far for me. That being said, there is nothing more rewarding than handing over a beautiful home to your client having styled it up beautifully (if allowed) for a photoshoot. This is basically the moment you’ve been working towards since the very first (and often quite grim) site visit, and it’s well worth it all the effort.
The Triple X.O. Bench is such a distinctive design. What was the inspiration behind its shape and detailing, and how did the idea evolve into the finished piece?
Funnily enough this idea came to me in less than a split second (most of the best ideas do!) as I was QC’ing a delivery of X.O Stools with my studio manager Charley, and we were looking at them all lined up. Seeing 3 in a row was an obvious eureka moment, and from there the triple X.O. bench was born!
I just love how this piece sits at the end of a bed, it has such an interesting silhouette. It’s definitely quite a tricky one for our upholstery team to make (sorry gang!) but well worth it for its architectural quality…And it carries a good fabric so well.
Fabric plays such an important role in the character of upholstered furniture. What drew you to James Hare's Mirage fabric, and what makes it the perfect choice for the Triple X.O. Bench?
Ever since I laid eyes on the Mirage fabric, I have loved it, and have been waiting for the perfect moment to use it.
Luckily this came into play quite quickly, as we were planning the pieces for our photoshoot to launch our new Triple X.O. Bench, and when looking at fabric samples, the pink Mirage sat so perfectly within the existing scheme in our bedroom at home. It’s a match made in heaven, and showcased the design beautifully.
When selecting fabrics for upholstery, what qualities do you look for beyond aesthetics? How do texture, handle, durability and practicality influence your decisions?
How a fabric feels is just as important as how it looks. My background in fashion made me very aware of the way fabric moves, catches the light and feels in the hand, and I bring that into my interiors work. I also think about where a piece will live and how it will be used. A fabric needs to feel right for the design, but it should also suit the client’s lifestyle and stand up to everyday life.
What interior design details do you think make the biggest difference to transforming a room?
It's often the smaller details that do the most work - for me, this is adding (or replacing) beautiful mouldings to give a home a considered, historical feel, and making sure you leave budget for beautiful windows and doors. You can create a stunning space with lots of exciting elements such as beautiful joinery, but if you’re opening a hollow-core flush door to enter the room it lets the whole side down!
Are there any new furniture designs or pieces you have been working on recently? What can you tell us about the inspiration behind them?
Well we’ve just launched a new cane rattan collection which feels very exciting as it’s been a long time in the making, with plans to expand the range a little as time moves forward. I’m currently developing some new colourways for our Trellis Chest (obsessed with the idea of monochrome) as well as offering this chest of drawers in a smaller size too.
Alongside this I’ve been working on a bamboo cot design which is inspired by one that I found in Saigon a long time ago (it has seen all four of my kids through their baby stages!) which I’m super psyched about, although it definitely takes longer to perfect as there are so many health and safety measures to consider! This should hopefully be ready to launch early 2027.
Finally, what are your top picks from the James Hare collection?
Another hard question to answer! Obviously the Pink Mirage is high up on the list, alongside the Aura Stripe - also from your Artissima collection which I love.
From your trims I am constantly coming back to Apollo Key velvet as I can never get enough of a greek key motif, and then for a solid I’d say that my favourite has to be one of the lovely slubby silks from your Orissa Silk range - probably the dusty ochre Rattan colourway!
There are some very exciting prints in the new collection that I am excited to put forward for my projects, but I probably can’t talk about those..!
