A big Hello! from my design space in my soon to be renovated villa in Auckland.
I am Bridget Taylor - Founder/Creative Director of Hellospace Design Studio. Recently, a good friend of mine suggested to give writing a go, she said if it's not your strength get practicing! And what better way to spend the idle hours of the first working week of the new year (or decade, depending on who you ask) than by getting stuck into writing my first blog post.
Let’s lay some foundations…
With a decade of experience in design, I decided to establish my first interior design studio in 2018. My business partner “Husband to be” and I are incredibly passionate about each and every project. There is so much energy that goes into every detail. As you might already be aware, no design project is ever the same, so we strive to never stop learning from our work and instead use every experience as a vehicle to improve the next.
For those that know me personally I have had a decade of firsts. Year 2000 being one of the first girls to attend Mount Albert Grammar School, high school of 130 girls vs 1400 boys which wasn't for the faint hearted. First deputy Head Girl and student to opt out of the traditional maths and science to pursue art, design and graphics as accelerate classes.
Growing up with a family of teachers, business owners & farmers a spatial design degree at Massey University was a first for them too. Today, my grandmother introduces me as a “Spatial Artist”, which she says has a nice ring to it and has me dreaming of a fantasy career that blends my love of public spaces, painting and expressive dance.
After University, the great recession hit NZ in 2007 and while most of my university mates moved to the U.K. or Melbourne in search of gainful employment, I struck gold in Whanganui, landing a great first job working for Prospace - learning the ropes in the world of retail design and joinery manufacturing for brands like beach culture, billabong and goldmark. As I wasn't much of a rower or surfer - though ironically I ended up with one - the city life was calling to me, and after a couple of years, a move up to Auckland was next on the cards.
Up in the big smoke I worked for a collection of Auckland‘s most sought after design firms across retail, hospitality, office and branding creative sectors before I found my calling and developed a passion for hospitality projects. Over the last few years I’ve had the pleasure of leading some incredible bar, cafe, restaurant and hotel projects. But all the while I was dreaming of one day escaping the mad agency life to run my own boutique Studio.
Day dreams turned into conversations and conversations turned into plans. And in 2019 it all became a reality when we registered the company and bought the domain for Hellospace.
I couldn’t have wished for a better first year. Through word of mouth alone, Hellospace has been hired to design a stunning flower filled cafe, an adorable preschool playground, a gelato shop that is built on love, a high end Gatsby-inspired foyer space, and to top it all off we just rounded out the year with a classy beach house refurb in the Mount!
What a brilliant first year Hellospace had, we are very proud of the work we have completed. We truly couldn’t have done it without the magical people supporting us. Goals where smashed in 2019 including a two month trip to Europe (which we will write more about it in my next post!)
We are very thankful for all the kindness and support, you know who you are!
Kia kaha & sending you positive vibes as we step into the next decade!
Say hello! and let’s create some beautiful spaces together in 2020!