In Conversation with Mia Kitsinis, Director of Accouter Design

1.) Welcome to The Luxury Property Forum! How long has Accouter Design been around for?

Accouter Design opened its doors back in 2012 by Alec Watt and Stella Gittins.

2.) What services do you provide?

At Accouter Design we tend to focus our services on Interior Architecture, Interior and FF&E Design, FF&E Procurement, CGI curation and can even assist our clients with Art Acquisitions.

Atlantis Bedroom - The Royal Atlantis Residences

3.) Can you tell us a little about your career background?

My first experience was as an Interior Stylist for the Magazine Elle Decoration in Greece. At this point, my career was launched and I never looked back again. That experience then gave me the opportunity to work for a very prestigious yacht company SSH Maritime; my position was to assist on the re-design of 2 cruise ships to private yachts which also led me to be involved in a revolutionary design concept at that time which was to convert a 90m yacht to a 120m Giga yacht. Further to that, I continued my journey within the design industry to explore the world of high-end property development, and I worked for a boutique developer on his various projects in London, Miami and Las Vegas.

Later on, in 2012, I decided to test the waters and worked for a London-based company focusing on private residential properties, 1.61 London. I then moved to JHR Interiors, where I had the privilege to grow my passion for residential projects looking after the client's property portfolios in the UK and Paris.

After two very constructive years, I then decided to join the growing and ambitious Accouter Design team, which is part of Accouter Group of Companies. My experience at Accouter Design has been the best four years of my career so far, working on projects in London’s finest postcodes and Dubai, Saudi Arabia, to name a few. I have learned and progressed so much in my role here at Accouter Design, my devotion and efforts paid back, and I am now, at 32, successfully leading this division for almost two years.

4.) What drove the founders, Alec and Stella, to start Accouter Design?

Accouter Design was born out of the desire to create a company that is as passionate about its people as it is about design. We believe that through supporting and developing our teams skills, we build a culture that encourages our individuals to have creative freedom.

This plays a huge part in our company’s ethos, it not only creates friends at work, but they can also comfortably produce world class designs that our clients will constantly come back to. Evidence is with our continuous repeat business.

Accouter Design Boscobel - Belgravia Mews House

5.) Can you tell us a little about the client's journey, from the initial consultation to the final result?

Getting to know our clients, for us, is the most important stage of the design journey. We tend to spend a significant amount of time getting to know our clients and also going through their brief in extensive detail.

We like to ensure that the journey is as easy and as smooth as possible, most of our clients do not have a huge amount of time for multiple meetings so, in some cases, we tend to create CGI’s or sketches for their spaces to obtain sign-offs. Visuals assist us tremendously throughout the Concept and Design development stages. It just makes the process a lot easier and for them to visually see their spaces ahead of the project completion and, I would say it keeps them excited throughout the project.

From first sketch to final touch, we are here to work with clients to transform flashes of`ss inspiration into unique environments: drawing on the expertise of our artisans, designers and storytellers, we first work on their story and turn ideas into a reality and adding value to their assets through our designs.

6.) Where do you find inspiration for new interior design / interior architecture projects?

Our clients are our first point of call for inspiration. As we do not have an in-house look, we design everything around our clients, ensuring the space fits 100% to their expectations, lifestyle and most importantly design a home for them. We tend to find a tremendous amount of inspiration from our fantastic artisan suppliers, who we love to meet often to see new their collections and designs. In some cases, we may start from a client’s art piece or an antique artifact that they wish for us to use in the scheme.

The building architecture is also a major factor; in some instances, we get full freedom and control of the design from our clients. We then start our design by researching the architect or the era the particular building was built in and take our design concepts and inspirations from there.

Peacock – Bespoke Commission by Aiveen Daly

7.) What has been your favorite collaboration/project so far?

We worked on a gorgeous project near Hyde Park about two years ago where we collaborated with Bill Cleyndert, Fromental and Aiveen Daly where they all commissioned some beautiful headboards and joinery for us (see image above).

8.) Do you have a dream interior design project?

Yes, it would have to be a beach villa somewhere in the Mediterranean or the Balearics. Watch this space...

9.) What sets Accouter Design aside from other luxury design studios?

I would say, we do not have an in-house look, and no project of ours looks the same. I guess this allows our clients to be able to express themselves through our expertise and create a tailored environment of their dreams.

10.) When you're not busy working, where can you be found?

I love to travel and try to take every little opportunity I get to go away so, I would say either my home in Athens, Greece or spending time with my friends in Ibiza, Spain.

To find out more about Accouter Design, please click here. To get in touch directly, email interiors@accouterdesign.com or call +44 (0) 20 3651 3325

Founding Member Interview: In Conversation with Mia Kitsinis, Director of Accouter Design