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Interviews

Claire Totman's beautiful home and tips on designing children's bedrooms

Words by  Sophia Freeman

December 04, 2023

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Interior designer Claire Totman skillfully combines classic detailing with breathtaking contemporary design concepts. She invites us into her beautiful home in Surrey, and offers expert insight into creating children's bedrooms.
Photography by Robin Quarrelle  
How did you become interested in interior design?

 Interior design and architecture have been my passion for as long as I can remember. My mum said I was born drawing! From a young age design was a huge passion of mine, my only passion. I was always very creative and my mum and I would spend our weekends visiting local show homes, furniture shops and trade shows. I had a beautiful wooden dolls house that I spent hours re-arranging and re-decorating the little rooms. All my pocket money was spent on my dolls house. It was my pride and joy. When I finished school, I knew I wanted to study Interior Architecture at university, which I did at Oxford Brookes. My professional career started in 2009 and I worked my way up the ladder working for various well known design firms in London before starting up my own practice in 2016.
It’s a known cliche that interior designers are such perfectionists that they struggle when it comes to designing their own homes. Is this true!? How do you channel your profession when it comes to designing your own home?

  I have to say, I fall straight into that cliché. I am a perfectionist. I treat my own home like one of my clients in terms of design and sourcing beautiful items. We moved into a current home a few years ago, which was a complete project, it had been empty for four years. We renovated the whole property back to bare bones in some areas, and the final phase was a kitchen extension which we completed just over a year ago. I found I was just an easier client because I knew exactly what I wanted and there was no time spent waiting for client approvals so it made the process much easier.
Photography by Robin Quarrelle  
 When it comes to designing children’s bedrooms for clients, what are some of the key requirements you’re asked to fill?

 All of our clients to date have had children so we’ve worked on dozens of children’s bedrooms. We love designing bespoke joinery, sourcing beautiful wall papers, wall lights and ceiling pendants as well as designing panelling for children’s bedrooms. We’ve had a couple of clients recently who have asked for bespoke bunk beds with beautiful joinery detailing as well as desk areas.
Photography by Sarah Griggs  
How did you decide on the overall colour palette for the room?

 My daughter takes after me and is very creative. She wanted a green bedroom so I enjoyed putting a palette together. We decided on Farrow & Ball Pigeon, which is one of my favourite greens, with a slighting muddy undertone. I injected lighter colours with the Button and Sprung Rose bed in a linen and cotton blend fabric called Shell, and pops of dusky pink with her roman blinds, mirror and rug.
Do you have any advice for integrating contrasting patterns and prints within a bedroom setting?

 I think when you’re working on a children’s bedroom design, everything goes. Well, within reason. The scheme still has to be cohesive and thought of. You can have a lot more fun in here that perhaps you wouldn’t in a master or guest bedroom. I believe in a children’s bedroom you can absolutely play around with contrasting patterns and prints such as strips, spots of florals.
Photography by Sarah Griggs  
How do you see the bedroom changing over time? As your daughter becomes older?  

 I was very conscious of this as I didn’t want to have to change it in a few years’ time, which is why I chose pink to be the injecting colour rather than the main colour. The bed is the focal point of the room due to its beautiful curved head board. It’s a classic and elegant design which works for a child or an adult. As she gets older, the smaller things are easy to change like the bedding, toy baskets and the reading corner for example.
Why did you decide on our Rose bed in the Shell Beautiful Broad Weave fabric?

 As soon as I saw the Rose bed I fell in love. The headboard shape is beautiful. It’s classic, elegant and timeless. It’s not going to date like some designs do. This style of headboard has been around for centuries.
Any final top tips when it comes to designing a children’s bedroom?

 My top tips for designing a child’s bedroom is to have fun. Inject colour, but in a classic way, and don’t be scared. Talk to your child about what they’d like. Make them feel involved. If the room is big enough, we love a cosy reading corner where you can wind down at the end of the day.
Photography by Sarah Griggs