Every year, by the time we reach the final of Interior Design Masters, the competition stops being about individual challenges and starts becoming about the bigger picture. The designers are no longer judged on whether they can style a shelf, hang wallpaper straight, or survive a difficult brief. Instead, the question becomes much simpler: have they learned how to think like a designer?
As Head Judge, one of the most rewarding parts of the show for me is watching the designers evolve. Rarely does anyone arrive as the finished article. The competition is designed to stretch people, expose weaknesses, challenge assumptions, and force them outside their comfort zones. Sometimes that process is uncomfortable to watch. Sometimes it can even seem unfair. But the purpose has always been learning.
This year’s finalists, Lia and Sophie, both have very strong creative identities. Both have experienced highs and lows throughout the series. But what struck me about their final schemes was that neither felt driven by ego. Rather than imposing a signature look at all costs, both designers demonstrated an understanding that great design is ultimately an act of interpretation. They listened to the client, understood the building, responded to the brief, and then used their creativity to transform those requirements into something richer, more memorable and more personal than the client could have imagined alone. Looking back across the series, that feels like the perfect lens through which to reflect on six lessons that separate a good designer from an Interior Design Master.
1 Develop a Signature Style — Then Learn When to Let It Go
A recognisable point of view matters. Designers who have no identity rarely make it very far because they struggle to make confident decisions. But equally, the designers who cling too tightly to a signature style can also find themselves in trouble. The brief, the building and the client must always come first.
The really big lesson here is quite simply: Design is not self-expression. It is communication. The designers who succeed are using their creativity to tell somebody else’s story. Looking at Lia’s winning scheme in particular, what stands out is not how much of Lia is visible in the rooms, but how successfully she translated the brief into a believable, coherent experience. That, ultimately, is professional design.
The strongest designers know what they bring to a project, but they are flexible enough to adapt it. Lia’s final scheme still felt unmistakably hers. Sophie’s still carried her confidence and love of animal prints. Yet neither felt imposed upon the client. That’s the distinction.
2 Time Management Is Design Management
Every series contains designers who run out of time. Not because they aren’t talented, but because they become too absorbed in the parts they enjoy the most. Making artwork. Building features. Styling. Crafting details. The problem is that the user doesn’t experience a room one detail at a time. They experience the whole thing.
The best designers learn where to spend their energy. They understand that a beautifully made feature means very little if the layout doesn’t work, the lighting is unresolved, the wardrobe is missing, or the room generally feels unfinished. Good design decisions matter. Finishing matters too.
3 Architecture Elevates Decoration Into Design
This has always been one of my biggest criteria. There’s a reason this show is called Interior Design Masters not Interior Decorating Masters! It’s not simply about decorating a room. It is about changing the experience of a space.
Paint, wallpaper and furniture can transform atmosphere. But the most memorable schemes go further. They alter flow, improve function, create new focal points, solve awkward layouts, or introduce architectural moments that didn’t exist before.
Again and again throughout the series, the designers who progressed were the ones who thought spatially rather than superficially. Which way round should furniture be placed? Where can I get the best view from the window? How can I make this space feel easier for people to use?
4 Know Thy Client
Every year I find I have to continually remind the designers that the project is not about them. Maybe it’s because many of them have only designed their own homes before, or something home-based for family members. But making the leap to designing not only for a client, but also for a commercial space, is a big step. Yet there is an important nuance.
Clients hire designers precisely because they don’t have the answers themselves. The goal therefore isn’t to follow a list of instructions, that would make you a contractor. The goal is to understand what the client is trying to achieve and then to translate that into something better than they could have imagined by themselves. The designers who leave on this basis are either too literal (do only what the client asks for) or too self-indulgent (do only what they want to do). The strongest designers listen carefully, identify the underlying need, and then interpret it creatively. The point is to show the client what they didn't know they needed!
5 Stay Curious. Stay Teachable.
One of the misconceptions about the competition is that success comes from arriving fully formed, in other words, whoever shines right at the beginning has the edge. This is rarely the case. The designers who tend to flourish are the ones who are willing to learn. They absorb feedback. They observe what works for others. They reflect on mistakes. They adapt. The competition rewards growth.
And sometimes excellent designers leave before the final. That’s simply the nature of the format. One bad week can send anyone home. But the designers who continue learning will always emerge stronger than when they arrived, regardless of where they finish
6 Be Brave Enough to Show Us Something New
Perhaps this is the final ingredient. Safe rarely wins. Not reckless. Not gimmicky. Not different for the sake of being different. But genuinely original thinking. The best rooms throughout the series have always contained a moment that made us stop. An idea we hadn’t seen before. A fresh interpretation of a brief. A solution that felt unexpected yet entirely right. For design is ultimately an act of imagination.
The finalists this year succeeded because they learned how to balance creativity with practicality, confidence with humility, personality with restraint, and ambition with execution. That’s what made this final so satisfying. It really was the culmination of all the previous lessons.
By the end, it’s all about who can bring together creativity, client understanding, technical skill, problem-solving and personal vision into a complete piece of design. This year, I think both finalists demonstrated exactly that.
In case you missed any of my previous Decodes, I’ve linked them all below: my expert insight on what worked, what didn’t and why, because it’s never just about the colours and the cushions!
Episode 1 Decoded/Beach Huts with Jonathan Adler
Episode 2 Decoded/Hotel Bedrooms with Linda Boronkay
Episode 3 Decoded/Homeless Charity Rooms with Sophie Robinson
Episode 4 Decoded/Royal Navy Cadet Mess rooms with Kelly Holmes
Episode 5 Decoded/Studio Apartments with former IDM winner Lyndsey Ford
Episode 6 Decoded: The Quarter Final/Shops with Ross Bailey
Episode 7 Decoded: The Semi Final /Hospitality Boxes with Shane Brady
To come: my favourite individual rooms of the series and why, in detail!