Background
Sophie Ashby is the founder and Creative Director of London based Studio Ashby. Sophie broadened her design vocabulary through a BA in History of Art (Hons) at Leeds University, going on to study Interior Design at Parsons, The New School in Manhattan, New York. Her strong architectural and design sensibility developed over the following years with sound mentorship and a personal curiosity for “beautiful things”.
Signature style
Sophie creates spaces with a unique identity. Her aim is to bring authenticity to each project, not only in the selection of furniture, lighting and art but in its use of a natural palette of materials and textures. Known for delivering an eclectic richness to each interior, she draws on her love of antiques, color, contemporary ‘world art’, modernist furniture, photography and her latest discoveries. In all of her projects, she aims at balancing the client’s rational and emotional needs to create pieces that are functional but feel warm too. She believes that design should be approachable, not exclusive; and that design can enhance one’s experience and inspire people.
Showstoppers
Sophie’s nomadic upbringing and love for travel, combined with her artistic sensibility has gifted her with inner curiosity about one’s sense of place, the way we respond to it and how it shapes us in return. Sophie plays with the juxtaposition of contrasting elements and textures: raw and refined, natural and manmade, neutrals and colors, antiques and contemporary pieces, minimalist and rich… She believes there is poetry in the tension born out of these combinations, the careful layering which brings character, atmosphere and feeling to interiors. All her designs are infused with humor and a love of objects with an explicit narrative.
