Natural Good Luxe: 5 Questions for Maoliosa Murray

Maoliosa Murray, the luxury-loving interior designer behind maoliosa.com, is bringing brands such as The Rug Company, Jonathan Adler, Bethan Gray and Linley exclusively to Ireland. We caught up with the d?cor dynamo just long enough to pick her brain on all things luxe…?

Q. How would you define good design?

A. My definition of good design is effortless luxury. This doesn’t necessarily mean expensive. Luxury to me is how useful something is, how a product or service makes my life better – a great chair or piece of technology. Texture is key: leather, marble, brass, wood and stone are my favourite materials to work with.

Q. What are your favourite stores?

A. The design shops I admire in Dublin are O?Sullivan Antiques for Georgian Irish antiques and Michael Mortell for Art Deco finds. Melrose Avenue in LA has some great design stores, my favourites being Kelly Wearstler and Alexandra von Furstenberg, and for cashmere The Elder Statesman in West Hollywood.

Q. What piece of good design could you not live without?

A. My David Linley St Moritz armchair; it’s one of the first pieces of furniture I ever bought for myself.

Q. What would you say is Ireland’s best kept secret?

A. In my opinion, it’s creativity, especially in furniture, product and fashion design. We have had many successful exports; however, I do wish there was more support for our emerging homegrown designers. We lose so much talent to London and the US, simply because there isn’t the infrastructure or vision’to support young design businesses.

Q. How would you spend your ideal day off??

A. I would spend it in London, walking around the city. I love to visit museums?and galleries?for ideas, especially the Victoria and Albert Museum. In the afternoon I’d head over to Mayfair – it’s exciting to see the transformation of sleepy streets such as Mount Street, which have become a haven for fashion with some incredible stores, like?Christopher Kane’s new shop designed by John Pawson and jewellery designer Solange Azagury-Partridge’s elegant yet quirky townhouse Atelier. Grays Antique Market is also a favourite; I always find pieces that evoke new ideas for projects or my own collection. Finally, I would end the day at The Connaught Hotel’s luxe bar,’designed by David Collins.

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IN CONVERSATION WITH Sharon Miney