Create Academy | How to Create Timeless Interiors, by Alidad

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If you, like me, can’t have enough of Create Academy and their wonderful course offerings, then today’s review will hopefully inspire you to check out what I think is one of their best classes on traditional interior design – How to Create Timeless Interiors – taught by the legendary Persian-British decorator Alidad. The promise: a home that will outlast trends and that will be just as beautiful, with minimal tweaks, twenty years from now. And isn’t that what we all want?

An award-winning interior designer renowned for his opulent yet supremely comfortable interiors, Alidad has designed some of Britain’s most elegant homes, including Buscot Park, home of the present Lord Faringdon and his family. His work has been published in top international magazines and his Create Academy class has been a joy to follow.  Through 36 detailed lessons and over four hours of instruction, How to Create Timeless Interiors demystifies the process of creating beautiful, timeless rooms and teaches us how to achieve the collected, English country house look.

Clear in his explanations and generous with his knowledge and advice, Alidad walks us through each aspect of the decorating process – from finding inspiration and defining our style, to creating floor plans, pulling together schemes, choosing rugs and carpets, selecting lighting, hanging art and photographs, accessorizing, and much, much more. We get to walkthrough some of the most astonishing rooms at Buscot Park, and visit Alidad’s own flat in London.

Even if your style, like mine, is less opulent and less polished, there is such a wealth of information on creating timeless rooms that I found myself filling dozens of pages with my notes. If you love timeless design and would love to learn the secrets from one the best designers in the field, this course will reward your patience and investment.  With a bachelor in mathematics and experience working in Sotheby’s Islamic Art and Textiles department, Alidad comes to design with both clarity of process and a passion for textiles, antiques and classical architecture.  Alidad enjoys sharing his knowledge and does so with incredible ease. Here’s a glimpse into the course’s extensive curriculum: 

Part 1: Beginnings

Starting your project | Defining your style 

Part 2: The importance of atmosphere in designing a home

Tips for creating interiors that appeal to the five senses | Pictures & paintings  | Carpets and rugs | Lighting | The importance of accessories

Part 3: Good planning is essential for a timeless home

Alidad’s design process | Creating a floor plan  | Cosmetic architecture | Pulling a scheme together | Understanding Scale | Creating rooms from scratch 

Part 4: Incorporating vintage & antique pieces in your design

Shopping for antiques | Islamic art and textiles

Part 5: Walkthrough – Alidad’s London flat 

Throughout the course, Alidad also mentions something I’ve never heard any other designer refer to – a curious fact that I’ve noticed in my own work and at home. Namely that, when designing a timeless room that feels evolved over generations, different colors and elements need some time to adjust and start blending together. In particular, colors and patterns that don’t necessarily go together need some adjustment time so that they start “liking each other”. Give your rugs and fabrics breathing time, before making up your mind. Judging things on the spot is something that I’m learning to move away from, especially when creating rooms that are less coordinated, and more layered. Alidad’s tips on creating rooms with a narrative and personal history (even if it’s a fictional narrative), have been particularly inspiring to me. 

Anyway, I hope you will give this course a try. You might be pleasantly surprised! Create Academy offers Cafe Design readers a 15% discount on all of their classes. Simply use the promo code cafedesign15 at check out and enjoy learning a new skill!