KIRSTEN Clarke spent much of her school holidays shadowing her mum, whose interior designs were showcased at trade fairs around the country.

With her mother a talented seamstress and upholsterer and her father a builder, Kirsten picked up various skills which she now puts to use in her own career.

As an interior designer, Kirsten transforms people’s homes and works closely with clients on developing different styles and techniques. Now she is helping people learn basic skills to brighten up their homes, with a series of classes at her pretty Greengates shop, Ivy Place Interiors.

Kirsten is running workshops on painting and waxing techniques, and showing how to breathe new life into pieces of furniture, and her husband Richard is teaching basic DIY skills.

“I’ve always been creative, I watched my mum making things from an early age and started experimenting with my own designs,” says Kirsten. “As a child I’d go into friends’ homes to check out their parents’ decor.”

Kirsten’s own home is a stone-built Victorian property in Eccleshill, which she renovated with Richard, whose background is in building.

“It had been modernised in the 1950s, ceilings had been lowered and fireplaces bricked up. We stripped it all back and restored its Victorian features; once we started work on the ceilings we discovered gorgeous coving,” says Kirsten. “I’m drawn to period properties, you can do so much with them. I’d love to go back 100 years and see how they used to go about decorating properties back then. In one of our rooms we stripped back several layers of wallpaper and got down to the original wall covering made of fabric.”

Kirsten works on a range of properties and shows people how they can take small steps to transform their own interiors. “Often it’s about having the confidence to try a new look, or to experiment,” she says. “Some people have very specific ideas about what they want, others don’t have a clue.

“Some people know what look they’re after but they’re not sure how to put it all together. I show clients ideas from magazines, and put different cuttings together to show how something might work. People are often open to new ideas, especially if they can visualise how something might look. Sometimes it’s a case of painting different colours on a board.” Interiors have boomed over the past decade or so. You can’t open a Sunday magazine without several pages dedicated to soft furnishings or style tips. Kirsten says we’re more inclined to put our own stamp on our homes, and mix and match different styles.

“People entertain more at home now, and like to show off their living spaces,” she says. “And through visiting other people’s homes you pick up ideas and styles, you see how something might work that you’d never considered before.”

Client requests vary from designing an entire house to styling a room. “It could be that someone has bought a sofa or a picture and wants to build around that,” says Kirsten. “It’s about knowing your space, and balancing it out.”

Light jazz fills the air at Ivy Place Interiors, and the decor has a relaxed feel, like a New England beach house.

The walls are painted with a European-inspired line effect technique, dressers and chests are laden with shimmering vases and lanterns, and on the walls hang pretty wooden hearts and picture frames. Accessories and homeware are supplied by Parlane in Ripon.

“Grey is popular now, and the Shabby Chic vintage look is still in vogue,” says Kirsten.

“The French look is very influential, particularly crackle-effect surfaces, creating an aged look, and the American loft style is popular too.

“People often look for different themes for different rooms, there’s more scope to try new styles now.

“If you don’t have much money, you can change a room by accessorising or adding a new colour. You can buy a tin of paint for £18.

“We live in a disposable age, and people are often inclined to throw bits of furniture out once they get bored, but with the right paint you can transform anything from a chair to a wardrobe. Often it’s the case that people just aren’t brave enough to try something new.”

Kirsten’s workshops showcase various techniques for painting and waxing, including distressing, gold gilding, embossing and stencilling. She and Richard are considering setting up further workshops covering skills such as sewing, upholstery and making shelves.

“These are basic skills that people used to have, they got passed down in families. But somewhere along the way they got lost,” says Richard, who makes bespoke furniture.

Adds Kirsten: “I was brought up by a mother who made everything, she was always sewing. It’s something I inherited and I want to pass on my skills.

“It’s the creativity of interiors that I love; putting colours and styles together.”

Ivy Place Interiors is at Harrogate Road, Greengates. Call (01274) 614471 or email ivyplaceinteriors@gmail.com.