BBC Two’s The Great Interior Design Challenge winner revealed
Daniela Tasca-York, 31, has become The Great Interior Design Challenge Champion 2017, it was announced today.
Published: 19 January 2017
It was the most enjoyable experience of my life and I am eternally grateful to all that helped me get to where I am today.
Daniela is the fourth winner to be awarded the prestigious title, and becomes part of The Great Interior Design Challenge history, along with past champions: Sarah Moore, Martin Holland and last year’s winner, Sarah Mitchenall.
Taking on eight other amateur designers in the pursuit of design glory, Daniela battled through three knockout rounds facing fierce competition, tough briefs and complex Creative Challenges. She was judged the winner by Interior Designer, Product Designer and Author Kelly Hoppen MBE, a Director of the British Institute of Interior Design Daniel Hopwood and back especially for the final, guest judge, Interior Stylist Sophie Robinson.
Reacting to her win, Daniela said: “I’m so grateful, I’ve really worked hard and I feel like it’s finally paid off, so I’m so happy.”
Kelly Hoppen said: “Every single room she designed was a different feel, a different look, different textures, she really pushed the boundaries.”
Daniel Hopwood spoke about the 2017 champion: “She constantly surprised me, showed me things I’ve never seen before.”
The final challenge saw Daniela compete against extremely talented fellow finalist, Oliver Thomas, 49. In their biggest challenge to date the designers had to complete three rooms each in converted apartments in an eighteenth century mock castle in Broadstairs, Kent, including for the first time in The Great Interior Design Challenge history, a kitchen.
The designers had just 72 hours across four days in which to complete their rooms and a budget of £4,000 each.
Daniela’s winning schemes spanned a living/dining room, with a bespoke sofa and customised wall art, a master bedroom with a statement light fitting and exposed and dark stained parquet floors, and finally a kitchen with marble-effect wallpaper and mirror cupboard doors.
On Daniela’s finished master bedroom Daniel said: “In the brief they asked for something that had a spa like feeling and yet was in keeping with the original interior of the room. She’s nailed it.”
Speaking about her living/dining room scheme, Kelly commented: “What a difference, everything is about lines, it’s about following a line through, she does this brilliantly with walls.”
Moving into the kitchen, Kelly continued “What I love is the refection of the floor that you get, it suddenly looks very warm because of the wooden floor, it’s fantastic.”
Helping judges Kelly, Daniel and Sophie make their mind up, presenter; Architectural Historian Tom Dyckhoff shared the feedback received about Daniela from the home owners: “I had a really interesting response from the clients, it took a few minutes, it took a while but they really liked her original ideas.”
Daniela gained an impressive First Class BA Honours degree in Fashion & Textiles, and originally worked in the fast-paced fashion industry as a stylist, working with brands such as Burberry, Matches and the teams behind British Vogue and ID magazine. Four years ago, she re-trained as a photographer. Relocating to Ibiza, her photography work focussed on weddings, portraits and some editorial shoots, until the birth of her first child which is when she made the move back to the UK.
Daniela has always had a love for interior design and her parents encouraged her as a child to be creative with her interiors at home. It wasn’t until she bought her first home seven years ago that her passion was really ignited, when she renovated six rooms in her very run-down apartment and turned it into a “unique and clean space”.
She said of her passion for fashion and interior design:“I live for the possibilities of change and innovation and creation in my interior spaces, how a new piece, big or small, can open up a whole new aesthetic, something fresh and unique - a rebirth as such.”
On her The Great Interior Design Challenge experience, Daniela says: “The show gave me so much more than just a trophy, before entering the show I felt that I had lost my way a little creatively and career wise. The show gave me a new lease of life and clarified that this is what I want and need to be doing for the rest of my life. The show was so intense, lots of hard work, sleepless nights and self-doubt, but every time I got through to the next stage my confidence grew and it was the biggest buzz. It was the most enjoyable experience of my life and I am eternally grateful to all that helped me get to where I am today.”
Speaking about her plans for the future, Daniela comments: “My long term life goal would be to open my own interior design practice that encapsulates my aesthetic. I would love to design restaurants and boutiques - to create a total experience for the consumer. In the meantime I have launched my own website where I am designing wallpapers and products.”
Daniela lives in Essex with her fiancé Calum and children Palmer, 4 and Bambi, 2.
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