Developers versus
private clients

Blank slates, not templates: designing differently
for developers and private clients

We launched Angel O’Donnell in 2018 with a clear mission: to approach every project with a blank slate – not a signature style. Many thought we were naive for choosing not to have a recognisable look, but sticking to our guns has paid off – for us and, more importantly, for our clients.

When you approach a client with a predetermined formula – a style you’re famous for – it’s much harder to create a home that truly reflects their wants, needs and aspirations. That’s why we never repeat a look. After all, no one client is the same, so why should our interiors be?

Each client deserves something unique:

• For private clients, that means a one-of-a-kind forever home

• For developers, it’s a PR-able, sellable showpiece that accelerates sales and reflects their brand values.

While both groups want homes that sell or live beautifully, the dynamics behind the brief are very different.

Powerhouse at Chelsea Waterfront

Developers – such as the Hutchison Property Group behind Powerhouse – typically work to tighter programmes and fixed budgets. They may need less hand-holding day to day, but they still deserve time, transparency and reassurance that the design is locked into the fabric of their development – something tailored, not templated. The right scheme becomes part of the asset: it lands a launch, photographs brilliantly and can be promoted across multiple channels.

Meeting modern needs

We rejected predictable ‘industrial chic’ in favour of contemporary patterns, colours, textures and modern touches like an analogue listening room and yoga-study – all to celebrate the building’s new lease of life.

Honouring the development

Instead of creating an ode to nostalgia, we found fun and innovative ways to honour the building and its location: arch-relief wallpaper that echoes the monumental façade, and a petal-pink snug with a bespoke ceiling mural, designed in-house to appear dappled like sunlight reflecting off the area’s waterways.

Keeping it fresh

We’ve never done a look like this before, which makes it an ‘ownable’ creation both for Hutchinson and whoever buys it. Today, more than ever, buyers are looking for turnkey properties – insta-lifestyles. Deliver that and show residences will often sell with the FF&E included. That’s a win-win for everyone.

The OWO Residences

Private clients, by contrast, often enjoy longer lead times and a gentler decision-making curve. Many relish in-person time with the studio – visiting the office, meeting the team, joining supplier visits and feeling immersed in the process. For them, this is not a commercial exercise, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime dream. They’ve worked hard, achieved success and now they’re celebrating that success by creating a home that feels like them.

Earning trust

When a private client appoints an interior design studio, it’s often at a pivotal moment – selling a business, emerging from a divorce, marking a new relationship or growing a family. They’re deeply personal, emotionally charged milestones. Inviting designers across the threshold is an act of trust and every touchpoint must honour that: the selling agent who makes the introduction, the architect, interior designer, landscaper, art consultant, even the installer on site. Respecting that emotional context is what turns a good project into a great one.

Personalising every detail

Our private clients – a high-flying Floridian couple and their sixteen-year-old daughter – tasked us with creating a home-from-home with elevated details worthy of the major interiors magazines. Add a desire for museum-level queer art and a daughter’s dream of luxuriating in a bedroom inspired by the romanticism of a French Château, and we knew we were in for a treat.

Designing with emotion

We set to work ensuring every piece of art we curated and every archway, moulding, coffered ceiling and joinery unit we designed honoured our clients’ passions, ambitions and lifestyle. Seeing their newly designed home for the first time, they beamed – knowing we’d listened closely, responded respectfully to feedback and found imaginative ways to surprise and delight them.

This was not transactional, it was emotional. And whether you’re an interior designer, architect or buying agent, tailoring your approach to each client is the surest way to forge meaningful connections, deliver the best product, build loyalty and drive sales.

Five ways to design differently for developers and private clients

• Start with psychology. Ask what the project represents – a life milestone or a balance-sheet asset – and shape timelines and communications accordingly.
• Tailor the process. Developers need clarity, speed and measurable outcomes. Private clients need time, storytelling and reassurance that every detail reflects them.
• Design for photos and for life. Both show apartments and private homes must photograph beautifully and perform brilliantly, morning to night.
• Create ‘ownable’ details. A bespoke mural referencing a building’s location or a gallery reflecting a client’s identity can make a scheme memorable and PR-able.
• Think beyond handover. For developers, that means turnkey insta-lifestyles that shift stock quickly and profitably. For private clients, it means spaces that express their tastes and can evolve gracefully with the people living in them.

Let’s work together

Developer, private client, supplier or press – if you have a project to discuss, we’d love to hear from you and explore how we can help craft something extraordinary together.