CHARLOTTE DALE

Q & A

What is your design background?

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I'm a self trained designer maker

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To be totally honest I don’t have a professional design background but have rather learnt on the job!  If I could do it all again I would definitely have gone to Art College and learnt a trade.  However, choosing which one to specialize in would have been difficult.  Graphic design, architecture, interior design, photography and now ceramics all hold an interest.  My dad said as I was bright enough to go to university and, being used to having your life mapped out for you through the school years, university and doing what was suggested, was what I did!  I did however study Art History at Nottingham Uni and I reckon I only stayed because I got to look at pictures and it was art related!

 

What industry experience do you have?

Again, none!  It’s a bit of a long winded explanation, but I’d probably just describe myself as a hands on, get stuck in, kind of person.  After leaving Notting Uni and meeting my future husband we headed off to the Meribel to do a season cooking for a family friend who had a business out there.  The plan was to learn the ropes and then go to Chamonix to run our chalet business.  My in-laws had bought an old farmhouse that needed complete renovation.  We asked if we could rent it off them and run it as a catered chalet company.  However, the fact that it wasn’t yet liveable meant we accidentally became builders.  The rest is history!  After a winter of fun and not many guests we decided we too needed to buy another wreck for ourselves.  Over the years we have renovated three properties and built one chalet from scratch.  At the beginning we had no money and no clue what we were doing, but over time we have built up experience and a bit of cash which has enabled us to do things better.  Whilst there’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears, I have loved the creative and hands on side of these challenges.  I love the architecture, design and planning too that goes into making a property work in a way that should be both beautiful and functional.  I’ve tiled, fitted kitchens, made bespoke sofas and beds to fit under low eaves, curtains and hundreds of cushions as getting someone else to do it would have been way too expensive.  This lead to a career in making things, and, I also got to photograph it all to put on our website. That’s when my photography started to take off.  Nearly two decades later I now had some time on my hands to try something new – pottery.  And I just LOVE it!  

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What sort of projects do you enjoy most? 

Anything and everything.  Just let me be creative.  When we turned our garage into a small three bed house so that we could live in it, I loved that challenge as we had to fit a lot into a little.  We also used all our left over build material as we were on a shoestring budget.  This kind of project is challenging and demanding but it makes you think and come up with innovative ideas with design and functionality at the core. 

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Notable projects:

You can check out some of our renovations at www.chalet1802.co.uk and you can also see some of my photography work at www.charlottedalephotography.co.uk.  I’m relatively new to ceramics so I have very little to show as yet, but I’m working on it.  I’m now working at the fabulous Rusc in Chamonix Sud one day a week as an apprentice and slowly learning the trade. 

 

Designing for/with:

Chalet 1802 Limited (photographer & interior design)

Knight Frank photographer

Mountain Base photographer

California Prunes Photographer

Nutshell Interiors Geneva Photographer

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