CORPORATE director turned interior designer is excited to share her passion for patterns and colour this weekend at the inaugural Cotswold Homes and Interiors Design Festival.

Mum-of-two Tania Davies, who lives in Meysey Hampton, decided to take a leap of faith and retrain as an interior designer after she was made redundant from her strategy and analysis role at financial services company IHS Markit in 2017.

Despite her initial fears of embarking on such a drastic career change in her 40s, she set up Tania Davies Interior Design in October 2022 and hasn't looked back since.

She said: "I have a lot of business skills from prior roles but starting a new career from scratch on your own in your 40s is really scary.

"I took time out to train at the prestigious Inchbald Design School in London which was amazing. 

"I have always been intrigued by the ways interior designers create atmosphere in a space, whether that is calm and relaxing or uplifting and cheery.

"I was interested to get in and learn how they do it, to lift the proverbial (very tasteful) curtain as it were."

The designer describes her style as 'considered, colourful and artisan' and is excited to take part in Cirencester's first ever interior design festival this weekend.

She will be leading two sold-out masterclasses which will focus on 'How to combine colour and pattern like a pro' at Vanessa Arbuthnott Fabrics & Furniture shop in Ashcroft Road in Cirencester on Saturday, March 2.

Mrs Davies said: "Getting colours and patterns right can make your space look effortlessly chic, get it wrong and it can look like a hot mess. 

"I will walk through the theory using worked examples of Vanessa's amazing room sets and fabric sample boards. 

"It is so important to have fun when designing your home, it is your space so do what makes you happy.

"When I start working with new clients, we find three words to describe the feeling of the space that they are looking for and then relate all design decisions back to them."