The name’s Bond (From Living Northeast)

The name’s Bond

12:18pm Monday 28th September 2009 in

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Deborah Johnson meets Newcastle-born George Bond, interior designer to the stars, only days before he flies to Libya to undertake a personal commission for Colonel Gadaffi.

I’’M NOT sure I’m in the right place. I’m standing outside a pretty ordinary-looking house in Jesmond, trying to find the home, studio and creative hub of George Bond, one of the country’s – and probably the world’s – most esteemed interior designers, known for creating rooms and homes that are nothing short of fabulous.

A man whose reputation is so big that he’s been chosen to design part of the interior of Baghdad’s first luxury hotel since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

A man who counts Bianca Jagger and Carol Vorderman among his clients (he’s far too discreet to reveal any more, though he does confess to working with some “absolutely massive” names).

And in between jetting off to his packed schedule of commissions around the world, George – also a regular TV personality – is preparing to be flown by private jet to Libya, to personally design the bedroom of Colonel Gadaffi’s grandson.

Considering that, I am left in doubt that such an unremarkable house, largely hidden behind a wall and adorned with scaffolding, could belong to George Bond, a former Inland Revenue worker who has amassed a global reputation through indulging his gift for interior design.

While I am contemplating whether to knock on the door or double-check the address, Newcastle-born George emerges from the back of his home, dressed casually but immaculately in black, apologising profusely that I have to use the “tradesman’s entrance”

as he’s having work done on the side of the house, which is a listed building, and Newcastle’s oldest dwelling house.

While from the outside it may look like your average, rectangular, end-of-terrace house, the inside is an entirely different story.

Each room is like something from a magazine – probably unsurprising, as George creates rooms specifically for that purpose – with sumptuous furniture accessorised with ornaments and unique items picked up from around the world, all colour co-ordinated to perfection.

Looking around his living room, decorated in beautiful shades of golds and yellows, the walls adorned with art and the windows bedecked with sumptuous drapes, George – accompanied on the tour of his home by his pride and joy, his dog Shona – is keen to point out the origins of many of the items, picked up on his travels around the world – one of his biggest passions, Borneo being a favourite destination.

Wandering from room to room, Shona leading the way, George talks excitedly about his finds. “This is from Borneo, oh, and this is from South Africa,” he says, picking up another of his many tasteful accessories.

“I bought this for a couple of pounds on a roadside, and it’s beautiful. It just shows you don’t have to spend a lot of money for your rooms to look fabulous.”

But, while George’s own stunning home is proof of that, many people are only too willing to pay a lot of money for his creative input, which sees him personally oversee every stage of a project.

George, whose design potential was spotted during a short spell at exclusive London wallpaper designer Osborne and Little, speaks like a man who genuinely can’t believe his luck at the opportunities that have come his way. Excitement rings in his voice as he describes his latest commissions.

“I got a phonecall the other day from someone asking if I’d go to Libya to design a little boy’s bedroom, using the most expensive materials and the most expensive toys – it was made clear that money was no object,”

he says. “They asked if I could go that weekend, but I said no, because I was going away. And anyway, I said, how could I go that quickly? I’d need to arrange a flight and a visa, but I was told not to worry about that.

They’d send a private jet for me.

“I had no idea who the client was, but I have found out this bedroom is for Colonel Gadaffi’s grandson. Can you believe that? Here’s me, Little Geordie Bond, being sought out for something like that.”

George is working on two hotels in Baghdad, designed to the highest standards, to help with the regeneration of the city from a war zone into a destination of choice in years ahead.

“There was an Iraqi businessman I met in London, and he asked if I would help with two hotel projects he had in Baghdad. I said I certainly would, and have created the reception area and the bedrooms,” he says.

“But while I usually insist on visiting the places where I am working, I haven’t been there yet. The man I’m working for keeps asking me if I’ll go and I always say I will when it’s a bit safer – it’s not really for me at the minute.”

And while the benefit of George’s experience on an individual basis is most commonly available to the very rich, through his appearances on ITV’s Better Homes with Carol Vorderman and BBC’s Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, his expertise has been available on a much wider scale, with his creative ideas being subsequently adopted by homeowners and other interior designers alike.

“On Better Homes, I was the first person to put a plasma-screen television into a bathroom. That had never been done before, but now, it’s quite commonplace in hotels and even some houses,” he says “Really, television changed everything for me, it is a fabulous experience, and it is so good to be able to reach a wider audience.”

George, who opened his first studio in 1984 and is now a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, is also keen to encourage the next generation of designers, as his way of giving something back. He takes on students, and has created the Society of British Interior Design.

“It’s so important, and so important to me, that people are given these opportunities, and that interior design is carried on by talented people into the future,”

he says. “I knew I had a gift, I could walk into a room and just see how it could look, but working at the Inland Revenue, I had no opportunity to express that. I was given an opportunity, and now I want to help others be given that chance.

“This is a fabulous region, and it’s already getting a reputation in London as somewhere with fantastic potential, and I want to help develop that. Newcastle and the North-East can be known as the place between London and Glasgow and Edinburgh which has talented future designers, fantastic educational programmes for future designers, and a really brilliant reputation for art and design.

“We can do that, and I’ll do as much as I can to help achieve that.”