PEOPLE think interior designers pick colours for walls and cushions for couches. But when you're designing a house from scratch you're looking at everything, from underground heating to custom designed doors and designing individual staircases. There's so much more background work to do before you get to looking at colours and fabrics. And you have to make the biggest impact with the budget you have and the style your customer wants.

I didn't know that I wanted to be an interior designer but I was always artistic and loved drawing and making things. I knew I wanted to go to art college, when there was this perception about it that you were wasting your time a bit. I'm really glad that I did follow that path. My parents always encouraged me, even though I'm sure they probably wondered 'Where is she going with this?' Everything has to be designed, so I guess someone has to do it.

Back when I was in college, interior design wasn't big business. But now you have young professionals and couples in their 60s who want interior designers. The building trade has declined a lot in the last year, but thankfully it hasn't affected us. There's so much going on in Limerick, we can only see things getting a lot busier for us.

Intelligent homes are becoming very popular, where you can open your curtains by remote control, have plasma TVs over your bathtub and gilt framed TVs that look like a mirror until you flick the switch. There's actually a lot of demand for these homes. It used to be crazy expensive but a lot of people are specialising in this area now and it's becoming a lot cheaper.

I think I'd need to have lots of houses because there are so many styles that I love. I'd love a big old Georgian house with high ceilings that I could restore and I'd have a mix of modern pieces and antiques. And there would definitely be a lot of colour. I like the minimalist look too but I think I'd get bored of it very easily, or else I'd probably be changing it around a lot.

People often don't realise what they like because they might not have seen it before. If you hire an interior designer you're probably not too set in your ways. You want something that's new and fresh. We usually end up being great friends with our clients because you could be working on a project for up to two years. You need to have good relations with everyone from plumbers and electricians to carpenters, to make sure that the job gets done to the highest standard, in time and on budget.

The Library Bar in Ennis would have to be our favourite project to date. Check it out - it's hopping! It's really an eclectic quirky mix of the modern and old with some antique furniture thrown in. It's a very different look that we went for and it has worked very well. We try to make all our projects different, so you don't have a definite style that becomes boring for people. You can't have people saying 'Oh, Missi Gray did this again.'

It's always very exciting when a place opens. You never really know the end product until you see it on the opening night. There's so many months of work and you don't get a chance to put in a piece of furniture and decide that doesn't go in. Everything is ordered way in advance and every little aspect has to be covered.

We probably drive people nuts, because we're always checking out everything, from door handles to taps. If you're going into restaurants or shops with people who aren't into design, sometimes you have to keep your mouth shut.

But you have to keep our eyes open all the time. Going to London is a real inspiration - there's so much great design there. Travel and fashion are great for inspiration, and sometimes you don't even know where an idea comes from. We try to veer away from trends, because they come and go very fast.

Interior design is a competitive business, but what works for us is that we're great friends. We went to college together and we tend to think the same. It's great to have someone to bounce your ideas off. We'll disagree about things but in the end we always come with something that really works.

Missi Gray Interior Design can be contacted at 086 2110755