Inêz Fino

She learned to speak Portuguese at home, with her parents and grandparents, without ever taking a class. She was born in Portugal, but she spent her youth in Great Britain. She attended New Hall School in Chelmsford and took Interior Design at Regent Academy, in London. She returned to the land of her birth when she was 23. From then on, her life has been made up of ups and downs. And the smile on her face tells us that she is happy. But she has also gone through uncertain times. With the pandemic she was forced to reduce the costs of the studio, to think differently, to work more in outsourcing. But fortunately, this year, the projects have returned in force. Inêz loves what she does. She likes to doodle and sketch. She likes to show her clients her thoughts, so that they can be part of every moment of the process. Then she moves from drawing, from samples, to the real ‘thing’. And this is where she wows people with the results. She spoke to Villas&Golfe about her childhood, the beginning of her career, projects, COVID and the world of interior design.

Who is Inêz Fino?
I have changed a lot during my life. I used to be very vibrant, very outgoing, but with life’s blows I’ve changed. Nowadays I’m a much more relaxed person. I’m outgoing, but more in the sense of being an out-of-the-box thinker, I lead a calmer life, although I’m always running around, very busy. I’m very open, I smile a lot, and I’m sometimes very serious, because I like to listen and consider things.

And has that out-of-the-box thinking always been well received in interior design projects?
Yes. Clients want our more extravagant ideas. Sometimes they come to us with pieces and say «I want this, but different», and I give my most ‘out-of-the-box’ ideas. The other day a client showed me a fine old mosaic table. We were preparing a large living area, so I suggested making other tables, to complement the playful colours that the mosaics have, and we adapted the existing one, and it all worked out really well. A way for us to make use of that piece. It’s that kind of ‘creative moments’ that clients expect from us.

And on a personal level, thinking ‘out of the box’...
Speaking of décor, on a personal level, I’ve been doing my own houses for years. I’ve lived in several. I’m sick of change in my life (she laughs), but the truth is that it’s not the same as doing a project for a client. I like to examine every corner of my house, every material that exists and I ask myself, «does this look good with this new collection? What about painting the door blue-grey? What if... »

Your mother and grandmother always had a taste for decorating. Your mother, as far as I know, was one of the first people to take a course in Interior Design. Was it predestined that you would do interior design too?

When we were small and grew up with mum changing things around the house, making changes, and asking «do you think this piece of furniture looks good over there, etc.»; or when she would take me with her to the factories, to Viúva Lamego, where I saw the prisoners painting the tiles; or then we would choose the fabrics we brought from England... it was only inevitable that I would follow this path. And I had a great time. So, I’ve been this [an interior designer] since I was a little girl, with my mother, and, sometimes, with my grandmother. On both sides of the family.

Professionally speaking, you have 26 years of experience. What baggage do you bring with you?
When I finished my degree in England, I came back to Portugal and tried to work as an interior designer. At the time, there were a handful of well-known designers, who I knew very well because they had either studied with my mother – who also studied Interior Design –, or were personal friends. I went to see all of them, but they would say to me: «Inês, I don’t mind you coming to work with me, but I can’t pay you, it’ll have to be like an internship, unpaid». The truth is I had finished my studies and I wanted to earn some money, even if it wasn’t very much. So, I went into a completely different area. I went into the arts, as a teacher, in São Domingos de Rana, and I stayed there for a short period. In the meantime, I was invited by Adelaide Rebelo de Andrade, who needed help in her studio, and I ended up working on some really cool projects, anything from hotels, to the homes of famous people, politicians. I learnt a lot. I dealt with suppliers, spoke to clients, listened to their stories, because it’s their stories that we pass on to the interiors. Even nowadays I still work with famous people, particularly footballers – they are more fun, more ‘out of the box’.

What does it mean to you to take care of the interiors of people’s homes?
When I’m working on a project I invest a great deal of affection in it, because I am looking after the well-being of people who trust me. Dedicating yourself 100% to the project and to each client’s character is rewarding.

«I like to put the client’s spirit into the project, not mine»

Do you take the client’s taste into careful consideration?
I spent seven years in Angola and there is one thing I learnt: I have to put my taste aside. Clients have their own vision and dreams. I ask them to take note of everything that means something to them (a walk, a restaurant, a hotel, a photograph...), because I really like to put the client’s spirit into the project, not mine.

What do you remember of the years spent in Great Britain?
I was born in Portugal and I went to live in Great Britain after the 25th of April Revolution. My father went there to take care of a factory belonging to the family. And I stayed there until I was 23. Everything left its impression on me. I think the most intense years in a person’s life are when they are at their youngest, when you’re growing up. I have family friends there, children I played with, had fun with, studied with, it was all very intense. I love thinking about the walks we used to take. We’d go boating on the canals, we’d visit castles, villages and towns, such as Shakespeare’s, we’d go to antique fairs. My father loved antiques. And in England there were some of the most amazing antique exhibitions you can imagine, they were in old manor houses, for example. I really miss that.

Did visiting those fairs, those palaces, provide you with inspiration?
I was lucky enough to be born into a family that had, until I was 15, large houses – then they had to sell them – I lived in the Palácio Ratton, which belonged to my grandmother, where I played in all those rooms. There was that smell of wood everywhere, the highly polished silver, the cushions perfectly in place. That grew up with me. The house at Monte da Penha was also my grandparents’ summer house. I had this on both sides of the family, I always saw my grandmother, my aunt, doing a lot of decorating, getting very involved in projects. I grew up with that. For me, it’s entirely natural to start envisioning a scenario for a person and do something very special with it, just as someone who can write very well, can do poems or write a book.

Do you still pass on that childhood experience to your projects?
Definitely. I ended up with a sharper, clinical eye. Anything that’s out of place, a poorly tied bow, for example, bothers me. I have to have everything perfect.

Do you like traditional things, or do you feel that today’s world forces us to be more ‘modern’?
I am a natural-born traditionalist. From the places I’ve lived, from what I’ve learned, even at boarding school, New Hall School, where I was studying arts. The school building was was a palace that Henry VIII left to Anne Boleyn, it’s a bit like Harry Potter’s Hogwarts. I come from a classical background, but obviously, nowadays, everyone wants modern. I do what the client wants. I have to do modern. But I really like to mix things up. Instead of a totally classic house, I make it modern, but with occasional details of older pieces, sometimes inherited pieces, which people have, but don’t know what to do with.

At what point in your life did you feel the need to create Inês Fino?
I always wanted to create Inês Fino, but my education forced me to hunt out experience. Experience was the most important thing for me. Working with the designer I mentioned earlier was enough to understand the market. However, I missed learning more and went back to England to work with other professionals, and then I ended up spending seven years in Angola, where I worked for a company that was developing several hotels. Meanwhile, my boyfriend at the time advised me to set up my own studio. I was already doing projects for friends and family, and in Angola the desire arose to create Inêz Fino.

«I am natural-born traditionalist»

How was the experience in Angola?
Although I have always worked with foreigners, and I am used to that, in Angola they have another way of working, which is not the European way. They either want everything right there and then, or they take a long time to make a decision. I ended up doing several projects there, some were even paid for and didn’t go ahead. At the time, engineer Albina Assis came to me to work on the decoration of the Angola pavilion in Milan [Biennale], and that was an extraordinary professional experience.

Which projects have left the greatest impression on you?
I have done many projects with which I did not identify personally, but there you are, I don't have to worry about myself, I have to worry about the client. It’s the client who is going to live in that house. The most important ones were projects like the decoration of the São Bento Palace, at the time when António Guterres was Prime Minister. And more recently, the one I did for a footballer, which was very interesting and fun.

Are you working on any projects at the moment?
I’m working on a house for some foreign clients. I work a lot with foreigners. I work with lawyers, consultants, who bring foreigners here to invest. That’s my market. Obviously, I also work with Portuguese people, although the projects are smaller. After COVID-19, this year, there have been many requests for projects. People have realised that they want to live in houses with a garden, to enjoy the fresh air.

«I come from a classical background, but obviously, nowadays, everyone wants modern»

Over the past two years, with the growth in real estate, has there been more demand for interior design projects?
Not for me. In fact, I had to downsize my studio. Although today I still work with my own staff, and even more, but we outsource, I had to reduce costs a lot, because the contracts that I had, in particular in the hotel business, and rental houses, all stopped, because the clients wanted to see what was going to happen in the market. I was a bit worried at the time. Suddenly, this year, there’s been a boom in foreigners coming here and asking for things. Right now, I’ve got my hands full. I’m doing a house in Quinta da Beloura for some Singaporean clients, who are coming to live in Portugal permanently. In addition to that, I have an apartment in Belém, and a house in Belas Clube de Campo, among others. I'm rehabilitating myself.