For our first home tour in our Tweed Tours series on Youtube, we were invited into the home of Emily Olphert, a designer with a background in lighting and interior architecture.
Currently working for a sofa showroom, we asked her about her current projects and plans. What she said next was not what we expected.
“I’m training to be an electrician in hopes to do a bit of installation with design,” she said.
Women In Trade
Of course we were intrigued and asked why. Emily previously worked in a lighting showroom but found that there was a disconnect between lighting designers and electricians. She felt the gap needed to be closed.
“It was [my] experiences with some trade people and friends talking about their experiences,” she continued. “They didn’t love having a man in their home. I just thought it’s a niche for a female electrician plus there’s a lot of people that would not put things in the places that I would as a designer. So putting a light switch somewhere because it’s easier rather than the best practical place.”
And the consensus among her and her friends is felt elsewhere in the UK. Just 2% of the UK’s tradespeople are women. There is a much greater demand for tradeswomen than the supply because people feel safer having them in their homes. Kingfisher estimates that doubling the current number of tradeswomen would boost economic growth by £800m a year.
Beauty And Function
Emily is also training to be an electrician because she finds the more practical elements of lighting design interesting. “I thought it’d be quite an interesting path to try to use my design skills with a practical sense,” she said, “because I also don’t love sitting behind a desk, which is quite a lot of interior design.”
Combining the two disciplines allows for beauty and function in lighting design. What comes to mind is the saying: “The girls that get it, get it.” It’s encouraging to have a tradesperson who understands the vision but also a designer who understands how the design works. That doesn’t necessarily come from hiring a tradeswoman but it does take time to find someone who can do both well.
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