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Greta Apap Bologna studied interior design in Florence then returned at 22 to join the practice of well-known architect Ray Demicoli as a part-timer. “He took me on trial and gave me the Oracle Casino job to work on to see what I could do, telling me that if I proved myself, then he would take me on full time,” she says. “The client was very happy with my work, and I ended up staying with Ray Demicoli for seven years, running his interior design department.”

Greta then felt the need to move on and out and set up her own dedicated interior design practice in 2004. “It seemed to be the natural and obvious step,” she says. “I took on one part-timer and it grew from there. One of my very first clients was somebody I had worked for while at the architecture firm. I felt I could not accept the brief without first speaking to Ray and getting his approval and go-ahead, because it wouldn’t have been right otherwise, but he gave me his blessing and said, of course, you should do it. I’m very grateful for that.”

Greta enjoys working on residential and commercial projects equally. Many of her jobs

ProfileINTERIOR DESIGNER: Greta Apap BolognaPhotograph of Greta by Alan Carville

at the architects’ firm were commercial, and she developed a good feeling for that kind of work. “I love the challenge of designing offices and other commercial spaces, because it forces you to think differently to the way you would when designing a home,” she explains. “There are all sorts of considerations, and a major difference is that you must consider what’s right for your client’s clients and customers. You have to do what you should to help your client bring in the business. I would never give up either commercial or residential. I love both sorts of work.”

Flats and apartments have over the last few years been by far the bulk of real estate development in Malta, with many of them sold to people who take for granted that they must use the services of an interior designer rather than just moving their furniture in and arranging it as they think best. Lots of them are starting from scratch, like couples who are downsizing, men and women who are buying alone after a relationship has broken up, and investors who live elsewhere and need somebody to take on the decoration of their new homes in Malta. continues…

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“I have received many briefs for work on individual flats, most of them in the new developments,” Greta says. “And every one of those has come through word of mouth. People usually visit my website first after hearing about me, then they decide whether they like my work or not. If they like my work, that creates a natural affinity, and we know we are speaking the same language. Building a good relationship with them means that several of them have become repeat clients and they recommend me to other members of their family and friends.”

Greta Apap Bologna likes to merge her style with her client’s own ideas. “Sometimes a client will have no ideas at all, but will have seem something I’ve done and liked it, so we take that as a starting-point.” The basis of her work in on the ‘bare bones’ of the building, creating rooms and spaces that act as the framework for the furnishing that comes later. She is especially emphatic about lighting. “This can make or break a place, totally, so I give it a lot of importance,” she says. “Even when you have a tight budget, you can go that extra mile with lighting and it looks so much better. But these things are best thought about at the construction stage as otherwise it becomes quite difficult to get what is right.”

Her love of lighting keeps her reading and training and travelling to visit lighting manufacturers to discover what is new: “We have come such a long way these last few years; so much is happening and it is so important to keep up. Sometimes, I am commissioned to work on just the lighting for particular projects.”

Greta occasionally gets involved in the decoration of interiors too. While this might seem one of the most obvious aspects of an

interior designer’s job, it is actually less of a common requirement than we think. Clients will ask an interior designer to work on the furnishing of their places, bringing the basics together, but then stop short at the decoration, which involves all the finishing touches that really make the place home, and which can be a lot more personal. “I do get to dress up some of the spaces, especially when I am working for people who don’t live in Malta,” she says. “I find myself choosing the bedding, pots and pans, plants. I sometimes even stock up their fridges.”

So what is Greta Apap Bologna’s preferred decoration style? “I really do prefer to mix old with new. It makes a room so much

more interesting. I love to give old pieces a new lease of life, taking a tatty old chair and reupholstering it. That kind of thing gives a space some depth and a story. Some of my clients are moving to a new flat because they are downsizing, perhaps after their family has left home. They see it as a completely new start, and want to sell off all their furniture and start afresh, leaving the past behind. But I persuade them to take some of their more significant pieces and integrate them into their new home. Elements of the past are comforting, and beautiful antiques add a completely new dimension to an interior.”

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“Even when you have a tight budget, you can go that extra mile with lighting and it looks so much better.”