Words: Tina Edward Gunawardhana
It is a bitterly cold day in London as I wait for Dee Gibson to arrive. She is heading off to Sri Lanka in a few days and her days are crammed with work. I give her time to make her way across London as there are leaves on the line and the tube is a chaotic mess. When she breezes in, her megawatt smile brings an instant warmth to the café we have decided to meet at. We launch straight into our interview and within minutes it is clear that Dee is passion personified and her eyes light up when she speaks about interior design, an industry which has captivated and consumed her.
Dinesha aka Dee Gibson is blazing a trail in the world of interior design in the UK. Born in London to Sri Lankan
parents, Dee has a host of academic qualifications including a BEng Electronic Engineering (London University)
in addition to being an ACCA qualified accountant. Dee confesses to being a “frustrated architect” who wanted to study architecture at university. However her parents steered her into a more traditional career.
Dee says that she decided to transition from crunching numbers as an accountant to creating interiors when a close friend passed away. “We always talked about my regret in not following a creative path - so it was a catalyst to retrain. When I was faced with the choice of starting a new career from scratch aged 32 or go back to finance, I dived straight into my new life.”
After a decade of working in finance in London, Dee retrained and obtained a Diploma in Interior Design from The
London Design School. She is a full member of British Institute of Interior Design (BIID). One of her career highlights is being included in the Top 5 BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) Women in Travel (2021) and a Silver award for the Most Inspiring Business Woman (2021).
