A NORTH Yorkshire based interior designer has been shortlisted for two prestigious Northern Design Awards.

Averil Blundell has made it through to the finals of this year's awards - highly thought of accolades that celebrate style and design outside London.

Averil set up her design consultancy, Averil Blundell Interior Design, in 2012 after establishing her career in London. She has been shortlisted in the residential project over £250,000 category for her work on a five-bedroom, Grade II-listed townhouse in London; and in the category for residential projects under £250,000 for transforming a North Yorkshire farmhouse and creating a garden room.

Averil said: "The awards are highly prized in the interior design world, so I am extremely pleased and incredibly proud to have been selected as a finalist with not one, but two, of my projects."

“They are a complete contrast to one another, but both highlight my philosophy that a space has to be, first and foremost, functional – if it looks pretty but isn't practical, it isn't well designed."

The finalists are now being considered by the judging panel and winners will be announced at a gala dinner on Friday, November 24 in Manchester.