I’m originally from Toronto, Canada, and moved to England about a decade ago. I first worked in London, then my partner was relocated to the southwest. We had been to Bath before and loved it, so we ended up moving there. As I explored more of Somerset and Gloucestershire, I stumbled across Tetbury, where my studio is now based; it’s full of lovely antique shops and is a bit of a design hub. English interiors are, to me, more of an approach than a style. In North America, there is often a desire for interiors to be perfect, completely curated and all pulled together. But English country interiors are more inherited – a little bit more thrown together, more collected. There is a history.

There is access here to so many incredible antiques, going straight to the source. Tetbury has fantastic little old mills, fabric companies, and antique shops like Lorfords and Brownrigg. Lewis & Wood and Zardi & Zardi are down the road, and Fermoie is not that far away either – we use them a lot. For antiques and art, the Cotswolds is fantastic.

Bringing a relaxed and layered feeling to a home takes time. It’s a process. We usually start with a concept – a palette, the building, the direction – but we don’t define every single thing at the outset. It is a journey of finding the right pieces. A lot of it is about the hunt. I love that part of the job – going to Paris, going to flea markets, finding things you weren’t expecting. Often the outcome is better because it feels more collected and interesting.

A room should evolve. If the bones are good – the kitchen, the flooring – then it can be as simple as changing the colour of an island, or putting a different wallpaper up in one of the rooms, small shifts that keep things fresh. I always like opportunities to style things – even small gestures can keep things feeling alive. That’s really how I think about English interiors: they should feel like something you live in, not a fixed composition.

Andrew Jonathan Griffiths of London-based studio A New Day has arrived at OTZI’s Norfolk workshop with a drawing – or something in the vicinity of one. “I would be over-selling it by calling it a sketch,” he admits. His idea is for a pair of bespoke bedside tables, based on a piece he’s seen and wants to use as a starting point: OTZI’s taper table, a solid timber form wrapped in bridle leather. It’s very lovely, showcasing traditional leatherwork and lacing, with a hardwood top. “We love collaborating with British makers, where you can see the hand in the product. When you’re putting their pieces in people’s houses, you know the story and resonance behind it,” he says. From there, and as always happens with the best collaborations, the conversation takes over.

OTZI sources their leather from, among others, Billy Tannery, a first of its kind small-batch UK tannery run by a friend, Jack Millington, where wild deer hides – a byproduct of deer culling to prevent damage to native ecosystems –  are processed with full-grain integrity. “Most commercial suede is split, but once you start getting to the higher end of suede, you’re using the full thickness of the hide,” says Otis. “You’ve got the full strength of it.” These bedside tables should, in other words, take some living.

The finished bespoke bedside tables will take a taper form in fumed timber, wrapped in full-thickness chocolate suede with a blanket-stitch detail down the side, finished with a red leather circle inlaid in the top – making the conversation part of the object itself. “The level of detail and backstory – like where that hide was from – is what makes it special,” says Andrew. “It makes you think about materials more, and interact day to day with pieces differently than if you’re just buying something off the shelf”. In the maker’s workshop, an idea finds its form.