Rethinking British interiors

I don’t think there’s any other country on earth where you can say, ‘that’s American interior design’ or ‘that’s Australian interior design’ and have such a clear idea of what that means. But if you asked me to describe British interior design, I think you’d get a very tight bunch of answers. We recently did a few apartments at 60 Curzon Street in Mayfair and, for one of them, we decided we were only going to use British makers. I think about 80 or 90% of the whole apartment ended up being British-made, but I don’t think it looked anything like a chintzy country house. I think British interior design needs something to mess its hair up. I would love to change what it means to be a British designer and what British style looks like. 

I’m a big believer that antiques should provide a sense of humility to an interior. There are lovely dealers where you can spend the equivalent of a down payment on a house on a chest of drawers, but I always like to have antique pieces that feel like the supporting act, making a room feel a bit more humble and lived in. For new pieces, I never want to just palm off a drawing to a maker and say, ‘There you go, do it.’ I want feedback. I’m always encouraged when someone says, ‘I’ve got your drawing, I’ve got your brief, I know what you want to achieve, but I’ve thought of this – can we add this detail?’ All of a sudden you get this far more robust product, and the journey around a piece of furniture becomes much more enjoyable, not only for us but also for the client. There’s such joy and enthusiasm in that collaboration and communication.