My Style

Born in US. My (British) parents moved back to Harpenden when I was 2; with 3 kids and a container of American garage sale, furniture. My parents were DIYers, second-hand furniture shoppers and trend haters; mum could be found tiling a bathroom and sewing or upholstering and dad turned his hand to everything. Our home was 70’s English / country garden meets mid-west America - and it hasn’t changed much since. It was home and I only got to choose my wall colour at 16 (which was a choice of blue’s which I matched to the light of the room)

My parents met and worked their whole careers in travel. We holidayed every year in Greece and were often lucky enough to go on holidays twice a year (because back in the day work perks were really good). We would usually do a sort of product tour of the hotels in the region, on every holiday, and subsequently my sister and I ended up in Travel Product jobs for many years. To this day, my excitement for any hotel interior is unmatched even by my Rightmove stalking.

My parents loved everything about Greece; especially the traditional and uncomfortable, woven taverna chairs. I still love it and have always been inspired by the materials, textures and fabrics more than the amazing blue hues, that for me belong (almost only) there. My mother and sister still continue to paint everything white and blue for the love of it.

When I was old enough to choose where to live, I went abroad and spent the winters in the alps. Different alpine countries have a different style and design but they all mix of the ultra modern with the oldie-worldie, with extensive wood craftsmanship. There were textures galore, cosy lighting and the only bright white to see was in the snow (and there was a more of that back then). But after 6 years I spent too many nights watching Notting Hill and Pride and Prejudice; I went for the cosyness and returned for the Britishness.

I met my husband quite quickly on my return to UK and spent much of our first year together in his flat in the Barbican Estate. I was not a fan (of the Barbican buildings), initially. It felt imposing and oppressive, from the outside. It’s not called brutalist for nothing. But inside was a different story; I loved the feel and community; albeit a strange collision of city workers and creatives. There was a permanence to it and many of the homes are still as they were originally designed and built. As such it and 70’s design has a permanent place in me.

We bought our first place together in North London. We looked at 55+ flats and found ‘the one’; with Georgian sash windows, period features and high ceilings. Triple tick. To this day I still can’t match the light in that place and when there’s that much light you can play with some really vivid colour. We loved it and loved doing it up. But we moved out of London to find peace and space…

We found peace and a lot of outside space.

When we moved to our still current cottage home, I was working for tourism in California and travelling out there a fair bit - for work and play. My office, full of women mostly in the same time of life, was abuzz with travel frolics, fashion, stories and a love of California style. I felt lucky enough to spend time in a myriad of places with a cocktail of people and I fell in love with California style. There’s a Mediterranean feel to it, often hints of wood and a 70’s nod; it’s relaxed, soft-edged and homely-cool. It feels like a fusion of a few of the styles I love.