Ali – ‘Studio Ashby: Home, Art, Soul’ by Sophie Ashby
I have been fangirling Sophie Ashby ever since I sat on the front row to listen to her talk about her creative journey at London Design Week in 2018. Therefore I was beyond excited to get my hands on her highly anticipated debut book ‘Studio Ashby: Home, Art, Soul’ which celebrates ten years of Studio Ashby, featuring twelve homes, including five never before seen projects.
The imaginative mix of colour, courage and comfort jump off the pages and clearly demonstrate that Sophie collaborates with, rather than dictates to, her clients, to produce extraordinary homes. The collection of projects covered in the book include a De Gournay-wallpapered San Francisco apartment for an art collector, the Grade II-listed Regency villa overlooking Kensington Gardens in which JM Barrie wrote Peter Pan, a grand duplex on Paris’s Left Bank and her own former home in Spitalfields.
There is always a focus on art – ‘the diving board for the mood and feel of the room’ – alongside bold shapes, strong colour, vibrant textiles and a mix of contemporary and vintage furniture, which when all combined create a fresh eclectic style.
Alex – ‘More Rooms’ by Katie Ridder
As a lover of colour and pattern, I find this book by Katie Ridder to be interiors heaven. Based in New York, Katie loves colour drenching using bold primary colours mixed with interesting patterns, furniture and accessories. There is nothing fussy about her interiors; she has a tailored approach with comfort reigning supreme. If I had a very healthy budget and was looking for a designer for my own home (and lived in the USA!) this is who I would turn to.
However as sadly this is not the case, I can take comfort from her exquisite book for inspiration. It is helpfully divided up into different spaces – entrance halls, living rooms, family rooms, dining room/kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms so is very easy to navigate. Each chapter starts with her thoughts on how she would approach each type of space, tips on layout and how to add depth and interest. There is then an abundance of glorious interiors to inspire the most hardened colour-phobe!
This is a book I frequently dip in and out of, and every time I revisit, I find another little clever design detail.
Hannah – ‘Perfect English’ by Ros Byam Shaw
This book was gifted to me by my godmother just before I embarked on the redecoration of my Edwardian home in Teddington. I am a certified history geek and somewhat of a classicist when it comes to my personal style. I have spent many happy hours leafing through the beautifully shot English interiors within and immersing myself in the stories of the inhabitants; a fascinating bunch from authors to artists, with a scattering of revered interior designers thrown in.
‘Perfect English’ showcases the quintessential English style of interior design, which is hard to define but instantly recognisable, with endless visual appeal. As the author Ros Byam Shaw states, “it is as much an attitude as a look”.
The common denominator is that all the houses featured have interiors that are totally at ease with themselves. Interiors that casually perfect just the right balance of colour, pattern, scale, proportion, old and new, symmetry and asymmetry. From farmhouses to Georgian rectories, Cotswolds manors to Suffolk cottages, each house is designed around the people who live within them, rather than designed to impress.
It’s this relaxed, layered, lived in look which I personally aspire to achieve in my own home. Comfort is of paramount importance – you will find pages filled with roaring fires, squishy sofas, fat cushions and enormous baths. And of course, there’s an abundance of beautiful period features to appreciate – it’s elaborate cornices, high skirtings, elegant archways and original floorboards galore. We are so fortunate in the UK to have buildings seeped in history and character; this is what makes them such a joy to work on.
On a practical level, there are sections at the end of each chapter which give useful and accessible ideas for how to furnish a house in that particular style. At the back, there is a directory of sources which is a secret interior design bible for everything from antiques dealers to fabric and wallcovering suppliers.
Words of wisdom from Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler are littered alongside beautiful imagery by Chris Tubbs. I find this book equally inspiring and informative, and quite simply a joy to possess.
