HOUSE NOTES #18
A monthly round-up of what I have seen, places I have been and the inspiration they have given me, so you too can discover new things.
This newsletter, which began as a blog back in 2012, has always aimed to be more of a digital magazine designed to inspire and inform, to teach and to tantalise you with ideas for your own places and spaces, rather than (as the word newsletter implies) a personal round-up of events. If you scroll through the tabs along the top you will find How To pieces, deep dives into the design of individual rooms and whole houses, interviews with designers and tastemakers, as well as shopping guides, interiors news and details of my own interior design retreats, where you can join me at my house in Turin or in Italy’s design capital Milan and maybe (working on this) Venice.
Then there are also just the posts where I share some of the things that have caught my eye and that I have either bought or would buy, given elastic walls and a bottomless budget - not forgetting my monthly Drop-in Design Clinic, where you can join me on Zoom to discuss your personal decorating dilemmas; the next one will be on Monday 8 June at 2pm.
I write a couple of free-to-read posts a month and the rest is for paid subscribers because, as you can imagine, putting all this together takes a lot of time. So if you would like to come to the Design Clinic or dive into the Archive, as well as receiving one extra post a week, then you can sign up at the button below for £7 a month.
If you would like to sample a typical paid post, I have removed the paywall from the three below so you can see if you fancy joining us on a monthly, or annual, basis.
Now on with the post. First up, news and events.
I spent half of last month in Italy as we were hosting our first ever Milan Design Retreat. Among the highlights, of which there were many, we visited the Liberty Printing Mill where the iconic (and I don’t use that word lightly) Tana Lawn is printed, took a guided tour of the Villa Necchi and were invited to see the Casa Fornasetti. In between we went to the city’s phenomenal Triennale design museum, saw haute couture at the new Armani Silos, and ate and drank incredible food and cocktails.
The good news is that if you missed out this year I’m planning to do it again next year. We have a great hotel, some new restaurants to sample, and it’s going to be fantastic. Let me know if you are interested in joining us.
In the meantime I have tweaked this autumn’s programme in Turin to include new expert speakers (details on those coming soon) and a visit to the famous house of Carlo Mollino. Mollino was one of the most important figures of 20th-Century culture - product designer, interior designer, architect, photographer, writer and above all eccentric - and his works are fought over. After his death it was discovered that he had bought and furnished an apartment in Turin that he never slept in but which he created as a sort of modern Egyptian “book of the dead” which he intended as his own spiritual waiting room. It’s an incredible place and I’m so pleased to be able to add this to our itinerary. If you would like to join me in Turin for a long weekend of design workshops held in my house, a visit to the famous Balon vintage market, and that visit to the Mollino house - while staying in a design-led hotel in the landmark former Fiat factory (where we will have dinner on the roof on the first night) then you can contact me via the website or leave a comment below and I’ll be in touch. You can also get a sense of the Milan itinerary too - to which I am, hopefully, adding another great private apartment tour, and have just confirmed a fantastic new hotel where we will be staying.
Back in London and this week I went to the opening of the annual Wow!house in Chelsea Design Harbour. Now in its fifth year, this interiors showcase (known also as the Oscars of the design world) brings together 21 designers across 22 “rooms”, with new fabrics, furniture, smart tech and, crucially, ideas. I went first thing in the morning on the media tour, where everyone is looking for something new and clever, and to the opening party in the evening, where I toured the rooms with an architect and an interior designer, both of whom were instantly full of inspiration to include in future projects.
It’s open until 2 July and a single non-trade ticket costs £28 (there are concessions and specials), so check the website for details and to book.
Here are some of my favourite Wow!house details:
And two of my favourite rooms:
There was much, much more, to dive into, so I will return to this at a later date when I have the official photos which will be much better at highlighting the details than my snatched phone shots.
The rest of this post (for paid subscribers) includes things that have stopped me scrolling, pictures I have sent to clients for rooms we are working on, and other items that have caught my eye. For the link to the Drop-in Design Clinic and access to this whole design magazine, you can hit the button below and join us: