A stunning loft conversion with glamorous furnishings, a period house with a contemporary twist. An haute couture creation or an updated toile du jouy fabric. An upholstered sofa that adds definition or a killer heel. What do all these have in common...? Designers.

Creating new concepts for their clients or using iconic design pieces juxtaposed with vintage and retro classics; bespoke wallpapers and fabrics that marry geometric patterns with organic forms. Delicate ceramics with a pure elegance or busy, quirky interiors with eclectic flea market treasures. But how do they decorate their own homes? In “Designers” a new addition to our feature theme section we have a variety of designers’ homes... click here Pin It Now!

Sir Peter Osborne

Sir Peter Osborne, one half of the successful interior design company Osborne & Little has access to some of the most wonderful fabrics and papers but hadn't decorated his home for ten years. When he finally got round to it he selected from ranges produced by his company, many with a 1930s Art deco feel. Osborne is a great collector and many of the diverse collection of objects around the house have been found by him, including a bust by Dame Elizabeth Frink, a Fornestti chair and Matthew Hilton candlesticks. Lady Felicity Osborne worked for O&L for many years before starting her own catering and Deli business... view feature Pin It Now!

A Bright New World

Leaving a fashion job in London for rural Cheshire gave Jan Constantine not just a colourful new home, but a fresh career, too. While visiting her sister on her farm near Crewe, Constantine and her husband, David Ralphs, saw a house and outbuildings for sale in a neighbouring village. They bought the property and went back to London to sell up and move. Constantine, who worked in the fashion industry at the time, commuted for a while until they had converted the buildings next to their new home, turning them into holiday cottages. The main house was once the doctor’s; he held surgery in what is today the dining room, with a damask-covered table and sparkling chandelier. Where the village bakery once dispensed warm loaves and spicy buns, there is now an office, and one of the store buildings was turned into the HQ of Constantine’s furnishings company... view feature Pin It Now!

Creative Genes

One of today's very hot and innovative fashion designers is Maxjenny Forslund, who has opened Copenhagen's first mini-department major, K29, selling her eye-catching collections with asymmetric shapes, bright colours and organic materials along with her mother, Margareta Forslund designs and father Owe Johansson jewellery. Maxjenny started up its first fashion brand, "Les Couleurs Nationales," which became known for its sparkling form - and colour language, where the colourful design was her main characteristic. Her career quickly took the momentum and one day she was approached by Madonna's stylist, who wanted to use some of her designs in a music video. It is obvious that it is not from strangers that Maxjenny got her creative genes. Her father is a silversmith, her mother is fashion designer and sister is a glass designer. Born and raised in the scenic part of Southeast Sweden. Maxjennys private oasis is the apartment in Vesterbro, when the opportunity arose to combine the neighbouring apartment with their own, they jumped at the chance immediately... view feature Pin It Now!

Missoni

Rosita and Ottavio Missoni's homes are not just proof of the fashion duo's natural eye for colour ­ but for objects, collected all over the world. In the sprawling contemporary six-bedroom double-storey, built for Italy¹s leading knitwear designers in the early Seventies, rooms are bursting with objects collected all over the world. As well as a colourful collection of furnishings, ranging from Hans Wegner chairs to Cittero sofas, there are paintings of all colours, styles and provenances on every wall ­ from Di Chirico and Balthus to photographs by Lartigue looms... view feature Pin It Now!

Made To Measure

This south London cottage is owned by one of Britain's leading fashion designers who also has a passion for art and ceramics. His well tailored home features prize pieces of vintage furniture and collections of china, some of the paintings are his own work and the bathroom and kitchen fittings are also his designs now being commercially produced... view feature Pin It Now!

Where The Wild Things Are

By adopting the ‘experiments and errors’ of his design company Timorous Beasties, Alistair McAuley has created a vibrant, eclectic den for his young family. Timorous Beasties was founded in 1990 by Alistair McAuley and Paul Simmons, who met while studying textile design at Glasgow School of art. At the home McAuley shares with his wife, Denise and their children. “This is the first time in ten years that I have lived with so much of our stuff, and it isn’t as horrendous as I thought it might be,” says McAuley. “It’s also good to have the fabrics and wallpapers at home, because when you are working with the designs, you don’t really get an idea of how they look until you see them hanging.”
When it came to doing up the detached house in the Glasgow suburbs, McAuley didn’t have it all his own way. Denise, once an art teacher and now part of the architect and interiors team of Occa Design, is no slouch on the creative front herself. view interior feature Pin It Now!

Northern Light

Swapping London for Glasgow was a good move for interior designer Anna Murray. Her stylish reworking of a grand Victorian interior has provided all the family with a sunlight-flooded arena in which to work and play. There is no doubt that the proportions of the Murray’s Glasgow home are impressive. The generous space, large shuttered windows, original cornice detail and even a panel of Victorian wallpaper survive, but much of the infrastructure had to be stripped out and replaced... view interior feature Pin It Now!