
Notting Hill: An artists Studio
Lovely 3.8 ceiling heights and large original artist studio windows gave us great scope when we devised and started with a blank shell canvas. We installed a five minutes old , looking three hundred years old, Parquet de Versailles oak wood floor. The walls are French upholstered with extra double width taffeta. Very heavy iron antique ( what I think are architectural ) rain hoppers mount on custom foundered brackets add a different tone for decoration and juxtapose well with

A London Townhouse
For this young professional couple we were given carte blanche to some degree which was nice. On a very limited budget we had fun with finishes and colour ( we don’t do beige anyway) and have since been commissioned for similar funky, colourful and contemporary schemes for other young families. A bedroom featuring two different troupe l’ceil wall finishes. A cream grid throughout with an overscale foliage wall panel in grey with tonal faux leather headboard. A Chanel throw ac

A holiday home in Puglia
Peculiar to the area of Puglia in the ‘heel’ of Italy are ancient lifestock/shepard dwellings , which have become fashionable to convert in to homes and hotels. These are known as Trulli . The facade wall still features stone loopholes where the horses might be tied up. The base of the trullo might have housed livestock , whilst in the conical upper section, the shepard/farmer would fashion a simple sleeping platform. A lower terrace area features an outdoor kitchen/barbecue

Christmas Interior Design Tips with Stephen Ryan
It's that time of the year again... Everyone is out buying presents for friends and family as well as pre-ordering the food ready for Christmas Week… I made a chestnut soup the other evening but someone (you might know) , ate it all before I got a chance. In the curiosity of Christmas world foods to try to prepare I came across the following ; pumpkin and walnut pie from Albania, roast goat from Portugal ( which I’ve had in the hills there ), oyster stew from USA, German roa

It Is Often Said, Your Biggest Spend Should Be On A Bed !
It is often said, your biggest spend should be on a bed! Possibly sensible as we spend a third of our lives on it?! I dislike low italian beds on the floor and always prefer a high bed/mattress that one should elegantly glide off! Hans Christian Anderson covered it in princess and the pea, where her royal stuff is only assured by her physical sensitivity to a pea under some greatly stacked number of mattresses. Go Girl! There are some excellent bed manufacturers in the UK Sa

Am I the only one loving using mirror architecturally?
I’ve often thought I should have shares in Pilkingtons !
I trust that you'll agree, that used architecturally mirror will enhance space

A Conversation With Stephen Ryan
Here I am in conversation with Jacqueline Duncan from the Inchbald School of Interior Design talking all things interiors; from schooling and inspiration to past experience with David Hicks. Over the years I have worked on many various projects from Oman and Moscow to Stately Homes in the Home Counties. As an interior design consultancy offering residential, corporate, hotel and restaurant interior design we strive to merge the past with the present to create a dramatic contr

Interior Design And The Psychology Of Colour
Colour psychology is the study of hues as a determinant of human behaviour, it influences perceptions that are not obvious such as the taste of food. We decorate with colour to lift, enhance or soothe our clients required perception. I rarely ask a client what their favourite colour is, it is sometimes quite obvious and evident. It is more useful a gauge to ask which colours they really do not gravitate towards ? That said, and avoiding preconception , I will often walk in to

Interior Design - More Bang For Your Buck
It’s September and everyone is on holiday .Nothing happening. Then comes Autumn, and just before Christmas people wonder about ‘facelifting’ their houses, apartments, boats or planes ? Whether it might be designing one room or a multitude , and not foregoing the all important brief , 'we want it cosy, we want it light , we want to create a feeling of space and clarity’, as an interior designer I always have one overriding objective . That is to 'cheat the volume’ wherever pos