
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

A House in Eastern Europe
The conversion was from a large old building in to two identical three story houses . The clients were two brothers and we did one of the houses. We commissioned a huge glamorous chandelier to view through three floors. We used plain toughened glass for the stair balustrade finished with a leather rapped handrail. The bedroom floor hallway featured a contemporary mosaic wall that we also commissioned from London. The project was a razed site with new build and foundations on

Interior Designer Stephen Ryan - On the history of beds.
The modern bed has a hugely illustrious history . Basically of two parts, the frame and the mattress , the former conveying style and status, with the latter, an ongoing search for comfort. The first known mattresses were probably made from leaves, grass and straw and covered with animal skins. If you thought waterbeds ( I’ve never tried one although would be intrigued to now, covered in silk/satin sheets, one would fly everywhere ?) were a 1970’s invention, behold, the ancie

2018 Interior Design Trends
It is seemingly time for the ‘Trend Forecast’ stuff again. So these are just a few things that have been ‘occurring’ in my own zeitgeist ……… Firstly, millennial pink ( ? ) as others have called it, that I love and predicted at least six years ago ( again) is still in. I only refer to baby through to peony , not that insipid beige cami knicker pink that people play safe with. On from the right pink, we can lead to pastels , all colours but with the same subtle tonality that yo

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

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