House Guest by Country & Town House | Interior Designer Interviews

As we are well into the summer season – with Royal Ascot behind us and Wimbledon still ongoing – Carole Annett chats to Hattie Hansard of Joanna Wood about how interior designers are often employed by hospitality companies to transform these temporary spaces into something magical. Using a clever eye and often complicated logistics, here's how they create a memorable space for guests enjoying a da...

This week, we've gone a little bit off-piste from interiors as I sit down to chat to Kiki McDonough. A favourite jeweller to the royals (with Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales regularly seen wearing her pieces), she has now worked in the industry for over 40 years. Sitting at the helm of a much-loved, globally-renowned brand, the fifth generation jeweller is renowned for her pioneering use o...

What does it take to turn a house into a home? For Christophe Carpente – the French-born, Swiss-trained architect behind some of the world's most considered luxury interiors – the answer lies in chemistry, trust, and the willingness to let go. In this episode of House Guest, Carpente joins Carole from his Notting Hill studio to reflect on nearly 30 years of practice: from designing flagship stores...

'There are two sides to designing something: it needs to be useful and it needs to be beautiful,’ says John Sims-Hilditch, co-founder of Neptune, which is celebrating 30 years of making furniture and accessories for the home. ‘I actually slightly fall into beauty being the most important thing in design,’ he continues. ‘Utility falls away but beauty endures’. Tune in for more about how John an...

Carole Annett talks to Charu Gandhi of Elicyon about what it takes to create luxurious, welcoming spaces for a discerning clientele. 'There’s always something I’m worrying about. For the months the project is with you they are like your children. I’ve recently been fretting about a pair of bar stools in a project - are they the right height and if the cushions are plump enough. There’s a soap...

Carole Annett chats to Philipp Nagel of Neatsmith and Charlotte-Elizabeth Evans, founder of Charlotte Elizabeth Interiors about the beauty, practicality, and lasting value of bespoke wardrobes. Together, they discuss how well-designed wardrobes and dressing rooms combine elegant aesthetics with storage tailored to individual lifestyles. Philipp shares insights into some of the projects he has work...

Carole talks to Claire German, CEO of Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, on the eve of this year's design showcase, WOW!house, an immersive experience where you can see, touch and feel fabulous spaces created by world-leading interior designers. Claire says, 'When people walk in I wanted them to go "wow", so that's why I thought calling it WOW!house was perfect; and to this day,...

This week Carole chats to German industrial designer Stefan Diez. One of the best in the business, Diez's designs touch the everyday, from baths to chairs, bar stools and benches. His design is firmly rooted in the workshop, where he indulges his passion for material experimentation. The son of a cabinetmaker he says he had the perfect childhood, being left alone in his father's workshop....

'I know sometimes clients struggle to make a decision and I just say the same thing: go with your gut,' says interior designer Brian Woulfe. 'That visceral reaction, that emotional reaction, if you love it go for it, go make it work.' Today, Brian Woulfe is best-known for Designed by Woulfe – his multi-awarding winning, luxury interior design studio based in London. But that wasn&#...

Multi-award winning, New York based designer Young Huh is this week’s House Guest. Masterful at crafting a sense of place, she is one of the designers at this year’s WOW House event at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour. She says of the room she is showcasing, the design of which was influenced by her love of Korean folk art: 'It has lots of small moments – that’s how I like to design. First you ha...

Sarah Wetenhall is the owner and CEO of The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach and the soon-to-open Hedges in East Hampton. With no prior experience of running a hotel, Sarah used her marketing background and love of entertaining to bring Palm Beach’s iconic luxury beach house back to life. ‘We have one foot in the sand and one foot on Worth Avenue,' she says. The hotel is a go-to for celebrities and...

'I think there are two things that make a good interior designer,' says Romanos Brihi, one half of Studio Vero alongside his partner in design Venetia Rudebeck: ‘Being nosy and having a good visual memory’. Friends since childhood, the pair crystallised their enduring partnership when they launched their studio in 2014. Their practice is renowned for breathing life into a space with flair,...

Renewable energy expert Ewan Frost-Pennington believes that like vultures – the star attraction at his Lake District home, Muncaster Castle – heat pumps are often painted under a bad light. Keep an open mind says Ewan as he tells Carole Annett how he convinced his parents to radically change their traditional thinking on heat and energy to transform the comfort levels, and coffers, of his ancestra...

This week Carole sits down with Sandrine Zhang Ferron, the founder and CEO of Vinterior, as the online marketplace celebrates 10 years of selling beautiful pre-loved furniture. ‘I think that it’s important that things are beautiful and to be in beautiful places,’ says Sandrine. Sandrine values beauty so dearly, in fact, that she was inspired to quit her successful finance career when she found her...

Fiona Barratt Campbell's 'industrial meets superluxe' design philosophy sets her apart and has earned her some impressive projects, including The Powerhouse Chelsea Waterfront – formerly the Lots Road power station which once powered the London Underground network. I met up with her in one of the penthouses to talk design, work-life, her love of rugged texture and natural stone and why...

'Young Sainsbury is a cheeky little sausage with the most wonderful eye for detail. His furniture is extraordinary', says his client Sir Rod Stewart.  Meeting in Guy Goodfellow's Chelsea atelier, this week Carole Annett sits down with the design world's best-kept secret: Jonathan Sainsbury. Founded in 1918, his eponymous family-run business has a reputation for creating some of the...

This week Carole sat down with celebrated chef Jason Atherton to chat about life, food, Michelin stars and his collaboration with luxury kitchen design company Smallbone. As a young boy growing up in Skegness, working in a restaurant gave Jason discipline, which along with a lifelong passion for fresh seasonal ingredients, has shaped his life. He has been married for 22 years with three daughters...

Coco Chanel once said: 'Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury' – words that perfectly encompass the philosophy of this week's House Guest, Alua Kul, of Lumi Interiors. 'Practicality and functionality are the most important aspects of interior design,' she says. Tune in to hear more about how she fell in love with interior design and used her inquisitive mind an...

'When we talk about hotels, we talk about building soulful places at scale and you have to feel a connection,' says Tara Bernerd, founder and head of a globally-renowned multi-disciplinary design studio Tara Bernerd & Partners. Tune in to hear more about her projects including the stunning Maroma – a Belmond hotel on the Maya Riviera in Mexico – her collaboration with Italian brand Fre...

From the Alps to Mallorca, Mélie Dunod's August Collections bring elegance, efficiency and eco-conscious design to co-ownership, making the European holiday home dream much more attainable. The chic co-founder of August chats to Carole Annett about why becoming an entrepreneur was inevitable, what the tick-box is for each property August buys, and why she never asks for preferences or advice o...

The first House Guest podcast of our new series is interior design supremo Kelly Hoppen. Renowned for her love of neutrals – ‘They are good for your state of mind,’ she says – Kelly tells Carole Annett about her East meets West philosophy, what happened when she met her design icon, Ralph Lauren, how excited she is about creating the ultimate home on the high street with her M&S collections, a...

Is this the future of vintage furniture shopping? This week, Carole sits down with Portuguese interior designer Barbara Neto to hear about how she's challenging the design industry's status quo with the launch of Curiouz. Describing the brand as more than a marketplace, but a movement, the AI powered platform is designed to revolutionise vintage furniture shopping. Born out of her own frus...

'I think the only thing I can rely on is my intuition and instinct,' says this week's house guest Irishman Shayne Brady. A recurring guest on BBC Interior Design Masters (they can't get enough of him and who can blame them), Shayne has recently consciously uncoupled from Brady Williams, the studio he set up with his former business partner Emily over 13 years ago (they still talk m...

This week Carole Annett sits down with interior designer Guy Goodfellow in his stunning London townhouse. Guy and his team of architects and designers are renowned for creating comfortable and inviting spaces in grand and historic estates. Armed with his passion for detail, in this episode he and Carole discuss how to imbue modern properties with historic character, and how to add a contemporary e...

This week, Carole sits down with mirror master Dominic Schuster to discuss how he designs his antiqued and gilded mirror glass. With Decorex just around the corner, he explains how he transformed from a decorative antiques restorer to a mirror expert, talks his new furniture and lighting collection and shares some exciting upcoming projects.