A few things you should probably know

After 24 years designing interiors for private clients, I have become fairly clear about what I like, and perhaps more importantly, what I don't.

I like black. Quite a lot actually.

There is something about black in an interior that I find endlessly fascinating. It gives definition, depth and a certain quiet confidence. It can make pale, faded and weathered things look even more beautiful and I like that contrast - the tension between the two. But if the black is also old, that is even more exciting.

As we are talking about what I love, I am thinking that I should also mention I love old alongside new. A beautifully made contemporary kitchen in an old house. A modern palette as a backdrop to a piece/pieces of furniture that have been around for a hundred years. New doesn't need to pretend to be old, and old doesn't need to be tidied up to fit in.

In fact, I am rather fond of things that aren't too perfect. Faded fabrics, worn timber, aged stone, a slightly battered object that has somehow become more interesting because of its life. I would generally take something with a bit of character over something pristine any day.

Perhaps slightly obsessively, in my work, I care a great deal about proportion, light and the way a space works. Beautiful furniture in the wrong room is still in the wrong room. No amount of clever styling can really fix a badly considered layout or the basis for a room or style that is not quite right.

I am equally interested in all the hard materials and craftsmanship that sometimes others take for granted. How something is made matters to me. Timber, stone, plaster, metal, joinery and all the details that sit quietly as a backdrop to everyday life can make the difference between a space that looks plain good and one that feels really right.

I edit. A lot. This is probably one of the less glamorous parts of interior design, but I think knowing what not to add is just as important as knowing what to add. There is always another beautiful fabric, another chair, another lamp. I am quite capable of falling in love with all of them, but they just don't all need to come home with us.

Another perhaps slightly odd thing about me, is that I don't follow trends particularly closely. Trends have their place, but I am more interested in creating interiors that will still feel right when the trend has moved on to somewhere else.

Ultimately, I like interiors that feel collected rather than decorated. Homes that have evolved, rather than appeared overnight, although I am aware that is slightly paradoxical, as it is my job to create them. Places where the architecture, materials, furniture, art, lighting and the people who live within it all make sense together.

I have renovated five properties of my own, which has taught me a great deal about designing for real life. Budgets, builders, dust, decisions, constant decisions, and more decisions and the occasional moment when you wonder why on earth you started.

It is one thing to draw an interior. It is quite another to live through creating one.

After 24 years, I still love the process.

And I still like black.