There are so many ways to answer this question, but in my experience, the thing that really distinguishes a house from a home is the presence of character and imprint of personality it possesses. Working in Los Angeles, a world of infamous smoke and mirrors that celebrates the fresh and the new, I’ve been approached by propsective clients without a strong sense of taste and a lack of exposure to good design. Their creative brief is for something immersive and impressive, similar to homes they see in magazines or belong to wealthy friends. I find that these homes frequently lack depth and nuance; they are too pretty, too curated, too perfect. This approach may work for a film set or a restaurant, where one steps into fantasy for a moment but doesn’t linger, but in a domestic space it falls flat. A person’s idiosyncrasies, passions and imperfections have to be felt for a house to become a home because those are the things that

We are just loving all of the sustainable materials that are being developed at the moment, we have been using Foresso consistently and have found it to be extremely hardwearing over the longer term and beautiful to look at it. Also we have been working in collaboration with KAVA who produce a great sustainable sheet material made from powdered fruit stones, juniper berries and coffee grounds.

We often get told our projects look more expensive than they are, focus on touch points and carefully consider where it is worthwhile spending the clients budget, with our F&B experience of operations we always focus on the durability of our interior finishes. We also love to integrate storytelling into the space so using bespoke wallpapers and fabrics that are hand drawn or designed for the client is a great way for us to make a big impact. We use Lyons and Tigers agency for this.