House Guest by Country & Town House | Interior Designer Interviews

This week, Carole’s House Guests are husband-and-wife architects Max de Rosée and Claire Sá, founders of architecture and interior design studio De Rosée Sá. ‘There is a value in trying to create a little bit of mystery and not revealing everything at once,’ says Max. ‘As you go through and move from space to space, things reveal themselves.’ Speaking from their newest project – a four bedroom apartment at 60 Curzon in Mayfair which they designed for developer Valouran – the pair discuss character-driven interiors, why a little mystery matters, and how to create homes that just feel good.

This week, Carole's House Guest is Toronto-born, Bath-based designer Sean Symington. 'I’m definitely a traditionalist with interior design,’ he says. ‘I love antiques, I love traditional interiors, but I’m definitely – maybe it’s my North American roots – a little bit fresher with fabrics, a little bit punchier with the colour.’ Tune in to hear more about his career, his new studio and which design choice he thinks is ‘quite naff’.

This week, Carole’s House Guest is South African-born designer Christian Bense. ‘There is an objectivity to the way we design’, he says. ‘Establishing first what’s best for the home, weaving in what’s best for the client, and then finishing off with a style that’s best for both’. Tune in to hear more about his career, his various projects and what special element of his homeland he would transpose to the UK.

'You take each area of your home, or your restaurant or your hotel, and you really simply ask yourself: how do I want to feel in this space?,' says Franky Rousell. 'And it's such a powerful thing to do, to really sort of sit with it. You only need two or three words that really embody: what is it that I'm trying to achieve here?'

This weeks, Carole sits down with Franky to discuss her multi-sensory interior design studio, Jolie. Born from her entrepreneurial instincts in her 20s, Jolie was inspired by a drive to make sense of the world through creativity and science. Fascinated by the intersection of human behaviour, design and performance, Franky saw a business that needed more than beautiful spaces. It needed environments that embody brand, spark emotion and deliver results.

Tune in for more.

This week, we meet Penelope Sonder of art discovery platform NALA. This digital matchmaking service – something that our interiors editor Carole Annett says she's never seen before – helps to introduce contemporary artists to new audiences, and is aimed at interior designers, collectors and casual buyers. Carole sits down with Penelope to find out more.

We meet Églantine Sicat and Pauline Dellemotte of creative and design practice Uncanny Studio, which challenges conventional thinking and takes clients on a journey of emotions, sensations, and memories. A Franco-British interior design studio, it's built on a shared belief that spaces should tell stories. The studio's hospitality and residential projects skilfully blend mid-century elegance with contemporary flair, designed to leave a memory and foster special experiences. Carole sits down with the design duo to find out more.

After a career in the fashion industry working with, amongst others, Ralph Lauren, Laylah Holmes realised her future wasn’t in handbags but somewhere her imagination and creativity could fly.

Her rug business, Holmes Bespoke launched eight years ago and this summer Laylah opened her Chiswick showhouse – a beautiful studio with rugs on the walls, on headboards, seating, in the bathroom and even on a mirror. Carole went along to find out more.

Welcome to a new series of House Guest! This week, Carole sits down with Boura & White co-founders Abi Boura and Katie White in their Hampshire showroom to discuss sofa-buying and British craft.

As a female-led, British business Boura & White pride themselves in considerate craftsmanship, a sustainable approach, and in embracing the ethos of slow interiors and quiet luxury.

This week Carole heads to the Chelsea showroom of Farrow & Ball paint to chat to Joa Studholme – the genius behind paint colours such as Elephant’s Breath and Skimming Stone. She joined Farrow & Ball more than 30 years ago, and as well as developing new colours, she consults on design projects all over the world. Joa shares her wealth of knowledge on choosing paint and hints at the colour trends ahead. She also admits how many times she repaints her own home every year. Tune in for more.

House Guest now takes a short summer break. Thanks for listening and please join us again in September.

With names such as Jilly Cooper, Daisy Lowe and Mary Berry amongst its fanbase, few brands encompass as much love, friendship, and loyalty as AGA. This week Carole sits down with Dominic Worsley and Laura James of AGA Rangemaster to talk about the brand’s renaissance under new leadership, as well as its new colours, new controls and much-loved heritage. Tune in for anecdotes, snippets of AGA history, plans for the future, and to discover the brilliant sales advice advertising guru David Ogilvy came up with when he worked for the cast-iron cooker brand.

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 day out.

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 of coloured gemstones.

One of the first women to make a name for herself in the British, luxury jewellery world, Kiki has built a well-respected business on her own with the support of a great team, while juggling two sons, multiple patronages and a social life that would tire most 20-somethings. We talk about running a business and the very exciting news that she has just gained a royal warrant.

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 for Cartier, Burberry and De Beers, to the deeply personal work of building homes for their owners.

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'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 and his business partner Giles Redman went from selling hammocks to building a hugely successful brand.

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 dish on another project I don't like… do we need a soap dish, are soap dishes cool? I really care,' she laughs, 'and I should care as clients are entrusting us with a meaningful part of their lives’.

Tune in for more including an insight into the Elicyon x Lalique bar at this year’s WOW House at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour.

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 worked on - including creating a display for a collection of Hermès Birkin bags, while Charlotte-Elizabeth offers design solutions on how to make storage as beautiful as it is functional, whatever your budget.

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, I watch people arrive and walk in and the first thing they say is "wow", so my dreams have come true.' The event is open from 2 June to 2 July at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour.

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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. He lectures at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna but beware students trying to impress. His message to young designers: ‘Don't think you’re special and don't start by making meaningful things. Keep it simple and respect the materials. Go and explore. I like to be surprised by ingenious ideas that simplify everything, like a magic trick.'

'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't always the plan. A polo player, concert pianist and father to two dogs, Brian Woulfe has done it all. Tune in to discover how.

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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 have a big impact and as you explore a room you then see more and more detail.' Young Huh is about to launch a new book and has a very special reason for visiting London – her love of sausage rolls.

Sponsored by Aqualisa Showers.