For Tamsin, it starts with the building itself – its bones, its setting, its particular history. ‘The kind of homes I like are the ones that respect the integrity and soulfulness of the original building, whose interior feels as if it has come about by chance and good fortune and which have a real connection to their surroundings,’ she says. ‘Serendipity and randomness are my mantra. I never know what I’m looking for until I find it.’
Tiffany Duggan of Studio Duggan is seeing a similar appetite in her clients. ‘We’ve noticed a real shift in recent years towards clients wanting homes that feel deeply personal and reflective of the way they actually live,’ she says. ‘People are moving away from spaces that feel overly perfected or anonymous, and are instead drawn to interiors with warmth, individuality and a sense of history.’ That might mean colour – always a personal choice – or it might mean the gradual incorporation of inherited pieces, artworks picked up while travelling, objects that already carry meaning before they ever reach a room.
A media room designed by Tiffany Duggan of Studio Duggan.
Dean Hearne.jpg)
A beautiful sitting room in one of Tiffany’s projects.
Dean Hearne
Tiffany’s approach is to work with what a client already owns wherever possible – whether through re-upholstery, restoration or gentle reinvention – before layering in contemporary, bespoke and antique pieces alongside. ‘The result is a home that feels collected over time rather than decorated all at once,’ she adds. ‘Increasingly, clients seem to want spaces that tell a story about who they are, rather than rooms that feel as though they could belong to anyone.’
Vintage pieces play a particular role in this. They bring history and permanence and make an interior feel more resolved. ‘I never want a room to feel as though everything arrived at the same time,’ Tiffany says. The contrasts she favours – something polished beside something worn, a clean architectural room softened by objects with age and patina – are what stop a space from feeling staged. A sculptural mid-century lamp beside a tailored sofa. An antique mirror above clean-lined cabinetry. ‘These combinations make interiors feel personal rather than prescribed,’ she explains.
Vintage textiles play a big role in knitwear designer Anna Hambro’s Sussex cottage. In the sitting room is a Chesterfield sofa from the now-closed Plinth and a half-upholstered vintage armchair sourced from Ardingly Antiques Fair.
Dean Hearne
Also in the sitting room, Jeff and Anna opened up a fireplace and fitted it with a surround from Jamb. Above hangs an antique mirror sourced from Lewes Antiques Centre. The cricket table came from Parker’s Atelier in Arundel.
Dean Hearne