When I interview personalities from the interior design industry, I like to ask ‘what’s your favourite possession?’ The answers are often fun, sometimes serious but always insightful. Here are my favourite responses from 2023
Andrea Harari of jaggedart, “So many, so difficult! I am privileged in that I am surrounded both at work and at home by beautiful artworks. I love pieces and objects that have a story or that relate to someone I know, or to my past. Japanese porcelain tea cups with which we had tea when I was a child, or glass vases that belonged to my grandmother, silver cutlery, objects and things that have an emotional history. I particularly love an art deco Murano glass box, it is black with a bit of silver and gold emerging through the glass, with a curved lid and bronze finish, probably used for cigarettes. It is very heavy and luxurious and it was a gift, so not sure who owned it before or their story, but I love to imagine its story, that it must have been used in parties in an elegant environment owned by someone worldly and sophisticated.”
Fameed Khalique, “Two things spring to mind when answering this question. As a lover of fashion, I have some wonderful suits from the 80s and 90s that I bought and have kept in storage that are still fantastic, they’re from a time when quality in fashion was superior to the quality it is now. And home, I have a long counter that is full of photographs of friends and family and I treasure it dearly!”
Lucy Pye of Nusom Collective, “My husband…he won’t like me saying that and I suppose he doesn’t exactly fit the bill of a possession, but I do treasure him and extremely grateful for his support. We are a great team and love working together.”
Art advisor, Julia Bell, of Parapluie, “My dog! He can make anywhere feel like home.”
Juliana Cavaliero of gallery Cavaliero Finn, “My Dad died five years ago now and we had to sell the family house that we had lived in for over fifty years. He travelled the world with the British Council and had accumulated some wild and wonderful objects and artworks including a panel of stained glass that lived at the top of the stairs in front of the bannisters that we all used to slide down as children. It was a familiar fixture that all my friends remember fondly.
Unfortunately, it was very bashed in by the time he died and some of the glass and leadwork had been lost but it has been lovingly and laboriously restored by Jonathan Hunt at Leading Lights of London Ltd. I am not sure it has any monetary value but it’s very peaceful and meditative. Throughout the course of the day the piece becomes animated by the changing light flooding in from behind and it holds a special, nostalgic place in my heart worth more than money. The craftsmanship involved in stained glass is mind-blowing, dating back to the middle ages, incorporating colouring, staining and painting, each one requiring the application of so many skills, fused together through the use of lead which is both flexible and strong.
Property developer Marta Nowicka, “My most favourite and precious possession is one that has been in my life since I was three or four years old. It’s a medieval dining table from my childhood home when my parents were still together, I have very fond memories of us sitting around it sharing stories and good food. It was then in my father’s architectural studio where I worked too and now it’s found a perfect home at our DOMstay Coastguard’s Cottage right next to the sea; it actually looks like a piece of washed up timber from the stormy sea. This table is steeped with happy memories, and like my DNA I could never part from it.
Miriam Frowein of Objekti, “That is such a difficult question as I see all my possessions as treasures and memories. If I had to choose one it would be the little Line Vautrin Mirror from the 1950’s that my husband gave to me as a gift for my 40th Birthday.”
Interior designer Verity Woolf, “We are a busy studio located both in London and Bath. I am on the move a lot and I have a family and two dogs, my husband works in music and travels a lot, so in all honesty my favourite possession is undoubtedly my bed!”
Rug designer Wendy Morrison, “I am not too sure, I do have a very nice chinoiserie style coffee table with many little draws and compartments, not only does it look beautiful, it is extremely comfortable, just like my leopard print Chei Mihara shoes….she makes the most beautiful shoes.”