What inspired you to partner with Aquaroc for your home restoration projecT, and how did OUR products align with your vision for the house?

It was simple at first because what I wanted didn’t exist in the market. Aquaroc were the only stone bathroom brand that could develop a bespoke stone bath for my daughter’s en suite. We needed a specific size and Aquaroc had the capabilities to be able to develop this for me.

Customer service is massively important for me and I always want to champion British Brands. After seeing the quality and style of the products, I decided to use Aquaroc for the other baths and many of the basins that were required throughout the renovation.

You used a number of British brands during the restoration – WHY is this important to you? 

As I said, championing  British brands is always important to me, not only in interior designs, but in everything I do from fashion to motoring.  I guess I am very patriotic and also believe we have many innovative and creative brands in the world and I like to help smaller British brands in any way I can and with my platforms and through press and PR I can do this. 

In Britain we sometimes don’t shout enough about the things we do very well.

How would you define your personal interior design style, and how did it influence the choices you made during your home renovation?

It is hard to define my interior style.  The Interior styles I choose are influenced by many aspects, especially the history of the original house.  However, in all the renovations I have done, my style or aim has always been to be sympathetic to the history or era of the house that was built in and then blend this with modern style or pieces.  Hopefully this contemporary traditional design blends naturally together to complement each other.

Aquaroc’s signature stone is featured in many areas of your home. What qualities of this material stood out to you during the design process?

In past renovations I have used marble, copper, and iron.  They have all worked really well but you have to maintain them and are not always suitable for family homes.  Therefore I needed a stylish material which was also durable.  The Aquaroc stone is modern and beautiful and of extreme high quality stone.  But at the same time it is durable, easy to clean and doesn’t require much maintenance.

Was there a specific moment in the renovation process when you felt that THE PROJECT had fully realiSed your vision?

The beauty of technology now is that you can almost create your vision on a computer and this is what we did with Parkgate. This was a huge renovation though and even after 2 years, we are still adding or tweaking parts of the design, and I will be doing this for many years to come. The day I realised that my vision had come to life was the day we moved in. 

I’d spent six nights from 9pm until 5am in the morning unloading all the boxes and moving the furniture so we could be in and host for christmas.  While everyone was amazed and loved what we had achieved, I had lived and breathed this project for many years and the finished result was less of a surprise to me because I had planned and had envisaged the final result in my head. 

How did the Richmond Park project compare to your previous restorations? Do you have any plans to continue your love for restoration in the pipeline?

This was a much bigger renovation than anything I had undertaken before.  It was made even more difficult with a Council planning department who made the process very difficult and long. However I love renovation projects, whether that is cars, or property.  I adore being on site with all the trades and seeing the project come together. 

For many people the process is extremely scary, but you have to trust your vision and the team who are building it with you.  Parkgate House was built for a long term home, so we will be here for a while, however I think I have one more big renovation in me and I think this will be a country home, but not for many years to come. The next project will be a car renovation, which we are putting together at the moment.