- Tat London
- Oct 13
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 22
Advice from the Greats for the Next Generation of Interior Designers
I first met the word “Millennial” on the front of a weekend paper, attached to a tirade about millennial pink. The very small and secret Tat site wore that exact shade, which tells you everything about zeitgeists. After that, I could not open a paper or a magazine without another indictment of the Millennial generation - Lazy. Naïve. Obsessed with Avocado toast. No work ethic. Too woke. All a great amount of tosh.
There is a case for outlining generations, more for the record than anything else. The labels we pin on them are another matter. They are useful tacks for advertisers and columnists, giving the former something to sell and the latter something to write. They also help us draw yet another boundary and bake in a fresh set of unfounded prejudices, quelle surprise.
I feel for the cohort below mine, Gen Z, tagged and typecast before they have begun. What is true is how fully social media has shaped their lives. It promised connection. It often delivers the opposite, shrinking culture to a thumbnail on a highly addictive screen.
I spent much of my working twenties on the Pimlico Road and at House & Garden, where even the hardened would soften for a good swag and a handsome bit of moulding. That is where my romance began. The business is not spotless. It is, however, worthwhile. Interiors is an art too often waved past at the door. It should not be. The UK is teeming with talent and, culturally, it is a significant export; the designers, dealers and makers here are among the finest in the world. There is, however, an insedious creep of the “house look”. You know it when you see it because you have seen it everywhere. It is in magazines. It is on your phone. It follows you from billboard to shop to film. Trends may be a necessary evil, but this one has installed itself as the beacon of good taste. It is all trompe-l’oeil. My worry is that, without guidance, the next generation of designers and patrons will stick too rigidly to that 'look' for fear of not being considered chic and it will deter them from reaching for real heart pumping beauty, where the art and home meet.
So I have asked the people who matter. Not the ones with hundreds of thousands of followers and one photogenic kitchen. Good luck to them. I mean people with a sense of proportion and a feel for time, people who know interiors require patience, argument, knowledge and a bit of courage. You learn where to put the chair. You learn when to leave a wall alone. You learn that beauty needs time.
Perhaps I am wrong and in twenty years we will be living in grey boxes with META visors strapped to our heads and a virtual geranium in the corner. Until then the rituals of home endure. Suppers. Birthday candles. Homework. Deadlines . Newspapers on sofas. While these keep their shape, we should keep ours. Aim for breadth. Aim for beauty. Aim for interest. Keep Britain bubbling with talent and remain a bastion of beauty, if nothing else.
Trust your gut reaction, and believe in your own choices. We’re all swayed by fashion but there are other, deeper influences that affect what we love, like and don’t like. Often the deepest go back to childhood - mine is memories of my Granny’s interiors which included rush matting, Regency flower paintings, and glazed chintz curtains. These influences inform our unique, personal taste. If you can tap into them, listen to them and use them to make your own version of home you will surround yourself with things that have meaning and bring comfort.
There are the obvious sources, to which you will be referred endlessly — back issues of The World of Interiors, Architectural Digest and Cornucopia. But my favourite place for interiors inspiration is art. Look at paintings and photographs. Think of Johann Zoffany’s “Charles Townley in His Library” or Bedford Lemere’s black and white images of the 1880s. Everything is cyclical. Try going back a century.
I always feel it should be a fun process. Use a light touch. Do not take it too seriously or the room will feel overthought and static. Odd combinations are often the most inspiring, so keep plenty of samples to hand and mix them. Many fabric, wallpaper and paint colour pairings cannot be dreamed up in the abstract. You need the samples in front of you. That is how the toffee paint suddenly looks heavenly with turquoise velvet and red-striped curtains. Sample, sample, sample.
I once attended a talk given by Min Hogg and Nicky Haslam, themselves the personification of originality. The gist was simple. Never feel obliged to go to art college, and follow your gut. I think the gut is the most important thing. If it feels right to you, almost instinctively, then it is right for you. Start with the main feature of the room, whether fireplace, carpet or painting, and build from there. Social media matters, but keep the courage of your convictions and try not to be blown off course by other people’s tastes.
I would say start by reading and looking properly. Instagram is useful, but it cannot replace books or the habit of going out to see things in the real world. We keep libraries in Mitcham and Pimlico, not because we are academics but because understanding sits behind the image, and Will’s eye for texture and proportion is sharpened by that mix of reading and looking. Set the fundamentals first, from the proportions of the fireplace to getting the mouldings right, and learn by studying the real thing. Go to the Soane Museum, go through the books, then go out. It can be Vienna or Stoke. The point is to get there and look. Screenshots are fine. But they are not enough.
Designer at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler (House & Garden's Designer of The Year 2023)
The Value and Paradox of Perception
Looking at instagram and magazines and books is easy and invaluable, as is forensic analysis of those images - what is it that you actually like - or don't like - about a particular image? Is it the use of space, colour, light, fabrics, textures, layers, proportion that catches your eye both to the good and the bad? Don't just absorb the picture; dissect it. And beware; sight, particularly when looking at a flat 2D image presents a paradox – as much it reveals, it can also deceive. I've seen enough rooms (and the beautifully curated photographs of those rooms) to understand that what the lens captures isn't always the full truth of the space - what are you being shown, and what do you really see? It’s not that the photographs lie, it’s that photography is a different art, operating within different parameters.
The Power of Physicality and the Visceral Reality
The remedy is simple: get out there, beyond the world of the flat image, and engage the senses! Whilst you can’t lick everything, although my cousin would disagree, you can see, touch, smell and hear your way to greater knowledge and understanding. Go to galleries, museums, National Trust and English Heritage houses and castles and all. Successful decorating is not just about what something looks like, it’s fundamentally about form, function and feeling. This is after all what we leave our clients with, not just a look, not just a room that functions as intended, but a deeper emotional connection to a space that makes you want to live in it. Being in a space provides the critical sensory input that looking only hints at.
The Importance of Apprenticeship
Finally, serve your apprenticeship under the best possible mentors you can find - there is no better way to learn than to train with decorators who have been perfecting their craft over decades. There are so many ways to approach a design challenge, and equally countless ways not to - design is not prescriptive, it is dynamic and subjective. Embrace the fact that there is always, always more to learn. Don’t be shy, ask questions, look for help, study hard.
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