My mother wanted red everywhere. Red walls, red couches. She was a very passionate person. I am no less passionate but my love of red decor only goes so far! At the moment, I only have one red cushion in my living room. It's a nice little memory of her.

My taste in interior style, I would have to say, is strongly influenced by my father rather than my mother. Mum and I had very different tastes. She had a love for soft, feminine pastels and florals, and delicate-looking furniture, which looked lovely and totally suited her Me personally, I'm much more into the beautiful, no-fuss simplicity of mid century modern, with its simple lines, warm, bright, colours and light, honey-coloured timbers, and nothing too fussy-looking in the way of ornaments.

I grew up with my mother painting, wallpapering, making all our curtains, upholstering chairs and always yearned to be an Interior Designer but never had the confidence. She most definitely influenced me in looking further afield for amazing furniture and artefacts globally that can still work with traditional English antiques. There's little bits of my interiors that refer back to her and home life for sure.

My parents - a working class couple- made their money by purchasing houses and "doing them up". This, however, would not have been so successful if my mother had not been blessed with an innate sense of style, which was evidenced in, not only, the way she decorated each home, but also in her personal dress. Every piece of furniture, as well as the soft furnishings ( mainly made by Mum) were very carefully chosen, and always seemed to exude a sense of flair in either style or colour. Even with the 70's love of orange, nothing was ever garish. What I loved the most, was the fluid nature of her decor- all rooms had some colour connection, so in a way, the whole house seemed "naturally" co-ordinated, and in a way my decorating style reflects this notion of connectedness ( although she was much braver with colour - I tend to the neutral). I just love that my three daughters seem to have inherited her sense of style!