Let me breathe some colour into your life.

In the 1970’s my parents bought Alverton Cottage, a rambling Georgian house on the outskirts of Penzance in Cornwall and set about the slow process of restoring this beautiful building and its tropical garden. At just 10 years old, I was allowed to choose the wallpaper, colours and curtains for my own bedroom. Whilst other girls were riding ponies, I would spend hours in the local hardware shop trawling through wallpaper books. I painted the ceiling dark chocolate brown – very 1970’s.

My love of colour and creating stylish interiors was born. I knew then, that I was set to become an Interior Designer.

In the late 1980’s, after completing art college, I joined Charles Hammond Ltd on Sloane Street, London and undertook my interior design apprenticeship, learning not just the aesthetics of my trade but the practicalities it entails. The knowledge I acquired from this classically styled English company still stands me in good stead to this very day.

Twenty years ago, my husband and I moved back to the West Country and along with our Spaniel ‘Barney’ we have made our home and my studio in the picturesque Southern Tamar valley, right on the border between Devon and Cornwall. Surrounded by the ever changing countryside and the dramatic coast, I am never short of inspiration for new colour schemes for my interior design projects. With regular visits to the trade shows in London and Paris, I have an address book bulging with contacts from local artisans here in the West Country and across the UK, to mainland Europe and beyond, some of whom I have now worked with for over 30 years.

I’m an artist at heart and I love the creative process. Houses are my canvas – playing with the light, colours, patterns and textures – the delicious choices of paints, fabrics and wallpapers available today, make it all very exciting.

Designing houses for a living is a pleasure I shall never tire of.

Frances.