It’s terribly dark so early now – it’s making me feel like we should all be whispering.

Quiet beauty – yes it’s moving… a blank roundel executed in limestone, or the sublime and classic ‘Dior Grey’ seen in their shop windows last year (in high gloss lacquer so they looked wet).

Etched concrete made to look grand is wonderfully hushed yet stylish. And draped chandeliers are a favorite of both Nicky and mine, and a romantic way to tone down crystal chandeliers when one does not want the bluish glitz. Do be careful though! Must use fire retardant fabric of course, otherwise the effect is not so ‘quiet’!

If you aren’t familiar with Felix Kelly, well poor you…but now you are!

Kelly was a New Zealander who came to London as a young artist, fought in the war, and subsequently found the English country house the perfect challenge for his architectural knowledge and discerning eye. His works exhibit a sense of mortality and melancholy coupled with a certain paired-back surrealism which really draws you in.

Of course he painted the famous Castle Howard capriccios which feature in Brideshead Revisited, and which, if I’m not mistaken, were paid for by funds raised during the filming.

Much to my amazement - for I have adored Kelly for years - I recently learned that he painted murals for Queens Ice Skating Rink in 1963. He joined forces with decorator Jean Monro whose wonderful chintzes can still be found at Turnell & Gigon to create what must have been a terrifically glamorous indoor skating rink. When I ran to Nicky with the ‘find’ he said ‘Oh yes..it was THE place to go for a time when I was young’.

Sadly, when I took my children last year, the interiors are a dismal display of chipboard hoarding and mirror - but we had fun on the ice nonetheless.

(If you’re wondering why I keep banging on about the 70′s, it’s because I’m researching something and keep coming across things I want to share with you here!)

I am so very tired of hearing this word ‘brand’, which my heart tells me is contrary to what an interior designer/decorator should be doing, and of course I’m just fascinated by the commercial realities of running a business in the modern global world.

Celebrity branding - which the media assures me is on its way out - was clearly alive and well circa 1977 when Rod Stewart was posing with his ‘Kickers’ and legwarmers. Loving the grass green corduroys by the way, but as you know that’s been a favorite color of mine ever since I installed the shag carpet in my bedroom all those years ago.

But here is something I really would consider. Janet Reger designed a line of negligees and peignoirs exclusively for Elizabeth Ann kitchens. Absolutely brilliant idea! As we speak I am designing a La Perla kitchen and an Agent Provocateur bathroom in the hopes that my phone will ring with a joint ‘branding’ opportunity.

Always the hypocrite, I am.

I’m currently having a coffered ceiling for a client in Russia painted in cyan blue lacquer - just the inside of the coffers. It’s much chicer than clouds or some Adamesque confection and I do take my ceilings very seriously.

When I did the salon for London’s famous couture house Bellville Sassoon (dressmaker to Madonna, Helen Mirren etc.) I created a baroquey confection on the ceiling of torn paper reminiscent of plaster. I was thinking at the time of the success of the ostrich feather pelmets I created in my room at Eton which were a positive sensation! For the salon, I had the inside painted silvery, mauvy, magically moody as you can see in my watercolour.

This Vogue article makes me think that cloud ceilings are not a dead end…and since we are always trying to look from different vantage points I’m not ruling something like this out…a projection ceiling perhaps??

Of course if one goes completely mad and dramatic, like the ceiling of Colette’s dining room below, then I couldn’t argue against clouds in that case either. It’s beautifully Sert-esque, and brave too.

We ‘fur’ a lot - throws, rugs, tassels…you name it! Fox or faux…really don’t mind and you’ll notice it a lot in our interiors shots.

These wildly colored faux fur for example, from Leroy & Scarpa, are a terrific find and are making their way into our current designs.

I am also eagerly awaiting the return of my Scandinavian colleague Beata, who I hope is going to tell me that Saga Furs is still in business so I can get my hands on a pair of this totally fabulous mink sailor jacket…are you kidding me! Must have.

And these fur coveralls? Just cannot get enough!

In fact about the only thing I can’t abide by is fur in my teacup, which may have amused Meret Oppenheim, but slightly creeps me out.

Do you fur?