One question I get asked a lot, is where I get inspiration from.

There are so many ways to answer that, as inspiration is everywhere. But I’m going to start with architecture. Afterall, the design of a building, and the placement of the windows and doors, have a huge impact on the interiors.

Let’s start locally. Sir Edwin Lutyen’s work can be seen all over Surrey, and as far afield as India. Today I discovered he designed the Arras Memorial in France, the walls of which are carved with 35,928 names of fallen servicemen from the Western Front, including my great, great uncle.

Lutyens family moved to Thursley, in Surrey, when he was a young child. One of 13 children, Ned, as he was known, was the only one not to go to school as he suffered from rheumatic fever. At 16 he went to the South Kensington School of Art to study architecture.

With little professional experience, he went on to set up his own practice, receiving his first commission in 1889, aged 19 (Crooksbury House near Farnham).

From the Tilford Insititue and Farnham Liberal Club, the Red House in Godalming and the chancel screen at Busbridge Church, there a lot to see locally, before you even get as far as the Cenataph in Whitehall, or the architecture of New Delhi.

And let’s not forget the Lutyen’s garden bench, the Thakeham Seat. Every time you sit on one you’ll now remember this Surrey gem.

For more information have a look at the Lutyens Trust.

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