I’ve now found there are similarities between how I dress and how I’ve renovated my house which I did over the past year or so. I wanted to have a classic base and not be too showy. I wanted it to be handsome and dignified, but it needs to be modular so that I can move things in and out that are not necessarily as expensive. So [you] definitely spend a lot of money on floors and a fireplace, but then [you’re] more amenable to wallpapers and tablecloths changing—the great tablecloth trick is my current favorite, this one is a piece of denim that I found in Fairfax in LA. It’s exactly the same as getting dressed. I invest in the classic things that are going to keep for decades, maybe that’s a nice bag or a nice shoe, so [with interiors it could be] nice paneling or a great ceiling light, and then [layering] the more frivolous items like cushions.
Is there anything else you want to change about your house or are you feeling in a good place post-renovation?
I wanted it to be anti-Instagram, which is hard, but I was more interested in approaching it like imagining things and then trying to find them [on Google]. It’s a bit like how I am with clothes, which is why I end up trying to make my own clothes, but I really wanted it to be not like many other things. I’m very turned off by what’s expected, and I also don’t like to have the same thing as anyone else; whereas other people find that more comforting, I’m like, “I just can’t,” which is unfortunate because I chose a really intense wallpaper that looks like tapestry and then Soho House opened their new house in London and they’ve got the same wallpaper as me. It’s inevitable, I guess, there’s only so many things on the planet. So if I was to change something.… I can’t change that wallpaper because it costs too much money, so I’ve got it now, but if I could I would.
What’s one kitchen item that you use every single day?
It’s not a cheese grater, it’s like a slicer. You basically have a block of cheese—it’s an Emmenthal, it’s a Gouda, it’s a Comté—and you can slice it off [and have] that with a boiled egg. It’s quite Swedish. I think I actually bought it in the airport in Sweden. So I’d say that’s my handy tool. I also eat handfuls of garlic per day. [I’m] ramping up some really nice breath, so I’d say garlic crusher probably because I try and put it in every single thing. I put it in salad dressings a lot.
