Executive office chairs have long been luxurious symbols of the corporate pecking order, but have often been overlooked as aesthetic objects in their own right. A correction is under way, however, as furniture manufacturers – design-conscious companies more fgamiliar with furnishing chic residences than fitting out corporate headquarters – increasingly embrace corporate seating in their [...]

  Interior designers Gail Taylor and Karen Howes share their best tips on how to design and accessorise a country house. Read full article

We love textures and visual contrasts. In this scheme, at the London home of a foreign businessman, we used s combination of mirror, glass, leather (in the panelling) and rich fabrics, including those by Fox Linton and Sahco.

“One client wanted a drawer with a tiny fridge where she could store her perfume”, says Howes. “Another wanted a minibar.”

  A loft space is transformed into an elegant bathroom by the canny use of joinery and a professional eye. ‘This was one of the hardest rooms in the house to design’, says Gail Taylor of the en suite bathroom in her Surrey home. ‘It has a mansard roof and Gothic window and required some [...]

Pared-down elegance, superlative materials and a high level of customisation are the three qualities that define today’s most desirable dressing tables, Nicole Swengley reports. A glamourous dressing table, made bespoke to suit a client’s personal requirements, is the smart choice for homeowners who want to combine intimacy with practicality – especially now that dressing tables [...]

Children have very clear ideas about what they like and dislike, which makes them honest and highly responsive clients.

It’s hard to think of a more exclusive inner sanctum than the private dining room of a members only club. The best offer is a level of physical and mental cosseting akin to the enhanced sense of well being that only the finest health spas can induce.

“There was no flow initially”, says Gail of her bedroom, “so we created five huge windows and made them double width to maximise the light. Now there’s a wonderful view of the garden. People always underestimate the amount of space they need and I often create walk in dressing rooms, like I’ve done here, for [...]

We want them bigger, with two of everything. And we want them to look like the pampering palaces of massively exotic hotels on the other side of the world. Karen Howes knows about the most indulgent bathrooms because she designs them. Heated floors and walls, under-lit and scented, double-lined bathtubs with fish swimming around the [...]

Homeowners are taking a fresh look at glass according to London interior designers Taylor Howes.

“We took the staircase out and completely redesigned it using mirror and glass, complemented by low level lighting.” A huge bespoke crystal chandelier by Spina hangs down the full 22ft height of the stairwell, emphasising the verticality and creating a warm glow at the centre of the apartment, while the back wall is completely covered [...]

“I have used lots of textures in the same calm tones, so as not to detract from the light, and added touches of an accent colour such as lime and purple. If I get bored I’ll keep the base palette and just change the accent colours. I don’t think a room is ever finished; I [...]

Take beautiful river and parkland views, oodles of space and a luxe interior, and what have you got? A desirable duplex penthouse within St George’s Imperial Wharf development, that’s what. As part of a London complex of 1800 elite homes on the banks of the Thames, right next door to the design destination Chelsea Harbour, [...]

Current projects range from a 1,000 sq. m house in the country, combining a Georgian, Grade II-listed building with a modern extension, to working for a London client on an interior scheme to complement an important art collection. They have just completed the refurbishment of a stylish hotel in Ireland and a development in central [...]

The overall style of the common areas incorporates an elegant mix of old and new with an injection of theatrical. “We took a lot of our inspiration from the theatre set and hotels of the Twenties and Thirties which reflect the hotel’s Victorian structure and grand rooms.” Says Howes. The designer has retained the historic [...]

Located in the heart of Galway on fashionable Eyre Square, the four-star Hotel Meyrick combines Victorian grandeur with modern interiors by award-winning Taylor Howes Designs. Wide corridors, once necessary for ladies in hooped skirts to pass each other, remain and have been elegantly restored with marble and rich rugs.

In keeping with the Talyor Howes philosophy, the décor is classic yet contemporary. There’s a four- metre sofa and a plasma television hidden behind what looks like an oil painting, ‘but then you press a button and it slides up to reveal the TV.’ Karen explains. She chose beige cream Nobilis wallpaper; ‘I’ve got wallpaper in every room. It’s more interesting, more textual, and gives more depth than paint’.

‘The look we decided to go for here I would describe as classical revival, it is contemporary yet oozes glamour at the same time… Jane was given an excellent starting position for this project with well proportioned rooms throughout the apartment and a cast central hallway.’