For over fourteen years, Katharine Pooley has been designing elegant and sophisticated interiors from her base in Chelsea. Her boundless energy and enthusiasm for her work and clients have led to worldwide success and a reputation for quality and originality.

Let’s find out what makes her stand out from the crowd, and how you can incorporate some of her ideas into your home projects.

Katharine’s inspiration is a little unlike many of the top-class London interior designers. She spent years travelling all over the globe and even scaled many of the highest mountains in the world! This breadth of experience and adventuring spirit has been a huge inspiration and influence on her work.

She always works with her clients' ideas but is keen to shape her designs around the location of the property. Katharine feels that it’s important to honour the unique atmosphere and culture of the country she works in, rather than forcing a square peg into a round hole.

The Katharine Pooley philosophy may be heavily influenced by global travel, but it’s also incredibly practical and usable. As a parent, she understands that a home can look stunning, but if you can’t live in it, it’s useless!

She likes to work with a neutral base and layer her colours and textures onto this simple canvas, using pieces that have sentimental value alongside items of high-quality and originality.

Let’s see how you can add a touch of this style and class to your home.

Katharine’s philosophy is simple and elegant, which make it easy to add to your toolbox of ideas, whatever your budget. Here are the key points you can incorporate into your living spaces:

Design your rooms around a neutral colour to make it easy to layer textures and colours and build a complete space.

Think about your local culture and heritage and consider incorporating that into your interior design. Perhaps you could buy local artists’ work or theme your rooms around your town’s history?

Think function over design – this is especially important if you have a family and want your home to be practical and safe.

Don’t be afraid to add a touch of your family history – maybe some furniture or a vase handed down from your grandparents?

We hope that this guide to the work of Katharine Pooley will inspire you to make some changes and turn your home into a sophisticated and practical one that your whole family can enjoy!