House Guest by Country & Town House | Interior Designer Interviews

With names such as Jilly Cooper, Daisy Lowe and Mary Berry amongst its fanbase, few brands encompass as much love, friendship, and loyalty as AGA. This week Carole sits down with Dominic Worsley and Laura James of AGA Rangemaster to talk about the brand’s renaissance under new leadership, as well as its new colours, new controls and much-loved heritage. Tune in for anecdotes, snippets of AGA history, plans for the future, and to discover the brilliant sales advice advertising guru David Ogilvy came up with when he worked for the cast-iron cooker brand.

As we are well into the summer season – with Royal Ascot behind us and Wimbledon still ongoing – Carole Annett chats to Hattie Hansard of Joanna Wood about how interior designers are often employed by hospitality companies to transform these temporary spaces into something magical. Using a clever eye and often complicated logistics, here's how they create a memorable space for guests enjoying a day out.

This week, we've gone a little bit off-piste from interiors as I sit down to chat to Kiki McDonough. A favourite jeweller to the royals (with Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales regularly seen wearing her pieces), she has now worked in the industry for over 40 years. Sitting at the helm of a much-loved, globally-renowned brand, the fifth generation jeweller is renowned for her pioneering use of coloured gemstones.
One of the first women to make a name for herself in the British, luxury jewellery world, Kiki has built a well-respected business on her own with the support of a great team, while juggling two sons, multiple patronages and a social life that would tire most 20-somethings. We talk about running a business and the very exciting news that she has just gained a royal warrant.

What does it take to turn a house into a home? For Christophe Carpente – the French-born, Swiss-trained architect behind some of the world's most considered luxury interiors – the answer lies in chemistry, trust, and the willingness to let go.
In this episode of House Guest, Carpente joins Carole from his Notting Hill studio to reflect on nearly 30 years of practice: from designing flagship stores for Cartier, Burberry and De Beers, to the deeply personal work of building homes for their owners.
Sponsored by Aqualisa Showers.

'There are two sides to designing something: it needs to be useful and it needs to be beautiful,’ says John Sims-Hilditch, co-founder of Neptune, which is celebrating 30 years of making furniture and accessories for the home. ‘I actually slightly fall into beauty being the most important thing in design,’ he continues. ‘Utility falls away but beauty endures’. Tune in for more about how John and his business partner Giles Redman went from selling hammocks to building a hugely successful brand.