The Bestlite desk lamp is very British, very functional Created in 1930 by Robert Best and made in Birmingham, the Bestlite is very British, very functional. not especially pretty, but it’s very clean and impressive all the same. It’s extremely well constructed and durable and still in production. fact there are a variety of lamps and wall brackets in the same shape which work equally well. There’s nothing complicated or gimmicky about it at all, and in that sense it’s symbolic for me of what British design is all about. I believe there was one on Winston Churchill’s desk in his Whitehall air-raid shelter; there’s certainly one on mine. It illuminates the pile of unanswered letters. The Thonet Bentwood chair is extremely durable Designed by Michael Thonet in the 1850s, the classic bentwood chair is one of the world’s most successful commercial products, and its design has remained virtually unchangedI’ve always loved the elegance of steam-bent furniture,
and this started a modern movement a long time ago. could be created in one location and assembled elsewhere. it was the first flat-pack furniture. The chairs became a staple in cafés around the world. They’re extremely durable, because if you knock them over they bounce rather than break, as they’re so flexible, yet they’re terrifically elegant and very economical to make. The Karuselli chair is composed of a fibreglass shell, a thin layer of foam and very high-quality leather, and not only does it swivel, but it also rocks Without question my favourite piece of interior design, and undoubtedly the most comfortable chair I’ve ever sat in. I like to retire to one with a cigar and a stiff drink as frequently as possible. I own four of them: an original from the Sixties at my London pied-à-terre and three in my house in the country. It’s composed of a fibreglass shell, a thin layer of foam and very high-quality leather, and not only does it swivel, but it also rocks.
The Conran Shop had a licence to make it in this country for a while, but now it’s made in Finland again, hence its rather prohibitive price. There’s a great anecdote about its designer Yrjö Kukkapuro coming up with the idea after falling asleep on a mound of snow following a heavy session, but the manufacturers prefer to say he was playing in the snow with his daughter. Either way, the idea that the shape he made in the snow was the source of inspiration is a real winner. David Mellor cutlery is a real pleasure to hold in your hand David Mellor became a byword for cutlery, producing simple, hand-finished steel and silver items from his Broom Hall factory in Sheffield. His cutlery is very well weighted, a real pleasure to hold in your hand. He died last year, which was a huge loss, because he was exactly the sort of designer the world needs. He stayed true to his Sheffield roots, and understoodWhat worries me is that his broad skill set is something that's slipping away.
The Alfred bed is a simple, elegant version of the classic English four-poster bed Designed by Sean Sutcliffe at Benchmark Furniture, the Alfred bed (from £2,500) is a simple, elegant version of the classic English four-poster bed built with a solid oak frame and sprung beech slats. It's a very modern yet traditional approach that updates a classic object in a way that surprises and engages people. I set up the Benchmark woodworking factory with Sean in old agricultural buildings at my country house in the mid-Eighties, and it's gone from strength to strength. It's certainly proved more profitable than farming. The Saarinen Tulip table is a distinctively Sixties piece This is the most elegant table I know of. Sold through the U.S. manufacturer Knoll, it was designed by the Finnish American Eero Saarinen, who also had great success as an architect. When he unveiled it in 1956, Saarinen announced that he wanted to do away with 'the slum of legs', and he certainly achieved that.
The Tulip table, which today costs around £2,000, is a distinctively Sixties piece, but to me one of the great things about it is how long it has endured. It's a great table to talk across and it works scaled down, too, as a side table. I have one of each. The Eames Eiffel chair has a beautifully simple wire frame resembling the structure of the Eiffel Tower This lightweight dining chair (about £150), designed by Charles and Ray Eames, has a beautifully simple wire frame resembling the structure of the Eiffel Tower. It hails from a period when designers were looking to buildings, domes and steelwork for inspiration and were adventurous in engineering. The Eameses' work was way ahead of its time, but it rarely reached the high street and hence people's homes. Our office has these chairs around the meeting table. The Noguchi Akari lamp (right) is rather lightweight and easily knocked over by a gust of wind but has innate beauty; the Flos Arco floorlamp (left) is simple and iconic
Isamu Noguchi was a Japanese-American designer who originally trained as a sculptor and brought that sensibility to everything he created: lighting, furniture, gardens and stage sets. He named his range of delicate Fifties lights Akari after the Japanese for 'light as illumination', and the effect is of a glowing sculpture created from little more than paper and wood - a very traditional Japanese approach. As a consequence they are rather lightweight and easily knocked over by a gust of wind; nevertheless I do adore their innate beauty. Created by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Italian manufacturer Flos in 1962 and much copied since, the Arco (£1,400) was conceived as a floor lamp that would provide direct light without needing to be fixed to the ceiling. It remains extremely contemporary and I possess one in my country house. It's a truly inspired piece of design - simple, iconic, with that lovely arc of satin steel holding the pendant and a slab of white Italian Carrara marble keeping it upright.