I’d recommend it to someone who also likes…Art Nouveau, trompe l’oeil, or the Age of Enlightenment, when everyone was curious about the world.
Photography by Kate Berry
Where I’ve spotted it in the wild:
The way that the iconic Fornasetti founder, artist Piero Fornasetti, collaborated with Gio Ponti to bring “practical madness” to decor. I got a chance to visit his son Barnaba’s home in Milan (pictured above), and I was totally immersed in his world.
A dinner party invitation Ash sent me last year with this drawing of a volcano; it feels very surrealist.
The dreamlike styling of everything in Form Atelier’s online shop. I love how they’re shifting the dialogue between inanimate objects.
Photography by William Jess Laird
Three real-life ways I’d try it:
Wallpapering a room where you can create a little universe, like a foyer or a bathroom. Ash’s creative director, Xavier Donnelly, recently launched modern frescoes with Backdrop that would be perfect.
A beautifully draped fabric or curtain as a backdrop behind your bed—that feels very of this world.
A twist on something everyday. I’m looking on eBay for a giant clamshell to fill with ice and champagne when we have people over. Matilda Goad sells them, but I want a real one!
It looks great with…a mix of different styles and shapes—it would work with my natural travertine table but also my Mags sofa. Some people might say it looks weird, but that’s the point.
If money, time, and space were no object, I’d…design a room within a birdcage, like in Elsa Schiaparelli’s 1935 couture house in Paris. That would be my ultimate.
My shopping criteria: I have none. There are no rules!
My elevator pitch to skeptics: What else would you put on your stack of books or coffee table?!
How I see it evolving: People using technology to come up with ideas that will help inform real-life pieces and spaces. Charlotte Taylor creates 3D renderings that are so fantasy, like a room with trees growing out of it, and artist Chloe Wise is playing around with AI to make surrealist work like this.
Design destination on your bucket list: Munich, where the porcelain manufacturer I’ve loved forever, Nymphenburg, is based. I’ve always wanted this bowl. How sweet would it be if you put a little salad in it?
Home project you’d like to tackle: Getting the hundreds of books off the floor in my bedroom. It’s terrible. I need to get rid of a lot.
DIY you might actually do: Reupholster a new headboard.
Trend you hope makes a comeback: Brass. Some say they are over it, but I will always be a fan.
Photography Courtesy of Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella and Kate Berry
