Holly Stott
Holly's style is sophisticated and livable, with a luxury hotel feel. She tries to choose fabrics and furniture that are timeless in style but with luxurious textures and materials.
1. Who is your style hero?
My style hero is the late Helen Green who I feel created the most perfect spaces. Her work is described as being inspiring, yet remains timeless in a modern world. This epitomises everything I would like my future work to be.
2. If you had an unlimited budget to spend on your home what improvements would you make?
If I had an unlimited budget I would love to buy a completely new home. It would be an old stone barn in the country. I would modernise it with feature glass windows and glass box extensions, yet retain the warmth through original beams and natural stone flooring. For me it's not about having a big huge house with all the latest gadgets, but having somewhere comfortable and homely for my family.
3. Would you have the room you created in your own home?
It's the first time I've created every detail that goes into the design of a room, and with the budget and time we had, I was pleased with the result. I felt the bedroom was inviting and had a feeling of luxury when you were in there; so yes I would have that room in my house. In fact I have had the wardrobes replicated for our spare bedroom!
4. What did you learn from taking part in 鈥榊our Home In Their Hands鈥�?
I learnt that I like things a certain way; quite uniform and regimented to create a polished look. Also, I learnt lots of techniques from the tradesmen about how to create luxury looks, using the simplest of materials.
5. What is your golden rule when it comes to interior design?
Find your true style and develop it, instead of seeing a look and replicating it. More often than not, the space being created is somewhere you will live and it's important to reflect yourself and what you find comfortable. Also, always test paint samples on the wall you are using it on, as different lighting can change the colour completely.
6. What is your DIY tool that you just can鈥檛 live without?
My staple gun casually travels with me in my handbag along with brown tape, scissors and a tape measure. I tend to use these on a daily basis.
7. What is your biggest DIY achievement?
I recently redeveloped a house with my partner. A lot of the furniture in there is DIY, as we simply couldn't stretch to the prices of some of the pieces. For example, the bed I loved was over 拢3000 but I managed to create my own version using MDF, wadding and good quality fabric for a fraction of the cost and it looks great.
8. What鈥檚 your biggest DIY disaster?
I tend to test a lot of things out before I make anything, so I haven't really had any major horrors. I'm sure my mum would say differently when she used to come home from work and my polished plastered bedroom was painted black with designer carrier bags framed and stuck on the wall. Not sure where I was going with that one.
9. If you could design a room in any building in the world, what room would you design and why?
I would love to design luxury bedrooms for leading hotels, as this is where my style is at it's strongest. To be able to use any fabric, material and furniture would be a dream as the things I usually choose are way out of budget!
