Decorating & Design
May 16, 2023
Designer Luke Edward Hall Puts A Quirky Spin On English Style
With his thatch of floppy hair and stylish specs, Luke Edward Hall channels two well-known British national treasures: Hugh Grant and Harry Potter. It’s quite fitting for the 33-year-old artist and designer who’s a master of the eclectic English look. After graduating from Central Saint Martins’ fashion program (alums include Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney), Luke became a protégé of designer Ben Pentreath.
In 2015, he established his own interior design studio, producing a whirlwind of art and design commissions for clients including Burberry, Liberty and Ginori 1735. He transcends snobbery, relying less on pedigree and more on whimsy, color and form, whether he’s perusing a Murano glass studio or the trunk at a car boot sale. We asked Luke about what catches his eye and why British decorating is such a force to be reckoned with.
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Luke found a studio with lots of natural light (and radiators to keep his tea from freezing!) just a 10-minute drive from his cottage.
House & Home: What brought you to interior design?
Luke Edward Hall: While studying at Central Saint Martins, I sold antiques on the side and Ben Pentreath was one of my first customers. I fell in love with his work, so when he mentioned he was looking for someone on the interiors side of his company, I was intrigued.
In addition to penning a biweekly design column for The Financial Times, the designer released a second book last fall, A Kind of Magic: The Kaleidoscopic World of Luke Edward Hall (Vendome, 2022), which includes two of Luke’s properties — a Cotswolds cottage and his London flat — both shared with husband Duncan Campbell. In Luke’s homes, shell-shaped grotto furniture, balloon drapes, glass vegetables and china dogs live in harmony.
The armchair covered in Colefax and Fowler’s Malabar fabric was an auction find. “I’d never lived in the country before, so when we came here, I said, ‘I want china dogs; I want chintz!’”
H&H: Did you find common ground between fashion and interiors?
LEH: Interiors are a bit like how you dress. They reveal your interests and taste — it’s another form of self-expression. I like the idea of creating little universes and telling stories through objects and juxtaposition. I often think about how spaces make us feel and what they can tell us.
Luke and Duncan’s Cotswolds cottage bedroom is wrapped in Svenskt Tenn wallpaper — a 1940s Josef Frank design.
H&H: Why do you think British decorating is having a major moment?
LEH: There’s a deeper appreciation of what we put into our houses. That rich, eclectic, layered look of mixing furniture, textures and accessories from different periods is very English to me. It’s joyful and, after a pretty intense few years, people want more joy, color and stories about craftsmanship and where things were made. I think that’s what you get from a layered, classically English interior.
The early 19th-century Dutch marquetry cabinet was the first piece the couple bought for the cottage. Pea green Carimate chairs surround a French, bleached-oak farmhouse table.
H&H: How do you maintain your love of collecting without spaces feeling overrun?
LEH: I love having a lot of stuff around, but we do pass things on, and I move things between the country and my studio in London. Last year, we did a car boot sale where lots of designers came together and sold pieces. I probably ended up buying more than I sold.
The walls in the living room are painted in a muted green, which juxtaposes the pink sofa upholstered in a toile by Christopher Moore.
H&H: And you’re not afraid of embracing kitsch?
LEH: If I like something, I go for it — even if it’s considered kind of ugly. We have an old gilt grotto chair with a beautiful pattern. The texture gives it a somber elegance that takes away from the fact that it’s super camp.
Flowers and animals are recurring motifs in Luke’s art.
H&H: What’s your favorite medium to work in when you’re creating?
LEH: Drawing and painting are at the heart of everything I do. It’s the thread that runs through all my projects.
Keep scrolling to see more of Luke’s favorite design moves!
Art History
“I adore Greek and Roman mythology, Neptune in particular, who inspired my ceramic collection for Ginori 1735.”
Black Beauty
“Black Basalt Wedgwood ceramics are one of my latest passions.”
On Display
“Trays from The Lacquer Company are embellished with a portrait of Antinous.”
“I have loads of books on my nightstand. Right now, I’m reading the biography Nureyev by Julie Kavanagh.”
The Fountainhead
I loved visiting Stanway House. It’s still privately owned and the interior feels untouched and faded — and it has the highest fountain in England!
Vintage Point
I use French Conté pastels, but I like to buy nice old things from The Arqivist, which tracks down vintage boxes of pastels and paints. You can find unusual supplies.
Luke dresses in the eclectic style of his decorating.
Billal Taright
House & Home