Interior Designer Philippa Thorp On How To Combine Art Curation & Design

Oftentimes, art can be left as an after-thought in our homes. Something to fill the blank space on a wall. At Philippa Thorp’s Thorp Design studio, however, it is a different story. A story in which art plays the leading role. Renowned for her striking interiors and keen attention to detail, we sat down with Philippa to learn more about her instinctive design ethos.

Q&A With Philippa Thorp

Do you find it concerning when people treat interior design and art curation as separate entities?

I guess it’s a bit like going out in the rain without your mac, isn’t it? The design of a home is about the sum of many, many, many parts. So interior design covers all that you can think of. It’s how people eat; it’s where they eat; it’s how they want to entertain; it’s how they store their clothes. There are so many intricacies that go into your thinking. Where do you want to relax? Where do you want to be more formal? Do you want to be formal? Is your home about a bit of show-off? Is it not? There are so many criteria that come into creating a home, that if you didn’t have art, you wouldn’t have a home.

Most people will design a space then fill in the gaps with art. Do you ever reverse that process by designing a space around a specific piece of art?

Yes, 100 percent. It is often the art that is the starting point. So as a practice, we build quite a lot from scratch, and if we’re not building it from scratch then we’re doing a total refurbishment. If you’re building a house, it can take two or three years. And over that time you see pieces they sort of flow into it. You shouldn’t go buying art as a ‘Right – I’m on a job; I’ve got a budget of X. I need 20 pieces. We’ll buy them today.’ It just doesn’t work like that.

I see a wonderful piece and I say to a client, ‘I’ve seen this wonderful piece’ or we go on a trip to a gallery or whatever. With most of our clients, we go to all the galleries to learn about art and understand what kind of art the client likes. We’re expecting our clients to live in their houses for generations or, you know, decades. You can really change any house. You can go into a house built 200 years ago and put contemporary art in, and boom. It’s such a different space, so long as the canvas is a good canvas in the first place. 

During lockdown, we did a job in Lake Como and the first time we all saw the house it was completely built. The guys here are so clever with their computer literate skills that they can model a whole property. So even if the house doesn’t exist, the client can put the virtual goggles on and imagine what the paintings will look like in that space. 

When you’re working alongside a client, how do you work to understand their tastes? Do you ever have to convince them of your vision if they’re uncertain? 

Most people are uncertain. I think one of the reasons people enjoy having somebody like me or my team to work with is that it doesn’t matter how confident you are: second opinion and a professional opinion is key. It’s a bit of a journey if I’m honest. And I think it’s why an awful lot of our clients come back for job after job. So the benefit of working with people you know on projects after projects and in different countries is we all go on that journey together. I know where they’re going by the time they buy a house in the country or whatever the next project might be. And of course, every different project needs very different aesthetic considerations. 

You talk about how your favourite moments in design are when you create a bold juxtaposition between the art and interiors. Do you often have to encourage clients up to make that leap?

I think it’s about trust, isn’t it? I often get our clients to do things they would never, never, have dreamt of doing. And I would say most clients come to us – not all but most – with fairly traditional thinking. And certainly with the art, I probably push them well out of their comfort zones. But I think I can say there isn’t one that doesn’t absolutely love that process. It’s like sport, you sort of feel you’ve achieved more the more you’re pushed, and the more you learn, the more you understand. And I think certainly with art, if you understand why an artist did it when they did it, what the story behind anything is makes a topic interesting.

When designing a space you also consider how the landscape blends with the interiors. How does that process work?

It’s sometimes quite difficult to explain, because from my point of view everything is very clear. We were talking to my youngest daughter who works here too and she’s highly creative. And asking her to explain how she knew that was just how it should be, that’s like asking a painter why he knew he had to put that thing up there, because that sort of juxtaposition of things is learnt with a sort of design mind.

Not everyone can see that, but certainly when we’re designing houses it’s like it probably was in the 18th century. Windows do frame views and the outside is as important as the inside. When I go and look around the house, the very first thing I always do is I walk to the window. If somebody says, ‘Oh, I’m thinking of buying this house’, I’m not really too bothered about what the inside of the building looks like, because I know that anything that’s there is probably going to change radically in some shape or form. What I’m interested in is what is the light like and what is the view like? Because you can change the light in a building. You can’t change much about the topography unless you’re on a whopping landscaping job. Most properties I go into, it’s sort of obvious that the rooms are set out in the wrong place. The kitchen is where the sitting room should be. And it’s why people go back and back to the Georgians, because they really did consider these things. 

Design seems very instinctual to you. How did you fall in love with it?

I think it’s partly the gifts that you’re given at birth. Some people are good at maths and some people are good at languages, and some people are good at art. And part of it is just a life long training and interest. My father was a painter; that wasn’t his full time career, but he painted all his life. My parents were very interested in architecture and design and historical things. So as a child, that’s what we did. Our holidays were traipsing around ruins and all sorts of things. And I’ve done it with my own children, and I now do it with my grandchildren. 

When we were walking on Saturday, I took my five-year-old grandchild into Brompton Oratory. And I said, ‘You have got to come in here. You’ve got to look at this space. You’ve got to look about – what do you see? What strikes you?’ And I do it with everybody who comes to work here. It’s a passion to learn and to look. So if I was walking down the street with you, I’d be saying, ‘Look at those windows’. It’s just how I was brought up and I know that’s what my daughters do with their own children now. So it’s a way of thinking that is just constant. Constantly being reinforced and going to galleries. It’s just what my passion is.

Thorp Design’s art collection has appreciated up to 30 percent in the past four years. When curating, are you considering what’s going to be valuable or just following your instincts?

It’s a bit of all those things. Because I encourage a client away from art as something to hang on the wall, treating it as just stuff. I think everything you buy you should buy for a purpose. You shouldn’t buy tut. You shouldn’t buy toot in clothing. You shouldn’t buy tut in art because you rarely like it. You mainly dream of moving on from it. I encourage a less is more approach. I think most clients who I’ve worked with have made quite a lot of money out of their art, and I think that is partly because art is now much more of a topic where people realise that they should invest well once. But I think if you buy well, it’s a bit like buying a vintage piece of clothing; it’s going to hold its value where something from a cheap retailer isn’t. So I do try and encourage clients to buy well once, and I think that sort of feeds into why it’s then worth more, because it is an asset that is appreciating in value.

Do you think it’s a shame that beauty is less of a priority in many new builds?

I think it’s such a shame. I went to a beautiful school. It had incredible architecture. And I know it played an impact on me. I know I was proud of those buildings. I am horrified by some of the modern buildings that go up where the windows are too small and you have to ask: Do the people who design these things have any aesthetic bones in their bodies, or are they driven by developers where it doesn’t matter what the designer says? I can’t imagine why people would choose to buy them. So if people didn’t buy them, developers wouldn’t get away with dreadful designs. I’m also shocked by some of the stuff that I see in London, towering buildings over beautiful old buildings. And I just think that’s an insult to the incredible architecture that will stand there forever.

I do think the planners have got a lot to answer for. I don’t think they’re nearly respectful or careful enough. I don’t think London should be towering above the tree line. I think it’s one of its utter charms that it is mainly below the tree line. And I’m certainly not in the argument that we need to build 1000s of new homes. If you go down to the Thames at night and you see all those whopping developments south of the river, there’s probably about four lights on in a building that has 100 flats. So something is wrong, and it’s to do with the planning laws, and it’s to do with the government’s decisions. So I’m right on my hobby horse about that.

I know much of your work seeks to celebrate traditional skills and craftsmanship. Are you worried about these skills becoming endangered?

I think there is a great awareness of that. I’m less worried about that than I am about the crazy planners and government policy. I actually think there are an incredible number of very talented crafts people, and I think they’re being supported now in a way that they certainly weren’t, let’s say, 15 years ago. We probably reached rock bottom, probably 15 years ago. And I think the tide has turned, that there are a lot of organisations and a lot of people who do understand the sort of buy well once principle, I think that, I think that message is getting through. So I actually am less gloomy about that than I am about other things. I’m not saying that enough has been done, but I think there is an awareness and that’s a good thing. 

How do you champion sustainability in your design – what’s the balance between new and vintage pieces? 

It is balanced. Every house we do, however modern it is, everything is about balance. So if the house is very modern, the furniture is going to probably err towards bringing some really classic, great antique pieces in. If the house is very traditional, we’re probably going to bring in some more modern pieces. But I would say every canvas, every house, to make it have that longevity that we’re talking about, it is a balance that naturally encompasses some older pieces and some more contemporary pieces. And so long as it’s well considered and well proportioned, it generally always works amazingly. 

Find out more at thorp.co.uk