The Tastemakers’ Sources: Who Interior Designers Look To

We follow them – the interior designers and artists whose impeccable taste shapes how we think about our homes. But who do they look to? Where do our tastemakers source their inspiration, their materials, their treasured finds?

The answer is more intimate than you might expect, as C&TH discovered when we asked three interior design luminaries about their network of trusted sources. Because even those at the pinnacle of taste don’t conjure beauty from nothing. They find it, source it, and refine it through time-honoured shops and suppliers who share their vision.

For Yinka Ilori, it’s the quirky vintage shops he frequents every weekend. For Beata Heuman, it’s a sixth-generation London paint house that understands the alchemy of natural pigments. For Ben Pentreath, it’s a fourth-generation antiques dealer discovered through a chance Instagram encounter.

Yinka Ilori at his exhibition at Cristea Roberts Gallery in London (until 11 July). (© Cristea Roberts)

Yinka Ilori

For someone as synonymous with colour as British-Nigerian artist Yinka Ilori, it’s a surprise to learn his house is white inside. ‘My home needs to be a reset. Clean lines, crucial for moments of calm.’ But every weekend, like a religion, he stops by The Old Cinema in Chiswick. ‘My latest buys are an old red telephone and two scary metal masks. I like weird and wacky things. They mostly end up in my man cave.’

Another favourite is Aladdin’s in Islington, where chairs hang from the ceiling. ‘Last time I came home with a beautiful chandelier.’ And 1882 in Stoke-on-Trent is his go-to for ceramics. ‘If want a showpiece or some new tableware, you can get it there.’

Beata Heuman at home. Walls and cabinetry painted with No. 3 Old Man’s Beard; fridge painted with No. 23 Wheatsheaf.

Beata Heuman

It took Beata Heuman over two years to create The Dependables, a collection of 24 paint colours made with Mylands, a sixth-generation family business in the heart of London. ‘I had my go-to paint colours I would use in projects, and we decided to simplify things by creating our own, using my home as a test case,’ she says.

Mylands was a paintmaker she trusted. ‘Like many people, when I decorated my first flat, I wanted to do it as cheaply as possible. Then I came to understand the raw materials that go into paint – Mylands uses natural earth pigments – and how they affect the colour, depth and durability, and how the light bounces off it. You can’t mimic that. Plus, my style is quite disparate but recurring paint colours creates a calmness.’

Ben Pentreath (pictured here) suggests Will Green is an excellent source if you have a country house to fill. (© Simon Bevan)

Ben Pentreath

Often described as a contemporary Robert Kime, Will Green has a client list that includes Florence Welch and certain royals. Ben Pentreath first met Green on Instagram, ‘where his aesthetic and approach to very well-priced, simple antiques strikes a chord with many of our projects,’ Penreath says. A fourth generation antiques dealer, Green left school at 16 and has nurtured his eye and expertise since childhood. ‘He comes from a different background to many of the young digital antique dealers that we enjoy working with,’ Pentreath continues. ‘His website is invaluable if you have a large country house to source for.’

Pentreath pinpoints Green’s large and ever-changing stock, while a new range of bespoke furniture brings an additional dimension; his (often sold out) collection of lampshades are hand-sewn in England using vintage and antique textiles. Green’s magic lies in his instinctive ability to find pieces that balance grandeur and that quieter, humble charm, each one possessing romance and distinct English sensibility.

This article first appeared in Country & Town House Interiors 2026/27.