Even my aunt Joan, hopelessly sentimental about every member of our family, admitted that I was hideous.

I think everyone must have a first memory of some house, some room, a vivid picture that will remain deep down in one forever.

Rooms should be timeless.

Even my aunt Joan, hopelessly sentimental about every member of our family, admitted that I was hideous.

Home, the idea of home, is my principal purpose. If people have bought a house as an investment or chosen the furniture because they'll be able to sell it for more, you can tell in two minutes. You know, our parents didn't buy a house as an investment. They bought it as a place to bring you up, to give you roots.

...When someone asks me to help create a room my first reaction, if I do not already know the person, is to try to feel out what he or she really wants the room to be and to understand, if possible, what "memory," old or new, has brought this idea about.

You can never achieve anything in a house unless you have things that have been passed down and you find a place for them for yourself.