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

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

Behind every attractive room there should be a very good reason.

It is only my eye that has helped me. I am still hopeless with that thing called a scale ruler. I love color, but that comes very naturally to me. From the beginning, I never followed trends. If I was aware of them, I didn't care, for I believed as I do now, that rooms should be timeless and very personal. I don't set out to achieve a particular style. And I certainly don't have a 'look' - just a mishmash of everything that somehow, by instinct, usually turns out to be a warm imaginative, 'living room'.

It has not been an easy cross to bear. It has caused considerable confusion. My husband constantly complained about the awkwardness of being married to a woman whom he called Sister.

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.