Profile: Katharine Pooley

Yesterday I posted on Forter Castle and the wonderful restoration by the Pooley family. Today meet Katharine Pooley, the mastermind behind the beautiful interiors.

Award winning interior designer Katharine Pooley is currently one of the most in demand designers in the UK. Katharine attended St Mary’s Wantage, Oxfordshire and then INSA University in Lyon, France. She spent 14 years living in Hong Kong where she worked for Morgan Stanley and Barclays Bank and has lived in Vietnam, Singapore, Bahrain and London.

To date she has visited over 190 countries, summited Mt Kilimanjaro and Vinson Massif and drove a dog sled across the Arctic. As you might expect, her extensive travels play a prominent role in Katharine’s interiors, which offer luxury and refinement matched with contemporary and traditional artefacts from across the globe.

Apart from being passionate about interiors and travel, Katharine has attended several prestigious cookery courses, namely Cordon Bleu and Prue Leith. In 2003 she published a travel diary cookbook, A Taste of My World, available in her London store. A Taste of My World takes recipes from every place, person and home Katharine has ever known across the globe.

What countries are on your must visit list?
Ethiopia, Bhutan , Mozambique, Mnemba Island - Zanzibar

What is your favourite luxury in life?
Playing golf on a Friday afternoon. Waking up at the weekends with all my dogs in bed with me in the country.

How would you describe your own personal decorating style?
Warm yet stylish, easy living yet clean lines and I love lots of storage!

Who is your style icon?
Sir Norman Foster

What did you enjoy most about writing a taste of my world?
The reminder of all the wonderful countries and memories I had of visiting each place.

What would people be most surprised to learn about you?
That I am at my happiest hanging out in a tent with no showers for three weeks whilst climbing a mountain at 22,000ft.

profile by Ronda Carman