Nicholas Haslam

“I didn't want to look distinguished; I wanted to look fun, and also to fade into the street, into the King's Road. If I don't fade into a room at White's, that's fine. My father was chairman of Brooks' and the Beefsteak, and I was brought up in that life, and it bores me rigid.”

“It's terribly easy to be well dressed. It's much more difficult to be badly dressed.”

“I believe every room speaks, tells you what to do to it. You have to listen to that.”

“I had a face-lift, and I would have another if I needed one. It definitely changed my life. I'm not vain. In fact I don't like looking at myself. The face-lift was just about looking rested.”

“I've never paid attention to politics. I only have the vaguest notion of what the IRA is.”

“It's the fashion, I tell you: big, tall women going out with tiny, tiny men.”

“I'm hopeless at telling lies. I can attempt strategic ones in order not to hurt people's feelings, but then I'll blow it 10 minutes later.”

“New York in the '60s was amazing.”

“People think that buying something for their home which is up-to-date is chic, but often it's a cliche. I call people who simply give clients the current 'thing' stylists not decorators.”

“I have a thirst - it's an awful word, but I'm thirsty for knowledge. I like knowing things, the odder the better, the more obtuse the better.”

“I have a natural curiosity for people.”

“I go to Topman at lunchtime and stare at these beautiful, beautiful people who work there and who are so well-dressed. And I think: 'Oh! I want to look like that! They're amazing, how well-dressed they are!'”

“The English truly understand the dynamic between buildings and land.”

“Most English houses, grand or small, nestle in an intimate pastoral setting.”

“It's rude to not try and look up-to-date. Is rude the right word? Yes! It's rude - rude to other people.”

“I rent a Jacobean-fronted hunting lodge in Hampshire from the National Trust and like to go there as much as possible. I've grown to love it so much, especially when writing my memoirs there at weekends.”

“You can learn the subtle language of interior style, but many people simply buy it. If you put yourself in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing, you can be confident it will look good.”

“Often it's a lack of time, not taste, that leads someone to hire a decorator. A good decorator/client relationship should be like a marriage. The time one puts in needs to be extensive. One needs to listen to them and understand what they like and how they live.”

“I think what I have is straightforwardness, unabashedness rather than charm.”

“Sometimes I think it would be nice to share everything I've got with somebody - and sometimes I think I'm very lucky to have the bathroom to myself. But I feel it would be nice to pass on my knowledge. Perhaps because I haven't got children - one wants to educate somebody.”