Howark Design shares lessons from international interior design projects across Europe, Africa, and the US, from a Greek island house to a Kenyan safari lodge.

From the saturated fantasy of Jaipur to the intellectual salons of Paris and the deeply personal world-building of coastal Portugal, a new generation of hotels is redefining what it means to design a stay.

From the saturated fantasy of Jaipur to the intellectual salons of Paris and the deeply personal world-building of coastal Portugal, a new generation of hotels is redefining what it means to design a stay.

A holiday residence presents one of the most nuanced briefs in interior design. It must be beautiful, but it must also be something more elusive: deeply restorative, effortlessly liveable, and filled with a sense of place that reminds you exactly why you chose to be there.

Ultimately, maximising indoor-outdoor living in a holiday villa is about designing for presence. It invites occupants to slow down, tune into their surroundings and live in rhythm with the day. 

Realising the full potential of an overseas residence demands expertise, vision, and an intimate understanding of the world's finest makers, craftspeople, and design traditions. This is where an exceptional interior designer becomes not a luxury, but an essential appointment.

With a myriad of colours, patterns, sizes and materials available, choosing the perfect rug for your interior can be an overwhelming decision. Is it any wonder there is such choice when you consider that the humble rug dates back over 2500 years?

The fabled Charleston House is more than just a beautiful historic building, with a fascinating past. Charleston is the most complete Bloomsbury Interior left standing, and portrays beautifully the interiors of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, two key members of the Bloomsbury Group, who lived at the property from 1916 and was occupied by various friends and family for another 64 years. Charleston has remained as it was in the 1950’s, a place in which the beautiful surroundings are breath-taking, a simple way of life was lived, with art taking precedence over comfort.

It’s fair to say that most of us will look back at some interiors, styles and outfits we loved years ago and wonder ‘what was I thinking?!’ The design world moves at such a pace, that it’s easy to get swept along with the current trends, without considering their longevity and how they will age.