Rohan Blacker
photo Courtesy of Pooky
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? The Maremma, Tuscany, Italy. One of the most magical places on earth, with some pretty tasty food to boot...
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? My enduring memory is the ceiling, which was covered with the results of a failed chemistry experiment - an exploded test tube! And my bed, which was one of those very high Victorian brass beds.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? Years ago, I bought at auction the most insanely beautiful 19th-century Chinese day bed: black and deep red lacquered chinoiserie with a cane base. I did not have the space for it (and still don't, really), but I fell head over heels for it in the auction house and had no way to stop myself!
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Andrea Palladio - has anyone ever had a better sense of proportion?
No room is complete without delicious lighting.
People think of me as...an extrovert...but I am really a...shy boy.
Things you omit from:
A flower arrangement Carnations
An hors d’oeuvre platter Cheese and pineapple sticks
A bar cabinet Red Bull
A song for:
Dinner at home Shape of my heart - Sting
Working at your desk George Erith
Going for a run Bend and Break by Keane
Biggest Vice? Do I have to? I can't properly kick smoking. Also, don't show me a bottle of Calvados...it'll be gone in a flash.
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? A Froggy Bottom acoustic guitar.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility? If so, how? To a degree, yes - I have a penchant for flamboyant, colorful jackets
Who is your star crush? Brandon Flowers
What is the thing you would never do on a project but don’t detest when you see others do it? Gimmicky lights...there is a craze for whacky animal lights, for example, a "hare lamp" with large ears protruding up from the shade. Or monkey lights. I prefer lights that I know I'll still love in ten years’ time, not this season's whimsy.
If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be? Architectural Digest at 100 - a century of style.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? For injecting the fun and eccentric into the mundane.
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Book: Along the Enchanted Way by William Blacker
Scent: Egoiste by Channel
The fabric you always come back to: Velvet, with a bit of silk in it, preferably
Dream project: Redesigning the British rail network and carriages. Very overdue.
Meal: Lobster Bisque followed by Crème Brûlée
Drink: Mango Lassi or a fine red Burgundy
Hotel: The Imperial in Delhi
Travel Destination: The East...preferably the hilly bits
Artist: Egon Schiele
A cause near and dear to me: Banishing the stigma of mental instability
Thing to collect obsessively: Acoustic guitars
Era in the history of design: Late eighteenth century
Museum: Uffizi, Florence.
Paint Color that always looks great: Charlotte's Locks Orange.
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: This is one vice I don't suffer from
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Dogs AND cats, please.
