Words Billie Brand
Photography Genevieve Lutkin
Production Hannah Philips

Hollie Bowden is sitting in the conservatory that adjoins her studio within a former bank on Calvert Avenue, playing with her blonde mane. “The worst thing I could do is create something generic,” the interior designer says. But the spaces she crafts around the world – from Tel Aviv to Ibiza, the Isle of Bute to the Bahamas – are far from that. Hollie, who founded her ever-growing namesake business nearly 10 years ago, has a magpie-like eye for the beautiful and the strange. Curious collectibles, which she hunts down at unassuming markets and on eBay, define her schemes – and the shelves of her workspace too. “I’m drawn to obscure things that people have never seen before,” Hollie continues.

The Gloucestershire-born aesthete has, as she explains, never been busier. In part it’s because of her global roster of clients, but she’s also in the midst of renovating her own home in Finsbury Park, north London, which she shares with her partner, the furniture designer Byron Pritchard, and their two-year-old twin daughters, Stella and Nova. “It will be an extension of the studio,” she teases. “Lots of pieces that I have here will be going into it, such as an amazing pair of columns I sourced from Bruises Gallery in Canada – they’re going to mark the entrance to our bedroom. They were supposed to be for another project, but I just couldn’t part with them.” Here, Hollie tells us about her habit of collecting and why for her, weird is wonderful.

Hollie: “Before we moved here in 2019, we were in a little warehouse just down the road. It was a charming place but freezing in the winter. We would actually have to sit with hot-water bottles on our laps and sleeping bags wrapped around us. One day, the toilets flooded – as they would periodically – for what felt like the 20th time and I decided that it was time to make the move.

“A former colleague found this place and as soon as I walked in, I thought: ‘This is incredible’. The light is amazing, as are all the architectural details. The bones of the building are a lot more impressive than the one we came from – this used to be a bank, so it has lots of wonderful features, such as the old safe box. And it has the beautiful conservatory with lots of greenery, which I look on to from my studio. The location is dreamy too. There’s Rochelle’s Canteen across the road, Leila’s Shop next door and a cute kids’ clothing shop opposite.

“I used to have a lot of antiques and beautiful objects in storage – things that hadn’t worked for projects, but that I loved and couldn’t let go of. Then, when we moved here, I was able to clear out my unit and bring all my collectibles with me. The space works well as both a showroom and an office. Clients often come here when we’ve finished a project to select some extra pieces, which is really nice. It’s like a gallery, which people can visit by appointment – and a natural progression from interior design.

“We were a fairly small team of four or five when we first moved here, but now there are 12 of us. We’ve never been busier; we’re working on about 12 projects at the moment. We’ve just started on a chalet in Gstaad, we’re doing a job in Los Angeles, one in Tel Aviv and three in Ibiza, as well as a fantastic project in London – it’s a townhouse in St John’s Wood, which I’m working on with the architect Michaelis Boyd. And we’ve just taken a job in the Bahamas. That one is just a dream. It’s going to be a magical place. We’ve been collecting the playful work of Amos Ferguson, an important Bahamian artist, for it.

“We take great care to spend time understanding a place. We do a lot of location research and it can be quite challenging to figure out what works in a specific environment. What we’re doing in London, for example, is going to be very different to what we’re doing in the Bahamas.

“What I love about interiors is that every day is so different. The concept stage of a project is really exciting, then you get to develop the design, working out the look and feel. There are layers and layers to it. It’s all about striking a balance between what your clients want, what you want and what the building wants. But a big part of what we do is finding rare pieces and antiques. I won’t source generic bronze candlesticks that you find tens of dozens of, for instance. That’s how we keep our work fresh. There are a lot of trends out there on Instagram and such, which people get drawn into – and some of them are great – but for us, it’s about putting our own stamp on something.

“I find objects everywhere. I’m a sucker for Etsy and eBay. I find things in places like Paris and Belgium, which I travel to a lot. I’m always at markets – like the unassuming fleas in Gloucestershire, where my parents live. Design dealers send me stuff all the time too. I’ve got some good relationships with people – and if they know I’m going to love something, they will save it for me. Jermaine Gallacher and Max Keys are both brilliant to buy from, as is M.Kardana; I got an amazing fireguard in the shape of a vase from him.

“When it comes to collecting, I have design classics – like my 1970s Osvaldo Borsani desk and my Ron Arad and Gaetano Pesce chairs – but I also have objects that just drew my eye for being weird and wonderful. I like anything out of the ordinary and folky. I’m the same with my children’s clothes; I just want stuff to feel unique all the time. I’ve found someone who hand-sprays kids’ t-shirts and someone else in Cornwall who’s making them patchwork jackets, for example.

“I’ve been collecting forever. I think it’s just ingrained me. My mum was the same when I was growing up. My parents lived in a 17th-century cottage in Gloucestershire and she would have big cabinets filled with piles of lace and other fabrics. She would drape material across our windows at home in a way that was artistic, but completely useless for blocking out the light! The sun would just pour through into the house, but my parents never cared about having proper curtains.

“We didn’t have loads of money, so mum and dad have always been quite resourceful. They were drawn to intriguing things that might otherwise be overlooked at antique stores. My dad would come home and say something like, “I was just at a salvage yard and I found all this Yorkshire stone!” Then he’d use it to make something in the garden.

“One of the projects I’m currently working on is the renovation of my home in Finsbury Park. It’s taking longer than I wanted it to – I think it will be a year and a half in total – but it’s going to be quite fabulous. My partner, Byron, has amazing taste. We’ve merged both our looks together for the house, which has been exciting to see. Often clients set a brief and then you draw inspiration and make a scheme from that, but with this house, Byron and I can do whatever we want. It’s going to be eclectic and more colourful than what I’ve done before.”