Some designers say that doing your own home is more difficult than a client’s, but I have to say that I don’t agree. I found it quite relaxing because with clients we have to present a whole vision – basically everything that will go into one room. And then, many of the "bespoke" pieces just looked like what DIYers have been popularizing on social media for ages now -- paint a vintage piece, add some trim to plain curtains, build a headboard. Charge a fortune, LOL! I'm just not sure, but is it then easy to get the look for less?

The highly anticipated debut monograph from one of today's leading designers championing playful, original interiors infused with Scandinavian flair. If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month. When I was a child, my world was one road long: the tree-lined drive up to the house where we lived. I grew up in a tiny hamlet, made up of my family’s farm and almost nothing else, in Skåne, in the south of Sweden. I had my three siblings for company, but could go for weeks without really seeing anyone else until I started school, which begins at age seven in Sweden. Our home was everything to me and that feeling— that this one place can encompass all that you need—has never left me.Create spaces that help us live comfortably in a way that is possible for us to maintain. Is our home loved and used to its full potential? rounded up because I'm painfully conflicted. ;-) Is Beata Heuman a genius? Every room screamed Beata Heuman, yet some I absolutely loved (and could move right into and never redecorate ever again) and some I loathed. How is that even possible? I'm assuming that's because these rooms really reflected the personalities of the owners more than it seems at first glance. The rooms I loved were probably the ones of the owners who has similar tastes to mine. The things people are interested in just go around in cycles and I’m sure once this moment has blown over everyone is going to be into something much more simple again, which is why you can’t be bogged down by trends. It all just evolves, and becomes more refined in the process, I think.”

Then, if I try to analyze her design style, it's really just: take a bunch of things that don't match, throw them in a room together, add a few things for scale and balance, make sure something has a scalloped edge, and the room is done. So is it genius to do this? It makes for comfortable rooms that reflect the owners, or is this something we've all just been doing all along and somehow Heuman put a new spin on it and made it trendy? Even with our big residential projects in London, space is always at a premium, so we have to think a lot about where to put everything, and how our clients can keep it clean and tidy. That’s another important consideration if you go for this, well, I don’t really like the word ‘maximalist’ but, if you go for it, it’s really important that it’s not cluttered. These delights are nothing, however, to the sheer sensory pleasure of the interior - a highly original space, unapologetically theatrical and oozing energy. 'The owners are both artists. They have quite wild tastes and they love strong colours,' says Beata. 'I was told by the wife that her childhood dream was to have a house with a series of rooms each with its own distinct personality - Chinese, Japanese, American and so on. That would have been too much, but I did want to give the house variation and changes of mood.' This inversion of the usual dynamic - clients requiring encouragement to embrace bold decorative concepts - was an early characteristic of the project. 'It is one thing looking at something and thinking it is cool. It is very different living with it,' says Beata. 'I wanted the house to be fun and uplifting, but also comfortable and not too "full on".' I think mixing things from different eras, and from all over the world, makes things more interesting and livelier. It makes me excited to look at a room and see a mix of lots of different things. That’s what human nature is: a great big mix. From how to maximise small spaces to finding inspiration, learning what you like and knowing how to translate your own unique individuality, plus why it's important to value the sentimental, it's an invaluable tome for any budding interior decorator.In her 2021 book, Every Room Should Sing, Beata made a passionate call for more individual interiors. “Your surroundings affect you consciously and unconsciously, and we should all aspire to construct a home environment that helps us to be the person we want to be. An interior can enrich your life, and can even open your mind to certain ideas. You need to seek the right combination of whatever matters to you.” I guess what I do is having a bit of a moment now, which is fine, but, at the same time, I don’t want to be affected by trends. Before the style I work in started to get more popular, it was all about beige minimalism, very clean and simple. My style follows on from that because people will always want whatever they didn’t just have.

Like anything worthwhile, it will take time and effort to work out what home means to you, and even longer to build an environment that is a true reflection of who you are. In this book, I hope to help make the process a little less daunting. You will, of course, not always agree with my reflections, but when there is friction, it might help you to find your own answer. Beata's challenge was then to furnish the three-storey, five-bedroom house from scratch, keeping it true to the personalities of the owners. 'We didn't want it to be obvious they had used an interior designer, so I created a layered look that appears to have been built over time.' The owners' large and varied collection of art added an important visual texture to the decoration. adding details is really a way to connect with others,...it doesn’t have to cost anything, and it doesn’t have to be difficult; it’s about being thoughtful and free in your expression. It’s about giving specific attention to ordinary things. It’s about being inspirational, not aspirational.” (p. 161) What I can say for sure is that if you persevere and put some effort into it, you will find that creating a real sense of home will bring you comfort, joy, and excitement. I believe that if you are happy in your home environment, you will feel a sense of fulfilment and well-being, and your home can become what I think all interiors should be: truly life enhancing. What we remember about rooms is the atmosphere, the mood. Unless rooms are personal, they have none of this.” (Billy Baldwin) (p. 156)

Another Stalin work, a self-portrait, hangs above a Beata Heuman ‘New Wave Country’ sofa covered in Turnell & Gigon’s ‘Bernardo Paisley’. The cushions are vintage Ikea. Bought and restored in Britain, the lamps on the console behind are 1940s. Through the door you can see into the main bedroom A strictly uniform approach might look awful or it might look great, but in both instances it is without the mark of individual personality. If a space does not allow you to be your complete self, how can you be happy there? We are all different and contradictory in nature - serious and silly at once. I think we need this complexity reflected in the things around us to feel stimulated and at ease. We are more than just one thing.The home should be a true reflection of who you are and where you are, but you also want to make sure your surroundings are the best versions of themselves, to serve your intentions for the kind of life you want to lead.