Has mixed antiques, bold colours and his own designs to create a colourful scheme that artfully evokes the spirit of the past in a Spitalfields house

Despite being based in rural Hampshire, Max Rollitt has clients all over the world and, although his aesthetic is firmly rooted in the classic english tradition, he uses a mix of bold colour and furniture with striking silhouettes to create a highly distinctive, almost contemporary look.

His style is based on his deep understanding of the antique furniture in which he has been dealing since his early twenties—knowledge he used to design his own range in 2006, which includes upholstered furniture such as this Katzic sofa, based on a 18th-century piece he bought from a Lancashire manor house. Both the sofa and the stool are upholstered in the same antique French linen he dyed a vibrant yellow. the pair of chairs is based on originals made for the earl of Moray in 1808.

this scheme was created for an 18thcentury house in spitalfields. it’s typical of Mr Rollitt’s work in that it combines both new pieces from his own range, as well as rare antique pieces, such as a late-18th-century marquetry chest decorated with a seaweed design, a wrought-iron Liberty lamp from the late 19th century and a lamp base made from a Chinese vase.

the scheme also features the work of the designer Marianna Kennedy, who designed the overmantel above the fireplace and a blind in semi-transparent cloth used to bind books (020– 7375 2757; www.mariannakennedy.com).

Max Rollitt (www.maxrollitt.com; 01962 791124)