H&H: Let’s talk about your use of colour.

AC: I do like all the primary colours; I love yellow, though I find red can be quite aggressive. I try to get away from cobalt blue because it becomes too obvious, but I always come back to it. My library in London is midnight blue because I also like dark colours.

LEFT: Alex and Alannah’s Earl’s Court home was built in 1875. “I was brought up in Georgian homes in Ireland, so I appreciate classic forms and decorative motifs,” says Alex of his living room.