LONDON EYE

Let interiors expert Adam Bray lead you through the world of decorating and design in his brand new weekly column

From the must-haves for your home and pitfalls best-avoided to tips on navigating auctions and fairs, I’ll be your guide to creating a more beautiful and harmonious space. Whether practical or inspirational, each week this page will serve as a moodboard of ideas to inspire you on your own interiors journey.

I’ve been gathering my inspiration — and buying and selling antiques — since the tender age of 16. Back in 1985 you’d find me leafing through copies of Country Life and House & Garden in the staff room of my grandmother’s Marylebone High Street hair salon.

My style references were eclectic: nouvelle vague and Italian realist movies, the photographs of Richard Avedon and Irving Penn, and the amazing YSL Rive Gauche campaigns shot by Helmut Newton. From there I ricocheted like a pinball through obsessions with William Morris, the English country house, art nouveau, India, Morocco, art deco, Japan, Manet, the Fifties.

By the heady mid-Nineties I had worked my way up from assisting a local antique dealer, through my own Saturday pitch on Portobello Road to working for specialist dealers and even in New York. It was time to strike out on my own. I opened a small shop on Ledbury Road where Annie Lennox, John Galliano, Anish Kapoor and Donna Karan were all early customers.

Soon, I was enlisted by the Birley family to design and refresh their nightspots, creating iconic interiors for the original Annabel’s, Mark’s Club, George, Harry’s Bar and the Bath & Racquets. When the clubs were sold in 2007 I started to decorate more widely; houses, flats, restaurants and offices for a diverse and brilliant group of characters.

Over the years I have collaborated on ranges of paint colours, wallpapers and carpets and we also sell unique custom upholstery used on our private projects. In November 2020 I accidentally opened another shop, this time on Murray Street, Camden. Originally, I was looking for a storage space but one thing led to another and here I am, once again, a moderately happy shopkeeper selling what I love and, in the process, meeting some interesting people. I’m there by appointment and some Fridays and Saturdays. Or if you’re shy, I’ll be here, in ES, every week.

Treasure memories: Adam Bray’s Ledbury Road shop in the Nineties. ‘I would love to have any of those things again,’ says Bray. ‘They found homes all around the world; the ikat panel (middle image) is in Tokyo, the Chinese circus costume (bottom) was bought by John Galliano, I can’t remember what happened to the rest!’