Reverie Interior Design

Reverie Interior Design Interior Design

Kate, who grew up in rural Somerset, has always had a passion for design, which she has now combined with her business acumen to create a luxury interior design brand. Her career has included several years of international banking in the City of London and establishing the first vintage fashion business in Hong Kong. Running alongside these ventures, Kate also project managed the refurbishment of

several properties, both here and abroad, and studied at KLC School of Design. Now living in Sussex with her three children, Kate’s experience within finance, fashion and interiors means she can use a lifetime’s worth of experience to create her dream job. Summing up her unique style, she says: “I love sophisticated Parisian elegance, combining classic and contemporary elements to create timeless interiors.”

Taking notes from nature.A week in Corfu and Paxos reminded me how often the most beautiful palettes are already there i...
16/08/2026

Taking notes from nature.

A week in Corfu and Paxos reminded me how often the most beautiful palettes are already there in the landscape.

The warm tones and strata of the limestone against an extraordinary abundance of green. Olive groves, dark cypress rising vertically through the landscape, and a canopy of Mediterranean trees that in places seems to reach almost to the water.

What fascinated me was how naturally the architecture seemed to belong to it all.

In Corfu Town, centuries of Venetian influence have left buildings in softened ochres, creams and earthy pinks, punctuated by shutters and doors in deep forest greens - colours that seem to echo the landscape around them rather than compete with it.

Perhaps that is why these combinations feel so harmonious. Nature has already done the work.

And then there was the water.

I always find being near the sea incredibly calming, but this time I became more conscious of why. The constant movement. The changing light and colour - brilliant turquoise around Paxos, then closer to the shores of Corfu, still and deep green, almost like a lake.

On the boat to Paxos, the sea, sky and distant mountains of Albania seemed almost to merge into one. There was something both mesmerising and rebalancing about that vastness.

Travel gives us time to notice these things again - colour, texture, light and landscape - and reminds me that some of the best lessons in atmosphere don’t come from looking at interiors at all.

They come from looking outwards.

The Elements of Atmosphere: LightEvery room has light.But the question is not simply whether there is enough of it.It is...
20/07/2026

The Elements of Atmosphere: Light

Every room has light.
But the question is not simply whether there is enough of it.

It is what the light is doing.

Is it flattening the room, or giving it depth?
Is it asking you to work, or allowing you to rest? Is it making the room feel exposed, or quietly held?

When I look at a room as a designer, I’m not only looking at the fitting. I’m looking at where the light begins, where it lands, what it leaves in shadow, how high it sits, what temperature it has, and whether it supports the way the room is actually used.

A designer does not just light a room. A designer shapes the moments within it: where someone reads, where people gather, where arrival is first sensed, and where shadow is allowed to do some of the work.

Daylight matters too. Maximising it is often key. But daylight should be understood before it is simply increased.

Some rooms need every bit of natural light they can get. Others need daylight softened, filtered or reflected.

The aim is not always more light.
It is the right relationship with light.

If a room feels flat, exposed or unsettled, I often look at the light before changing the colour, furniture or styling.

The best rooms are not always the brightest rooms. They are the rooms where the light knows what it is there to do.

A Reverie note:

This evening, ask not “is there enough light?” but “are the right moments being lit?”

That is often where atmosphere begins.

From The Elements of Atmosphere series.
Reverie Interior Design.

Interior Design. Atmospheric Interiors. Lighting Design. Interior Atmosphere · British Interiors · Bath Interior Designer · Reverie Interior Design

Reverie Notes - Not Silence, But ShelterA city garden can still be a refuge.We are in the middle of a heatwave, and it h...
25/06/2026

Reverie Notes - Not Silence, But Shelter

A city garden can still be a refuge.

We are in the middle of a heatwave, and it has only just felt cool enough to come outside. I’ve spent most of the day working in the cool of the kitchen, protected by the thick walls of this Bath townhouse.

Now, in the evening, the garden feels almost like another room.

It is a little overgrown at the moment - slightly neglected, almost wild - but still beautiful. A small breeze moves through the leaves. A tiny brown mouse slipped beneath the chair beside me - not for the first time - reminding me that even in the middle of the city, the garden has its own quiet life.

I can hear birds, the clink of cutlery from neighbours dining outside, the odd plane overhead, and the soft hum of the city beyond the garden walls.

It isn’t quiet exactly.
The city is still there, softened by distance and leaves.
But it is peaceful.

Among those sounds, the wood pigeons are the ones that always stop me. Their call takes me straight back to childhood - to summer afternoons, open windows, and the feeling of being about ten years old again.

I’m endlessly fascinated by the way atmosphere holds memory. How a sound, a breeze, a shaft of evening light, or an untended corner of a garden can make us feel suddenly safe, nostalgic, or more ourselves.

Perhaps that is what home does at its best.

Not perfection.
Shelter.

Atmosphere is rarely created by one statement piece.It emerges from the relationship between light, texture, scale and p...
14/06/2026

Atmosphere is rarely created by one statement piece.

It emerges from the relationship between light, texture, scale and proportion.

The most successful rooms are often the ones that simply feel right.

Interior Design | Luxury Interiors | Interior Styling | Atmosphere-Led Design | Residential Interior Design | European Elegance | Design Inspiration

Yesterday I attended a fascinating talk by Dr Emily Roy at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, exploring...
06/06/2026

Yesterday I attended a fascinating talk by Dr Emily Roy at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, exploring the life and work of Oliver Messel and his influence on the Assembly Rooms.

Messel is perhaps best known for his work in theatre, ballet and interiors, yet what struck me most was how closely the worlds of stage design and interior design overlap.

Both are concerned with atmosphere and seek to shape emotion, anticipation and memory.

The best rooms, like the best stage sets, tell a story before a single word is spoken.

Living and working in Bath, it was particularly interesting to learn more about Messel’s role in the Assembly Rooms following the Bath Blitz, and to reflect on the building as it prepares for its next major chapter through the forthcoming restoration project.

A wonderful evening of design history, heritage and conversation.

Thank you to Dr Emily Roy for such an insightful talk, to Kate Vines for the invitation, and to Roger for the company, conversation and perspective.

Image: National Trust

Oliver Messel, Bath Assembly Rooms, historic interiors, heritage architecture, atmosphere-led design, interior design inspiration, British design history, restoration projects, theatre and interiors, Bath UK.

The Places That Stay With UsI had stayed in other luxury hotels on that trip, but this was the place that stayed with me...
29/05/2026

The Places That Stay With Us

I had stayed in other luxury hotels on that trip, but this was the place that stayed with me.

Aman Sveti Stefan occupies a restored fishing village on a small fortified island off the coast of Montenegro. What I remember most clearly, though, was its restraint.

The architecture, the landscape, the pace of the day, the simplicity of the interiors - everything seemed to belong together.

A reflection on atmosphere, hospitality, and the luxury of spaces that do not try too hard to impress.

New on The Reverie Edit.

Link in bio.

Many clients arrive at Reverie feeling overwhelmed rather than undecided.They know what they no longer want, but need he...
27/05/2026

Many clients arrive at Reverie feeling overwhelmed rather than undecided.

They know what they no longer want, but need help understanding what should replace it.

My work often begins by simplifying - uncovering the rhythm of a home and creating clarity from there.

The most meaningful interiors are rarely the most complicated.




InteriorDesignerUK
DesignWithIntention

Milan is firmly on my list for next year, but even from a distance one theme kept surfacing for me: palazzos, and the po...
04/05/2026

Milan is firmly on my list for next year, but even from a distance one theme kept surfacing for me: palazzos, and the power of restraint.

Watching the images and coverage, I kept coming back to those historic rooms – frescoed ceilings, worn stone floors – with contemporary pieces placed as a quiet counterpoint rather than a rival. Sofas that don’t try to compete with the architecture, just quietly ground it.

I’ve gathered those thoughts into a new Reverie Edit essay, “Holding the Room” – on restraint, architecture, and the spaces that require almost nothing at all.

You can read it via the link in bio

Images:
Palazzo Daniele
Poliform, Milan Design Week
Piergiorgio Sorgetti - H&M Home x Kelly Wearstler
RH Italy

My grandmother’s kitchen was small. Pale blue cabinets, frosted glass, her china on a shelf with the teapot always withi...
25/04/2026

My grandmother’s kitchen was small. Pale blue cabinets, frosted glass, her china on a shelf with the teapot always within reach.

I could not draw the room from memory. But I could tell you, even now, exactly how it felt to be there.

The Welsh have a word for this - hiraeth - the longing for a place we can no longer return to in the same way. It is not nostalgia. It is something closer.

A new essay on memory, continuity, and the homes we carry forward.

The full essay is on The Reverie Edit.

A quieter stretch here, but a full one behind the scenes.One new project underway, another just at the very beginning, a...
20/04/2026

A quieter stretch here, but a full one behind the scenes.

One new project underway, another just at the very beginning, a set of plans drawn for another designer, and an essay finished and ready to go.

Easter meant a bit of time away from the desk. My son over from The Hague for an extended stay, my daughter home, and another away travelling - and some time spent in Somerset and around Bath - Hauser & Wirth Somerset, The Newt in Somerset, and the Cotswolds.

Some space to think and write, too.
All of this finds its way back.

Kate

Address

London

Telephone

+447595535184

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Reverie Interior Design posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Reverie Interior Design:

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category