I'm not too fond of really cool design. I've got quite kitsch taste really, in things like tableware. I'm quite a sucker for 1930s pressed glass.
I'm terrified of being poor, I always have been. It's growing up as a Methodist. I'll spend that bit of extra money to get a better seat on a train sometimes, because it's quieter and calmer, but I refuse to spend money on clothes.
If I welcomed people into my lovely home every week in the pages of a magazine, they'd soon see how incredibly dull it is. It's important to maintain a bit of mystique.
Architecture was pretty much the sexiest thing to be doing from 1700-1800.
Building a house from scratch in the middle of a field is a bit like building a prototype car. As with all prototypes, if you're building a car you usually have the luxury of producing several prototypes before you arrive at the production line version - so the opportunity for changing things is quite rich.
The more of your private life you put into the public domain, the smaller your private life becomes.
I was never a hugely successful theatre designer. I painted a lot of scenery and did the lighting, and my lighting business grew out of that.
I'm really quite conscious of clothes and the way they fit and don't regret wearing anything. Not even the five-inch stack heels I wore with three-button high-waisters at comprehensive school. Regret is for wimps.
The thing that I champion is sustainability. My terror is that suddenly we see it as a luxury, not an essential. That's a danger.
I am a big fan of long drop, composting toilets - I like the cycle of using waste. When you have experienced one and seen what comes out of the bottom, it is amazing stuff. It's the most beautiful, driest, sweet-smelling compost.
I admire anyone that follows the road less travelled.
Building design isn't trendy.