Katrina Phillips Interiors

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Katrina Phillips Interiors

A thing of beauty is a joy forever. Artisan lifestyle independent concept

03/05/2026

If I could I would change the world, one shop at a time. And I thank my lovely customer from Los Angeles who fed me that line.
If I also could I would break into your homes, gently, and give you each a library of your own mind, to inspire, connect , and ground you, in peace. These shelves are clearly in my shop, they aren’t a library , and there are only three books upon them. Yet they are more than a series of decorative objects. They are a library of my current mind, conceived through attraction, research, current studies and historic ones.
A contemporary library in a home to me needs to become more than an archive of unread books. It needs to give hold your memories and travels, your inspirations and longings. It can be as central to your being as the place where you make good, or perform your ablutions.
I haven’t posted on here for some time.
I have a letter somewhere in my memory box from Fay Weldon , from over thirty years ago , when we had a brief correspondence regarding my writing and my desire to do a masters in playwriting at Birmingham University with Mr Big Brain David Edgar. In the letter she says : we write when we have something to say .
Today, I almost have something to say.
I have of late, and for sometime now, discovered that my joy, and disposition, and, dare I say it, my education and natural curiosity, lends itself to the creation of contemporary libraries. They do not need to be a space which is pretentious or intimidating , or reinforce guilt at not having read the piles and stacks of books in front of you. They can be your own secret history , a quiet resting place of dreams both realised and unrealised. A kind yet poignant acknowledging of all that you are, or had dreamt of being, in beauty . They can be public or hidden. When I create a library I see you , I witness you. When I do it for a public space , I aim at bearing witness to the location, the history , and the beauty of the minds that may visit it. That’s the beginning of what I have to say, and to show.

04/06/2025

By the grace of fate and hard work, I have landed in Wells, where spring water runs through the streets, and swans carry out their familial duties by the moat. Where a cathedral eclipses doubt in the abilities of humans to create with pure skill and fortitude. Where evensong takes place every day, and customers bring you perennial leeks from their vegetable forest. Where the ordinary sits beside the extraordinary without bluster, or boast. It’s nothing special really, just a little shop in a place where people are going about their lives, where community is at the heart of daily life, and hidden gardens and forests are there to walk through freely. And yet.. it is special. The building feels amazing: kind and inviting. It is like a dream , where you discover hidden rooms and unexpected inspirations.
At the core of it is…love.
And creativity.
We are open*sh. Opening hours will be determined by circumstance, until August. Appointments can be made for opening, by appointment, of course.
Go with the flow is my necessary mantra, as the spring water flowing through the aforementioned streets.
Portobello Road is open every day 10-6.
Wells is a surprise, a solace, a treat for us. And a happy circumstance. I have enjoyed every conversation that has taken place this week whilst I am open*sh and painting the rooms. I am excited about this journey. And I encourage anyone who has not visited this tiny city to get yourselves here and wonder at the beautiful architecture both rural and magnificent. I have found nice food at , fantastic service at and am in awe of my brother who is creating a sixty metre long dragon ( did I say that ? Am I sure it’s that long ??! ) in his Wells studio and garden for . I am grateful that and the bishop’s palace exist to inspire and bring visitors from all over the world , as I am accustomed to in Portobello. And that the train station at Castle Cary has an elevated farm shop
I have stuffed myself with cheddar strawberries and been overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of tiny flowers bursting out of every possible nook and cranny. Happy 💗

19/03/2025

Many of you have responded to this story shared from poetic whispers.
It has spoken to you, as it did to me. Shall we talk about that?
I thought it might be a good starting point for a conversation to take with us into our daily lives.
Perhaps you can write to me as some of you have, or talk on here, or just carry it into conversations you have with those around you , to keep your own poetry alive. Maybe there’s some small thing each of us can do to let go of that which does not serve our story upon this spring week? I can tell it has planted a seed. 🌱

02/01/2025

Of course I want to wish everyone a happy new year, naturally. Especially family, friends and customers. I want to show gratitude for laughter, conversation, support, encouragement, work, walks, cups of coffee, creation, kindness and lessons learned. I want everyone to have their personal best year whether that’s in escape, labour, adventure, study, making, sobriety, walking, resting: no matter what true or natural thing it is that their soul wishes for. And I do celebrate every single person I made a connection with, even but briefly, in the six degrees of separation that is Portobello Road. Yet the overwhelmingly clear feeling I had as I considered my new year’s message was that courage is needed now. Of course, courage is often needed as a human makes their way through the apparently unchartered journey of life. Even if it is a chartered route, it certainly feels unchartered. It takes courage to give birth, to stay in or leave relationships, to put pen to paper , to walk the streets at night, to walk into a schoolroom, to say you don’t know, not to know, to speak a feeling. And particularly now, I feel we need great fortitude and love , to navigate the bewildering, often dismaying and unsettling, times we face collectively.
I often speak my truth, bluntly. I know that can be a failing. And sometimes ,maybe less than most of us, I do not speak my truth in order to stabilise myself or a situation. More often, I know: I speak my truth. Sometimes that seems as though I am saying something challenging or what people like to call negative. I am relieved to feel within the context of conversation in the shop, people are focusing less on appearing Positive and calling out the Negative and more on being authentic. To me that’s a sign of true progress. I truly believe the truth sets you free, even if it’s uncomfortable. I do hope that somehow each of us finds the courage to navigate this year with faith, love and strength. I do love every single morning that I open my shop door, and feel blessed to have found vocations that allow me to connect with people , on many levels. I do hope that each of you finds small and great ways to honour what and who you love in 2025 x

02/12/2024

Expect the unexpected always x

31/08/2024

Chris Baker, former Creative Director of Michiko Koshino, and our in-house kimono and robe designer.
A dedicated life-long devotion to design, form and texture is something we share. A storytelling in textile and clothing history, translated into one-off pieces that we work on together, sourcing unusual fabrics of mud silk, h**p, organic cottons and textiles that inspire us. Hand dyed by me, sewn by hand in expert fashion in London. It’s another layer to the story of the shop that you will find tucked away in alcoves , or sometimes suspended from the ceiling. An exploration of form, and one that is made beautifully, with knowledge and skill gathered over decades. Not to be treated with reverence, but to just wear however you feel like wearing them, dressed up or dressed down. As ever, the mantra of the shop is : a thing of beauty is a joy forever. Let it be made well.

26/06/2024

Story. Provenance. Perspective.
An old bowl:
A very old bowl.
Ca.2nd - 1st millennium BC.
A nicely modelled Holy Land terracotta bowl, with smooth sloping sides.
A big old bone:
A preserved mammoth tibia from the North Sea.
A massive lump of old stone, dirty with moss.
A Portland stone column from the Greenwich Observatory.
A bit of old ply:
A coffee table from the estate of Sir Terence Conran.
Just an old rock:
A Bactrian weight originally purchased from Axel Vervoordt

17/06/2024

As many of my customers and clients know, I live happily in the back of my shop, outside of the constraints of this century and climate, yet with the everyday financial constraints of London living, yet beautified.
I live in a way that allows me to be in my own heart and vision. Accompanied often by some of you , and yet also often alone. A bit like a castaway in a sense : in rebellious isolation from conformity. Sometimes it’s lonely, though not unhappily so. And so I have a confession. Just like Tom Hanks , in the movie Castaway, I have my own form of a Wilson. She accompanies me whilst I read at night, or take a shower, or eat my supper. An object which always inspires me and makes me happy, who has a practical purpose as well as a visual one. My Tracey Emin, now Dame Tracey Emin, in the form of a deckchair.
I admire and honour for so many reasons and thank her for her constant and rigorous journey that has forged a path for so many women’s expression. And thank her for this, albeit imaginary, companionship.

09/01/2024

The Legacy table by , one of my favourite pieces of furniture.
It captures for me the timeless and emotional connection to furniture that I personally have , stemming from my father’s legacy to me in creating an understanding of construction and design, and heritage. I see influences from the Arts and Crafts period, from Pugin, from Thebes. I see this brought forward into the contemporary , with freshness and devotion to craftsmanship. I see understanding and love, and thoughtfulness.
Legacy is a fine word. In the broader sense, a word of weight and with the sense of an echo or reverberation around our actions and creations. How we carry that word with us is individual and personal, yet the echoes are as a ripple through time. 🖤

16/12/2023

A box of necessities. Completely unstyled, this is an old box lid into which I think Ben, or anyone, has placed things that belong to me. A brush, an artists elbow support, a piece of driftwood, two brown paper packages, some string. A lid made of mulberry paper with leaves.
This gathering of former tasks made me think of “beautiful or useful”, a phrase I carry around like an om.
I could equally take a picture by trawling through my belongings of a vintage hermes scarf, a black diamond ring and some rare tome or work of art. It doesn’t matter. Such is my desire to create beauty around us that I am prone to throwing out poor Ben’s cans of shaving foam or covering water bottles with raffia covers. I guess I’d paint the red roses white if I had any.
It’s good for me to acknowledge the sometimes strong reaction I have to man made ugliness in any form. And also to allow myself to laugh at myself. And continue in my path to offering moments of quiet beauty amongst my own and the world’s confusion or chaos.
Oh still quiet voice of calm is another mantra I might take up. With a disco ball stirring hopefully in the background. Am in the shop all week, please come for a Christmas chat, or light a candle for someone you love, have loved , or will love. Candle-lighting all week from tomorrow . 🕯️

Address

London

Opening Hours

10am - 6pm

Telephone

+442072291963

Website

http://www.katrinaphillipsltd.com/

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