'Everything is so elaborate, each detail is so well and carefully chosen, the more you look at the the more you realize there is layer upon layer,’ says the Mexican-born, London-based interior designer . She could easily be talking about her home in northwest London, a recently finished refurbishment decorated like a treasure chest with colors and curated pieces bejewelling it. She is, in fact, describing the apartment of the author Martina Mondadori, a visit to which was the highlight of her time at this year’s in Milan.
But the biggest joy of that trip for Stephanie was returning home. ‘It’s a place that brings me such joy when I walk into it,’ she says. ‘There’s a lot of warmth to it, partly because of the people, sure - my husband and my two sons, but also because of the space, the lighting, the textures and the colors.
’ Stephanie’s use of color is legendary and is what her clients come to her for. After a decade working at , she set up her own studio in 2019. Its unofficial motto became the Diana Vreeland quote: ‘Exaggeration is my only reality’, a sentiment that Stephanie applied liberally when designing her own home.
‘It’s that feeling of “is it too much? I don’t think so!”’ she laughs. ‘It’s important to have fun with decor and I like to create some theatre and pair things in an unexpected way.’ That abandon explains the joyful use of burnt umber paint up and over the walls and ceiling of the sitting room, the powder blue stair .