Cole and Son hosts the inaugural Jubilee Place Salon

The panellists were Karen Howes, the eponymous founder and CEO of Taylor Howes, serial entrepreneur and philanthropist; Louise Roe, TV host, fashion journalist, founder of homewares brand Sharland England and founder of her interiors and fashion-based blog, Front Roe; and Marie Karlsson, the Creative & Managing Director of Cole & Son, listed as one of British Luxury’s top 50 influential names on the Walpole Power List 2023.

The panel debated trends in interior design, how to give personality to your home and debated "book wealth" and art to elevate design. The discussion continued amongst the knowledgeable guests, whilst everyone enjoyed glasses of Champagne Bollinger, the event’s Partner. Bollinger was the perfect pairing for an elegant evening hosted by another timeless institution, Cole & Son, both Royal Warrant Holders. 

With SPHERE being the proud luxury media Partner for the event, we have highlighted some key moments of the evening: 

“Using wallpaper is like dressing your walls. To me, a room without wallpaper feels too naked.” – Marie Karlsson

“We are brought in to put personality, heritage, and a story into a client's home. sometimes we're lucky and clients will come in with an amazing art collection and we'll work around that and some heritage pieces, but some clients come with nothing, and we don't want them to move into a show home. For example, we took on Henry VII's Hunting Lodge which just had white walls and we put back the history that should have been there that had been ripped out over the years, and helped the family build their journey through that house. As a designer, it's all about getting to know the family and helping them build what they want.” - Karen Howes of Taylor Howes

“Some might say why on earth do people have an interior designer?” – Ed Vaizey

“It’s because some often clients think they know, and they really don’t. Not everyone has taste. It is an interior architectural world as much as the decorating. Our job is ultimately to listen and ask a million questions. We know more about clients than anybody else will ever know because we need to know how they really want to live, even though they might not know themselves.” – Karen Howes

“Wallpaper gives you that instant hit that nothing else does.” – Karen Howes

“Which comes first, the client or the space?” – Lord Vaizey

“The journey starts with the envelope of what you are given or you are creating.” The first thing we do apart from asking a million questions is, is space planning. There’s the practical things like where all the air conditioning units are and the lighting design. Then the clients start to think about how they're going to live in that space, which is really important because everybody is different. Some people only eat on their sofa in front of television. That's a completely different design challenge to somebody who wants to have twenty people for dinner every night. Do they have somebody who cooks for them or, or do they do the cooking themselves? They have to confess how many shoes and handbags they have and a whole myriad of stuff we need to go through to really then build from that foundation.” – Karen Howes

“How do you consider sustainability”- Ed Vaizey

“For us it's constant work. It's everything from how we live in the design house to what product we bring in. But we say wallpaper is a pretty sustainable product because you don't wallpaper every day. When you decorate a property you really think through those decisions. It’s a sustainable way to look at your home. We did a collaboration with Stella McCartney a year ago, but we actually also developed a substrate that were based on 79% renewable fibre; that’s how we are being innovative in our work. We are 90% made in Britain, which we are very proud of as well.” – Marie Karlsson

“One of our criteria is as much UK as possible. It really helps support our local people. The most sustainable building is the existing building. Don't pull down buildings, just make them work. It's much better for the environment and everything else.” - Karen Howes

“I have a desk chair I’ve upholstered twice. It looks like an entirely new chair every time and that gives you so much joy. I think every little helps and that might be growing your own veggies outside or having your own compost outside. It’s about decorating in a way that you are just going to love it for many, many decades and generations to come.” – Louise Roe

“What are you doing with AI? Does it matter?” - Ed Vaizey

“It matters and we must take notice and we are using it already. Can AI have taste? I don't think so. Can it ask the client a number of questions and get the nuance of a look or a feeling or emotion? No.” – Karen Howes

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