Known for her joyful use of colour, pattern and a winning touch of British eccentricity, Octavia Dickinson brings a painterly eye to interior design. With a background in History of Art and years spent working alongside some of the country’s leading decorators, she creates spaces that are layered, personal and full of life. London townhouse, country cottage or Grade I-listed stately home, the threads that runs through Octavia’s interiors are comfort, character and a hint of the beautifully undone. We caught up with her to talk about joy in design, colour obsessions, and the beauty of houses with history.

 

You studied History of Art before moving into interiors – do you find yourself drawing on that art background when you’re designing a room? 

Definitely, whether that’s in the architectural style of the house, the style and era of furniture I am choosing or the art that is going on the walls. I enjoy discovering the history of houses, delving into their various owners, all of whom had their own taste and style, adding to, removing and amending parts of the house. It is one of the things I love most about architecture – that you can so often easily read its history through the additions and amendments, unlike paintings which might have just had a repair here or there. I like to be sympathetic to the style of the house, but I also believe that you do not need to stick solely to one style, as the mixture from various eras shows the development of the property as well as reflecting all the different owners over time. I hope my imprint adds to the next part of the story, knowing it will be added to again and again and again in the future. 

 

You’ve said you want rooms to feel ‘joyful, layered and never overdone’ – what does a joyful room look like to you? 

A joyful room is filled with personality. I work closely with my clients to make sure that the interiors we are creating reflect them, their lives and loves. When I walk into a room I want to understand the owner through the artwork, colours, relationships between the objects. I think colour and pattern help to create joyful rooms, but that does not mean they have to be strong, or bright or a multitude of colours, just the right colours and pairing. A joyful room is full of details that catch your eye and amuse. And most importantly I think it needs to be incredibly comfortable.

Your first fabric and wallpaper collection launched in 2022 – do you have a favourite pattern from the range, and where would you most love to see it used? 

I absolutely love our new Honor print and hope to use it myself in our new house (which we have been looking for nearly five years) though I need to choose which of the four colourways, which is tricky. I think my daughter Nancy has her eye on Honor Zinnia to make into a princess bed for her. I would love to use the turmeric colourway in the boot room alongside our Cassius striped weave. I really relish seeing how other designers use our fabrics in creative ways.  

 

When you start a new project, what’s the very first thing you do – mood board, paint charts, or rummaging through your archive of vintage fabrics? 

I always start by visualising how the rooms are going to be used, working out the best use of the spaces and how the flow will work. Colour is next, as I do think certain colours or tones work in certain rooms, and it will also set the mood. Then I delve into fabrics. I am totally in love with fabrics, which is lucky as I am surrounded by a few! There are so many beautiful ones out there and they continue to be created. Rummaging through fabric is my favourite part of a project. 

What’s your favourite colour to decorate with right now? 

I am currently a bit obsessed with chartreuse, while also falling back in love with whites. 

Where do you go to feel inspired? 

I get Googling and find a house and garden I have not visited before and off I set. I have been known to contact people out of the blue, but often they say yes, and it is worth the embarrassment. To see how other people live, the choices they made, whether in the past or now, and all of the beautiful things that have been made.   

 

Is there a piece of furniture or object you’ll never part with?  

Quite a few. I think I am like my father, a slight hoarder, though we like to call it collecting! My parents gave me a Hockney print of dachshunds (we have always had this type of dog) for my eighteenth birthday and it makes me happy every day looking at it. I selfishly have it in my bedroom.

Favourite flower to have at home? 

I grow Oxalis and pelargoniums in pots on my kitchen window that I then disperse round the house on the weekend. I love the purple of the Oxalia leaves with the small pink flowers. For cut flowers, whatever is in season and growing in the garden or stolen from my parents.  

 

What’s on your bedside table at the moment? 

A mess! Photo frames, hand cream, jewellery, paintings by my children, a ceramic fishbowl, some more creams, many nail files, and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, which I was just sent by Atelier Ellis along with a new paint colour. As I have not read it before, I am now.

 

A book, film or exhibition that’s been on your mind recently? 

I recently visited Leighton House Museum and there was a small exhibition Victorian Treasures from Cecil French and Scot Thomas Buckle which was completely charming. And I am very much looking forward to the Cecil Beaton at the National Portrait Gallery. 

 

Do you have a daily ritual that keeps you grounded? 

I bathe – and if I have the time, I do it twice a day (so normally just a weekend habit). Otherwise, a cup of Assam tea first thing, and kisses and cuddles at the end of the day with my children. If there is any sun in the sky in the morning, I like to close my eyes and look at it for at least thirty seconds in a ritual I tell my children is called sun energy.

 

What’s your dream project? 

I have quite a few, but I think after watching too many terrible TV series and reading quite a few books set in the Hamptons and Martha’s vineyard, I would love to decorate a summer holiday house on the east coast of America. My dream client is in fact more important; someone stylish, cultured, interesting, and open to creativity. I do have a wish list of buildings, which include an alpine chalet, an Art Deco French apartment. And I never say no to a Georgian English country house. 

Three words to describe your ideal interior…

Comfortable, timeless, joyful. 

And finally, what’s bringing you joy at the moment? 

The suspense of autumn and all the amazing colours it brings.