Amazing Interiors Happen Over Time

Liz Silvester is the woman behind Liberty’s spectacular window displays, and if there’s one thing she’s learnt from 16 years in retail, it’s that you can’t rush perfection

Having previously created eye-boggling installations for Gucci, Prada, Self ridges and Harrods, Liz Silvester joined the team at Soho’s Liberty in 2014. The biggest job on her ‘to do’ list is to co-ordinate the historic department store’s legendary Christmas displays. She lives in a two-bedroom terraced house in Brighton with her cat, Lola.

Christmas at Liberty is always a mammoth project. This year, we built the window sets from scratch, and added chandeliers and claw-style lights to the building’s exterior. The atrium is decorated in red-velvet swags to make it look like the Royal Opera House, and the whole ground floor is covered in garlands infused with Diptyque scents. There are 80 Nutcracker-inspired Christmas trees dotted throughout the store.  Once everything is in place in early November, I relax and plan a holiday.