Russell Sage

It’s safe to say that interior designer Russell Sage doesn’t really do minimalism.

‘I’m driven by a love of materials, but also showmanship,’ he says of his studio’s style, which he once described as ‘slightly eccentric, full of stories and pleasing details that people warm to’. This is a man who has no problem working with saturated colour in big spaces, the legacy of growing up in his parents’ Somerset pub. ‘Everything was painted dark red – the ceiling as well – so I’ve never been scared of colour,’ Russell recalls as we sit in his west London studio, the rather nondescript meeting room made far more enticing with an unexpected mix of antique table and chairs.

He’s also a designer who doesn’t think twice about filling every nook and cranny of a room with books, memorabilia and artefacts. Or layering poptastic floral paintings over dark mock-croc panelling alongside a velvet, fringed Victorian lobby settee, as he’s done in Fitz’s bar at the Kimpton Fitzroy hotel.