Worlds Of Wonder

Hannah Cecil Gurney of the world-famous luxury wallpaper brand de Gournay takes us through her charming and imaginative South Kensington flat

- Marielle Antonio

If there is anything the interior designer Hannah Cecil Gurney has learnt from her work, it is that homes should reflect their owners’ lives and tell their stories. This is an essential viewpoint for her as she continually fills her London flat with colourful memories of growing up between the city and the English countryside.

Hannah, who currently works at de Gournay, the luxury wallpaper brand founded by her father Claud Cecil Gurney in 1986, certainly speaks fondly of her childhood. “I grew up in a house just opposite Kensington Gardens that my father decorated,” she shares. “To me, every room was like a magical wonderland.” She recalls exotic birds flying on the walls of her bedroom, as well as Chinese figures weaving silk, picking rice, and firing porcelain on their stairway walls.

Hannah credits her appreciation of colour to her upbringing, which she describes as a feast for her imagination as a young girl. “In my summer holidays, my father would pay me pocket money for sweets and toys, to help roll and unroll panels of wallpaper for clients,” she relates. “So, in some ways, I have really been working for de Gournay from the age of six!”

Of course, her work at the company now entails a gamut of responsibilities as she oversees human resources and public relations apart from marketing and design. As much as she is committed to participate fully in the family business, she also enjoys the perk that comes with it – she gets to see the world. In fact, managing the brand’s showrooms frequently takes her to London, Paris, New York, Beijing, Shanghai, and Moscow. Soon, San Francisco will be part of her global commute.