Global accents

Annabel Smith, founder of Telescope Style, loves to bring the world into her home. Here, she takes us on a tour of her treasure trove of souvenirs

- Sarah Rodi

On the leafy Berkshire and Buckinghamshire borders, we embarked on a journey with Annabel Smith, founder of Telescope Style, through her vibrant home filled with colours and cultural aesthetics from places she’s travelled to and fallen for.

“I have always loved to travel, since as long as I can remember,” Annabel says. “And I have a passion for architecture and interiors.”

Annabel began her career working at Vogue in Paris, before returning to the UK to work for various interiors magazines. She travelled to many cities and far-flung places before she married Jeremy, a man from the Emerald Isle. “And his job took us to South East Asia, where we lived for two years,” she says. “I loved Bangkok and all our experiences there. It was like an assault on the senses. I took the sky train, went on boats, browsed flower markets. And it was here my idea for Telescope Style came about.

“I wanted to source unique, elegant, destination-inspired products for people’s homes; items that had a story and a connection to a place.”

So when they arrived home from Thailand, that’s what she did. She set up her e-commerce site and blog dedicated to ‘destination-inspired’ design, all while building her dream home.

A year later, Annabel and Jeremy and their two children, Jackson, now nine, and India, six, had bought a house. “We love Berkshire and all it has to offer, so it made sense to settle here,” Annabel says. “My husband works in Newbury and the kids went to nursery in Cookham, where I love to walk along the river. I also like to visit Windsor and Reading. We often go walking in Lambourn too.”