Markham Roberts: Notes on Decorating

More thoughts on decorating from one of today’s most versatile and accomplished interior designers, illustrated with his latest projects

Markham Roberts is renowned for his boundless creativity and ability to work in a wide range of styles. In this, his second book, he examines his working method, identifying the key elements of a project and explaining how he addresses them. He begins with his top priority: taking into account his clients’ point of view by interpreting their needs and reflecting their style. Other elements include establishing a sense of place, layering and embellishing to make spaces more personal and interesting, acknowledging the need for practicality in materials, and doing the unexpected, from upholstering walls to mixing disparate materials and styles of furniture. Throughout, specially commissioned photographs illustrate his solutions to the challenges each of these elements poses. He concludes the book with a chapter on a single project that encompasses all of the elements.

Markham Roberts trained with the renowned decorator Mark Hampton before opening his own firm in 1997. Since then, he has earned the reputation as one of the top decorators of his generation. Alison Levasseur is the Interiors and Garden editor at Architectural Digest. Nelson Hancock works as a photographer, curator, and professor of photography and cultural anthropology.