TWENTY QUESTIONS

QUESTION ONE : DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN THREE WORDS.

Creative, apologetic, pessimistic

QUESTION TWO : GIVE US A QUICK RUN DOWN OF A TYPICAL DAY AT SUNA FOR YOU?

I largely look after the Business Forecasting and the PR & Marketing side of things at Suna, so on any given day I can be doing anything from new business drives, making reels for Instagram, uploading imagery to our website to compiling spreadsheets, capturing the upcoming workload and revenue and strategising with the senior team. I love to occasionally get stuck into a design project so I will also take on show home projects, variety is the key word of my day, for sure!

QUESTION THREE : WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE SUNA PROJECT?

I have a massive soft spot for the Gasholders penthouse that I designed and installed for Argent in Kings Cross, an incredible opportunity to work on an amazing project. But I also love the Skeel Library and Chapel show homes that we designed and installed for Mount Anvil at Hampstead Manor. All of these are flagship projects for us, and are a PR&M dream to work with.

QUESTION FOUR : TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOU WE WOULD NEVER GUESS?

I’m a Blackpool girl, born and bred. I really regret that I have somehow lost any northern accent, I think I was trying to fit in at a southern university when I left home and trained myself out of it. Get me drunk and it re-emerges sometimes!

QUESTION FIVE : IF YOU HAD £1,000,000 WHAT WOULD YOU SPEND IT ON?

Definitely a second home or two. I have a bit of a 'grass-is-greener’ mentality and would ideally like a few options on where to live at any given time. I’d love a little cottage on a hill, a beach hut by the sea, a treehouse in a forest and a contemporary apartment in the middle of a city. I like the idea of spending a few months in different places each year.

QUESTION SIX : FAVOURITE FOOD/DRINK?

Give me a table full of my favourite people, and a massive vat of lasagne and garlic bread to share and I am happy. Washed down with gin or (and) wine. With some Cadbury’s chocolate to finish. Don’t bother with expensive chocolate, Cadbury’s ticks all my boxes, expecially their Easter Egg chocolate, it somehow tastes different. Cheap and cheerful!

QUESTION SEVEN : LEAST FAVOURITE FOOD/DRINK?

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Claggy and unswallowable. Utterly revolting.

Drinks-wise, dandelion and burdock…the clue is in the name, and what is burdock anyway?

QUESTION EIGHT : FAVOURITE FILM?

So hard to choose one! I love thoughtful films like Iris, Never Let Me Go and Eternal Sunshine. Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society are favourites from my formative years, and Dirty Dancing would be my guilty pleasure if I fancy a night curled up under a blanket on the sofa. I’ve had my fill of kids movies but will endure Marvel films if it means I can get my whole family to sit and watch something together. But I draw the line at the new Star Wars films though…

QUESTION NINE : FAVOURITE HOLIDAY DESTINATION?

My grass-is-greener instincts kick in here again, and I’d need a destination that has a bit of everything! Of the places I have travelled Thailand and Norway are firm favourites, and you couldn’t get more opposite than those!

QUESTION TEN : WHAT ARE YOUR TOP THREE PET PEEVES?

• Other drivers generally, especially middle lane drivers and people who leave their engines running when they’re parked.

• People who say ‘I could paint that’ about abstract art

• People who complain about things or are rude to staff in restaurants

QUESTION ELEVEN : What does an ‘ideal weekend’ look like for you?

Either at home, in the studio painting during the day, then film night with the kids or a meal out with family. Or away in a remote location, painting during the day, then night in with the kids or meal out with family! Basically painting and eating and being with family.

QUESTION TWELVE : Dream home?

I once saw a house overlooking a small stretch of beach on an island in France, that had steps from a high walled garden onto the beach. It was idyllic. Or there was a converted church overlooking the sea that we saw for sale recently in the Isle of Wight where I could have had a studio, a gallery space and a couple of self-catering holiday lets to bring in some money. That’s my retirement plan!

QUESTION THIRTEEN : What is the best present you have ever received? Who gave it to you and why was it so special?

My husband took me to Tromso in Norway as a 40th birthday present where we were lucky enough to get a spectacular experience of the Northern Lights, lying flat on our backs in the snow looking up into the sky and watching this phenomenal display. Unforgettable.

QUESTION FOURTEEN : What’s your go-to dish when you have to make dinner?

Something all in one pot, where people dig in and share. I have made a mean duck and spinach lasagne a couple of times now, with a massive tray of really garlic-y tear-and-share bread. Give people a plate and cutlery and help themselves. Perfect.

QUESTION FIFTEEN : If you weren’t in your current role what other career could you have seen your self doing?

When I was a kid I wanted to be a vet. Then I did work experience at a vets and passed out during a castration. So that put paid to that. Now I would love a second career as a successful artist. Let’s see how that goes!

QUESTION SIXTEEN : What is your biggest fear?

Losing people. And I don’t mean misplacing them. Aging and death terrify me.

QUESTION SEVENTEEN : When have you felt the most proud?

Twenty years running Suna Interior Design was a pretty momentous achievement, and doing it alongside my best mate makes it doubly special. The video the team did for us both meant the world and made me very proud.

QUESTION EIGHTEEN : What advice would you give the teenage/child you?

Stop being so bothered about what other people think of you. Go out and do the things that scare you. I’ve not quite mastered either of these even now though!

QUESTION NINETEEN : What’s your favourite or earliest memory?

My earliest memory is sitting in a high chair refusing to eat a Brussel sprout and ending up eating it leaf by leaf as I hated them so much. It’s a family joke now that I have to eat one sprout a year, on Christmas Day.

QUESTION TWENTY : What is your favourite piece of furniture that you own?

My bed. There is no nights sleep like a nights sleep in my own bed. With my oversized feather duvet, big plump pillows and two dogs asleep on my feet. G’night.