Quick Takes With: Max Rollitt

by Remodelista Team

“I’d like our house to be like the Weasley’s,” Max Rollitt told our contributor Nell when she interviewed him a while back (see: The Joy of Discovery: At Home with British Dealer/Decorator Max Rollitt).

And, yes, the über-snug bolthole of the fictional family is a pretty good comparison to Max’s style.

The British antique dealer, interior designer, and furniture maker is renowned on both sides of the Atlantic for his knack for creating rooms that are “joyful and elegant, effortlessly layered with color, texture, and history.” His approach? Mixing “a masterful knowledge of antiques with decades of hands-on furniture-making experience and an impeccable eye for detail, resulting in interiors that are both timeless and uniquely personalized.” Above all, it’s an effect that feels thoroughly warm, lived-in, and welcoming.

Today, Max writes in from his shop, Yavington Barn, in Hampshire, England, with what’s on his nightstand, the provisions he’s bringing to your dinner party, and perhaps the best design pet peeve we’ve heard.

Above: Photograph by Christopher Horwood.

You’re invited to dinner. What’s your go-to gift?

Cheese—no particular type, as long as it’s wrapped in a ribbon.

What’s on your bedside table?

Cookbooks, The Week, a glass of water on an old Delft tile, and a box of mementos from my childhood.

What’s your desert island design/art/architecture-related book?

Eighteenth-Century Decoration book by Charles Saumarez-Smith. And non-design-related would be The Master and Margarita.

max rollitt yavington barn antiques tiles 1

Above: Antique tiles at Yavington Barn.

What podcast or playlist do you put on when you need inspiration?

The Incredible String Band, just to shift my brain.

What’s a film or TV show whose aesthetic has stuck with you?

Orlando.

max rollitt interiors garden cottage. photo by chris horwood. 2

Above: Kitchen by Max. Photograph by Chris Horwood, as seen in our recent story The Gardener’s Cottage Guesthouse: A Project by “Intuitive Antiques Dealer-Decorator” Max Rollitt.

What has been your best house upgrade?

An outdoor bath.

A simple or budget-friendly design move you wish you’d known sooner?

The value of a really good curtain maker.

My unpopular design opinion is…

I’m not a fan of the revival of 1950s fabrics, the ones that look like they belong on London buses or Underground seats.

Above: A glimpse of Max’s place. Photograph by Christopher Horwood from The Joy of Discovery: At Home with British Dealer/Decorator Max Rollitt.

Your design pet peeve?

Absence of joy.

My go-to kitchen utensil is…

An elm chopping board, a gift from my friend John.

Three words that describe my design style:

Joyful, elegant, comfortable.

First design love?

Fabric by Colefax & Fowler, based on an Indian design from the V&A, that my mum made my childhood bedroom curtains from. My mother was a successful antiques dealer with a shop in Winchester.