My father wanted a boy. I was supposed to be called Albert. That was probably the beginning of why things got so complicated, because I wasn’t a boy. – Anouska Hempel
The building I most admire is the Doges Palace in Venice, both by day and by night. Looking at it from the lagoon, it resembles a floating kilim carpet. I love all the bridges which connect houses, people, gardens and palaces. I also love moats to isolate yourself. A ha-ha for secrecy, as in every English country garden. – Anouska Hempel
A house must be bedded in the landscape. They both have to work together. In and out, every view from a window has to be sensational. Every view into the house must be the same to ensure continuity. – Anouska Hempel
The champagne tastes the same if you’re sitting bolt upright or sunk back into a sofa, so you might as well be upright, because you look better. – Anouska Hempel
Acting was fun for a while. I loved every minute of the really good things I did but probably wasn’t as good as I should have been. – Anouska Hempel
Work’s a way of life. It’s the way you live; it’s what you do, and it’s how it is. It’s not work. It’s a lifestyle. It’s life. It’s what one does. You can’t not work. – Anouska Hempel
You’ve got to be the best at what you can do – be the best at it! And the best has to be the best; you can’t just fiddle around and hope. – Anouska Hempel
The architect who first inspired me to follow this profession was Sir John Soane and his Regency home; well, his three homes, now a museum. The place is like an encyclopedia of paintings, antiquities, furniture, sculptures, and drawings. – Anouska Hempel
I’m not an interior decorator; I’m a designer, and that includes the architecture. The package must be strong and controlled, the rooms aligned, and the windows positioned to make sense with the furniture. Fluff it up, and you’ve got big trouble. – Anouska Hempel
It was the corner sweet-shop in Australia that first piqued my interest in interior design. I went into this space with a mixture of apprehension and excitement as a child. It was filled, floor to ceiling, with the most incredible rounded glass bowls filled to the brim with bonbons, buttons, and sweets. – Anouska Hempel
Never let anyone go home feeling bad at night. You can bark away during the day, but you must always put that right. – Anouska Hempel
Comfort? If a choice has to be made between style and comfort, style wins every time. – Anouska Hempel
From the age of five, I was organizing everybody’s everything. If I didn’t like the way it looked, I’d rearrange it. From a very early age, I saw life from my point of view. – Anouska Hempel
I don’t let many people in. I don’t discuss everything. If I don’t want to discuss it, I’m not discussing it. I think that annoys the hell out of an awful lot of people. – Anouska Hempel
I think if you have an eye and the ability and the confidence as a designer, you can turn your hand to anything. – Anouska Hempel
Sure, I’m hyperactive. I make my staff a bit hyper, too, but motivating someone else is what gives me a buzz. – Anouska Hempel
I feel that, historically, the Art Deco period has the most resonance for me. As a person, it has to be the plucky Clara Bow, the heroine of American silent movies of the 1920s. She embodied feminine dressing mixed with men’s style. All this then evolved into the exquisite style and simplicity of Coco Chanel. – Anouska Hempel
England used to be known for making beautiful things. Then we became the rag trade, known for our street fashions, which were picked up around the world. I want us to be recognized for quality. We have the hands to make the clothes. What we need is the motivation. – Anouska Hempel
Being a rather second-rate actress, I finally thought, ‘I’d rather be a designer.’ I knew I could make things look good. – Anouska Hempel
When building in a place that already has a dominant style, it’s important to behave yourself. Look around; refer to what you see. In the mountains above Salzburg, I saw charming chalets and wildflower meadows. The chalets are cozy – I don’t do cozy. The meadows are in a soft disarray – I don’t do soft, and I don’t do disarray. I do order. – Anouska Hempel
