About 15 years ago... Debenhams asked if I wanted to expand into homes which I did.
At the time, nobody else was... doing embroidered sheets. They were incredibly successful. So when I left Debenhams, people kept asking where to get them from. My bedlinen sold better than my handbags.
To update a room... use wallpaper. I just bought the black and white cityscape design from Graham and Brown for my daughters' rooms. At only £30 a roll, you can afford to experiment.
Wallpaper can be... really expensive. I have hand painted de Gournay wallpaper going all the way from my front door, up the stairs, all the way to the top of the house. It has thick green foliage at the bottom leading to blue sky with birds at the top.
Next season's trend... is about becoming more personalised.
I absolutely love... my Fornasetti cabinet. I paid for it over months; it's a big piece in my kitchen and looks rather like a black and white building. I like a bit of wit and style.
On my wish list is... vintage Fornasetti. My piece is new and still cost £6,000. The old stuff is just beautiful but costs about £46,000.
My bed is... the centre of the universe. It is sleigh shaped and more like my kitchen table as it is where my children and dog hang out and where I have piles of work and magazines.
I am most proud of... creating the rose basket. It is totally original. When I created it, I had a beautiful vase of roses on my table and thought, I want to carry a handbag around like that vase.
I used to like... mirrored furniture before it was for sale everywhere. Once it became too easy to get – it's now on sale at Laura Ashley – the charm goes. It's a constant quest to be different.
The whole idea of my bed linen is... incredibly good quality. Rather like my handbags, I do one collectable piece, sort of like an heirloom or vintage piece. There were 100 of the Birds of Paradise design which is a bed cover but can also be a wall hanging.
I sell... beautiful quilts, satin cushions, heavily embroidered bolsters and plain bedlinen with coloured piping.
Get a good night's sleep by... working very hard. Buy a hard mattress and know that worrying won't make any difference for the next day. Melatonin is very good for jetlag.
If my house was burning down... I would grab my children and dog Waffle, a much loved Westie. After them, I would get the old black and white photos of my grandmother and mother and anything antique but not too heavy.
Check out the Lulu Guinness range of home ware available through mydeco. Get an instant update for your walls by following our guide to the top ten wallpaper trends this season. Did you know that famous designers from Sir Terence Conran to Philippe Starck have joined the mydeco Design Board?
