What was the inspiration behind your outdoor haven?
What was the inspiration behind your outdoor haven?
I was inspired to do the tent by Peter Beard. He did safari tents with Persian rugs and I remember thinking I love the outdoors, for some weird reason. I love being outside. And I got these from "Tar-gé"—Target—and Ace Canopy. It’s actually really hard to find a good tent because they’re all rubbish. They all fall apart at the least sign of wind. So I got a French sailor to do all the knots and everything, so mine won't move. And it’s all steel inside. So if it starts to rain, I just go 'zip, zip, zip' and everything gets inside. It’s great out here at 4 in the afternoon; it’s really lovely and sunny. And then it’s so great at night when it’s dark. The secret to decorating outside, to me, is to make sure that nothing costs more than five dollars. Even the fake flowers! I had a gardener here the other day and he was like checking out everything and he said, 'Oh you’ve got roses here?' and I was like, 'Are you joking? You actually think they’re real? They’re $3.99 and never die!'
