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ALLY CAPELLINO'S two essentials when she was looking for a place to live were minimal maintenance and maximum light. She found them both in a converted flat in Hackney, North-East London. 'I had the impression that Hackney was a bit rough, but everywhere else was ridiculously expensive and, to be honest, I quite like a bit of rough,' says the fashion and accessories designer, whose client list includes celebrities such as Orlando Bloom, Kate Moss and Jamie and Jules Oliver. Ally's three-bedroom, two-bathroom maisonette sprawls over the basement and ground floor of a huge Victorian house, and has access to a large, leafy garden. 'The open living space upstairs and lots of natural daylight give a real sense of freedom to the place, which is important to me.' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DURING her first marriage, Ruby Hammer lived in a vast and very grand apartment filled with opulent Art Deco furniture which had been collected over the years by her husband. It was, without doubt, gorgeous, but never really quite her. A few years ago, after 20-odd years of marriage and newly single, Ruby discovered her own interior style: a glamorous but practical look that perfectly suited her busy, single-girl status. 'It was an emotional time moving into a new home and I had to think: "What exactly is my taste?" 'Buying and decorating this place really helped to crystallise what I liked and needed,' says the co-founder of cosmetics company Ruby & Millie, who has made up some of the most beautiful faces in fashion, from Kate Moss to Elle Macpherson. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Designer Cath Kidston freely admits to plundering childhood memories of the country to inspire her carefully crafted version of retro-domestic bliss. 'I was raised in such a typically English background -- going to Pony Club and wearing a Shetland jersey and a kilt until I was 15 -- so it makes sense that I would put it into my designs,' she says. Cath's passion for rose print fabrics, polka dot wallpaper and shabby chic became a business in 1992, when she opened her first shop in Notting Hill. Now the company comprises nine shops, a mail order business and a fan base that spans Japan, the U.S. and most places in-between. Her weekend home in the Gloucestershire countryside perfectly reflects the quintessentially English charm of its owner. 'I remember every single print from my house when I was a child -- the lilacs in the guest bedroom, the magnolia chintz in the nursery, the very pale pink walls. As a grown-up, I wanted to go back to that style, but in my own way: to take it and re-do it,' she explains. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]