Hotel
particulier Helen Baron delves into the mind of East London’s hippest hotelier
D
avid Carter is the creative visionary behind what is possibly our city’s most exciting hotel: 40 Winks. The Stepney-based ‘microhotel’ is a beautiful, boutique marvel that’s set the whole world talking - but it’s just the latest achievement in Carter’s 20 years at the forefront of interior design. We caught up with him to find out more... How did you get into design? The World of Interiors magazine ran a feature on a flat I owned in Islington, and I was invited to lunch by Min Hogg, the legendary editor-in-chief. She told me to give up my career in marketing consultancy to become an interior designer instead (and she was not someone you argued with!) Over the next couple of years I was featured on the front cover twice and on around 30 pages of the magazine in total. Any success I have
had over the past 20 years is entirely due to the encouragement and support I received from her; she was an amazing advocate for people she believed in. What kind of projects do you enjoy working on the most? I have always worked principally on highend residential projects, but have been doing more commercial projects recently - including a shop, bar and restaurant in Moscow, which has been great fun to do and which opens in a few weeks time. Most of the pleasure comes from working with the clients, and hopefully creating something beautiful and magical for them to enjoy. What’s been the biggest project you’ve taken on and why? I have been doing more general creative consultancy work over the last few years. One of the biggest projects has been the
launch of the Jacques Townhouse, London’s first pop-up hotel. As Creative Director, I was responsible not only for designing the interiors, but for developing much of the content. It was a huge amount of work, with only a few weeks to source all the furniture and thousands of props, and just two days on-site for all the set building and styling. Working to such a tight deadline, with a huge number of logistical issues to deal with and lots of clients to please, was challenging to say the least! To what can you attribute your ‘vision’? Carrots, and a playful sense of humour! Who are your top three suppliers at the moment? De Gournay for their amazing wallpapers, Lorfords Antiques in Tetbury and the furniture designer Mark Brazier Jones, whom I’ve been working with for over
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