For John Stefanidis, interior design isn’t created in a vacuum. “It must adapt to the spirit of a space and a climate,” he comments. “Wicker, cotton, glass and stone for hot climates. Wool, cashmere, plaid, oak and mahogany inlay for cooler climates,” he explains, adding that “local character should be taken into consideration—Aspen, Colorado, as opposed to Morocco.” Stefanidis, who opened his London-based practice in 1967, cites comfort as a fundamental aspect of his work, but it is a comfort infused with luxurious details and unique touches.

His interiors are distinguished by their bespoke elements—bronze door pulls, oak shutters, an inlaid table, a pair of simple, oaktopped chests—and by their respect for interior architecture. A Stefanidis creation often features the handiwork of decorative painters and other craftspeople who hand-paint designs onto walls, marbleize woodwork and lay in floor mosaics. Stefanidis, who was born in Egypt and whose commissions have taken him to nearly every continent, draws on global influences for his interiors as well as his furniture and his fabric collections. The designer, now at work on a hotel in Geneva, cultivates a taste that is at once discerning and nimble: “There is no style that I revile and no example of any period which I feel does not need to be appreciated,” he writes in his book Stefanidis Designs . Even kitsch, he allows, “has its point.”

John Stefanidis

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