Designer Robert Couturier’s collection from a Normandy manor house

What are your major sources of inspiration?

When I was growing up, I would often go to museums alone, and I also looked with great curiosity at the private worlds in which my friends lived. I was lucky enough to travel a lot, which is why my inspirations are so varied, from the palaces of India to the splendid hôtels particuliers in Paris, including of course the Hôtel de Camondo and the Petit Trianon in Versailles, which remain for me absolute perfection.

You have spent your professional life decorating the homes of your clients and sometimes those of your friends. Is that different from decorating your own home?

All my clients have become friends, and many of my friends have become clients. No project is ever easy, and working for yourself can be even harder, because there is no harsher critic than yourself. That said, I take the same pleasure in working for others as for myself.

Why did you choose to purchase this 17th-century manor in Normandy?

I fell in love with the manor and its garden as soon as I saw it. I later discovered that my grandmother’s house was just a few kilometres away, which shows that fate and chance play a part in our actions and decision-making.