Hugh Wallace on his design loves: ‘I’d love a bath in a glass window with views of the mountains and the only thing looking at you are the sheep’

Favourite hotel

Los Jameos in Lanzarote. Martin and I have been going for 20 years. If you want to switch off and recharge your batteries and do absolutely nothing, it’s the perfect hotel. I also love those family hotels in Italy with small swimming pools and the person in charge comes out and asks what you want for lunch and then makes it. We stayed in one recently and there was a full orchestra playing at lunchtime and the grandmother would come out while we were lounging by the pool to take our lunch order. Fabulous.

Favourite shops

I have to drag Martin out of Brown Thomas. For me, I love food shopping. When I go around the country, I’m always impressed by the butcher, baker and candle stick maker. There’s so many great cheeses, meats, salamis and breads; it’s really impressive. There’s also an amazing menswear shop in Clonakilty called Hunter & Bloom. They specialise in great suits that make you feel like James Bond. I sometimes think we’ve forgotten what good tailoring is; you’ll spend more but it’s yours and you’ll have it for a long time. I’m married to Martin for 13 years and still wear my [wedding] suit. I like what EZ Living are doing with their range of sofas. I’m working with them at the moment on their sofa workshop — a collection of beautiful designs, colours and fabrics — all based on the classics but in a variety of shapes to suit different homes. I’ve been really impressed. I also love bespoke manufacturers such as Chisel & Plane, a family-run company that makes furniture. Their workmanship is stunning and they’ll talk enthusiastically about the different timbers they use and the enjoyment they get from their work. You can’t beat that.

What I’m coveting for my home

I would really love a bath in a glass window with spectacular views of the mountains and the only thing looking at you are the sheep. But I live in the city centre, so there’s no hope of that!

Favourite museum

Zaha Hadid Gallery in Rome. In fact, the museum is a piece of art. It’s just amazing to go around. The building’s form and shape is so organic and, like lots of other museums around the world — the new museum in Cairo, the Tate Modern, the Guggenheim in Bilbao — the buildings themselves become the attractions and that’s also what’s exciting. The other one is the National Museum of Australia in Melbourne. You forget how young Australia is. In it was the first set of Home and Away, which isn’t even 40 years old. I love the idea of something so new being viewed as so old.

Favourite restaurant

There’s so many. Spitalfields in The Coombe, Gigi’s in Ranelagh, Dunbrody House in Wexford, Elbow Lane in Cork. We designed Dunbrody House’s interiors so obviously it’s fabulous. London is also great to get the experience of good design and food combined. Sketch is always interesting and I also love those amazing tapas places in Spain that have history in the walls.

Favourite design era

I love the classic 1930s to 1950s and designers like YSL and Chanel, which were huge then and have come back around now. I enjoy the architecture from then — both the Bauhaus and modern movements — which had that elegance of proportion and that juxtaposition of clean, boxy shapes with the more garish 1950s colours and playful nods that remind me of The Flintstones or an American diner. It’s all quite avant-garde, and that 1950s style is coming back now in coloured Formica kitchens, for example. And, who could forget the aubergine bath with carpet up the side; the ultimate design statement. I also love those classic Danish designs such as G-plan that never really go out of fashion.

Brands that inspire me

Givenchy was hot in the 1960s and 1970s and then went off the boil, but Givenchy is back. I like that ability brands have to rediscover themselves and go back to their values; Givenchy was all about quality and quite conservative but elegant. I also love Italian brand Minotti, which has been producing classic furniture since the 1930s. I bought a couch from them 40 years ago, which I still have, and the joy is that they are still making the same couch today so I can buy new cushion covers and they fit perfectly.

A movie that I love

Poor Things with Emma Stone. You had to see it in the cinema and you had to go with the flow. The leading lady had no boundaries. The whole film from start to finish was extraordinary. So surreal; I thought it was an amazing movie. One I watch time and time again is The Hunt for Red October with Sean Connery. I love submarines and ships and espionage and I love the cinematography.

Favourite drink

Soda water with ice and grenadine or elderflower.

Irish craftspeople I admire

Cora Murphy in Cork is a fabulous artist who does wonderful paintings you feel you can put your hand into. They’re like 3D. To have art in your house is so important. If you like it, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Ireland is producing some exciting crafts and homewares, such as shower trays being made up of recycled terrazzo. I also love the sheep’s wool pillowcases and duvet sets from Greener Me, an Irish couple in Meath. Ireland is full of amazing artisan producers that need to be celebrated.

​A homeware item I can’t live without

A good set of knives and saucepans so you can cook and enjoy it. I think Neven Maguire cookware is great — they do exactly what they say on the tin, unlike the last one I had which fell apart after a few months.

​Favourite purchase for my home

I would say some of our furniture. If you can get classic pieces of furniture, you can sit comfortably. I love Art Deco pieces with beautiful details. I have one or two bespoke items like paintings and sculptures. They are items to look at and enjoy. Martin and I are together 38 years and have a collection of paintings and sculptures that we’ve acquired over years. At the moment, it’s all in storage and has been for the last three years, so I can’t wait to see it all in its new home.

A family heirloom I’ve kept

I have photos of my family going back to the 1900s and bits of furniture belonging to my parents. There’s odd things, like pebbles from the beach that remind you of a romantic moment. They are all items you can pick up, touch and remember.

Design advice

Less is more! When you think you’ve decluttered, take another thing out of every room. I’d also say get out to auction houses and be amazed. There’s so much to be discovered, from Eileen Gray tables and chairs to Art Deco pieces that can only really be appreciated by touching and feeling.