I’ve always been a curious person - perhaps bordering on a bit nosy - and I’ve come to believe that you can learn a great deal about someone by looking at their desk.
What’s on it. What’s around it. What they keep.
This series - each installment accompanied by a few original illustrations- is an attempt to capture those details: the objects, the habits, and the other telling things that shape a creative life. Think of it as a home visit, but without the awkward part where you have to pretend you weren’t already snooping around. Welcome to “From the Desk Of.”
Today’s guest is Patrick O’Donnell - aka Paddy. Paddy is an interior decoration consultant and global brand ambassador at Farrow & Ball.
I can’t quite remember when I first discovered Paddy, but I believe it was on Instagram - scrolling aimlessly when I was pleasantly stopped in my tracks by the calming, cheeky presence that is Patrick O’Donnell. I don’t remember which colors he was discussing, but whatever they were - and knowing Farrow & Ball, they were beautiful…and I left the scroll equally captivated with the man behind the paint.
Over the years, Paddy has allowed audiences into his home (fortunately for all us aesthetes), and unsurprisingly, it is beautiful - drenched in gorgeous colors, patterns, and layers upon layers of books, bits and bobs. And further lucky for me and many others, Farrow & Ball launched a podcast, The Chromologist, about two years ago, with Paddy as host. Each episode, he invites a creative to walk through their life decade by decade, choosing a color to define each chapter. It’s as lovely as it sounds.
He so graciously indulged my questionnaire below, and I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. His world is a rabbit hole worth falling down.
Describe your workspace. I’m a remote worker so if not on travels I’m ensconced at home and surrounded by stuff that makes me happy- I have a little room on the first floor (think 2nd floor in US parlance) with a far too large desk and now a rather beautiful French studded leather chair which I recently bought at the brilliant Brownrigg in Tetbury.
What’s always on your desk/workspace? Pots of pens and paint brushes, rather too many notepads, a lamp (of course) and I have a little window ledge that the desk abuts with pelargoniums , glazed ceramics and other joyful items….
What’s currently on rotation on your desk? Is there anything new or unexpected finding its way there lately? It’s a pretty static affair, but I’ve recently been scheming for a private client in Devon so lots of beautiful fabric samples from Tissus d’Helene, Jasper , Schuyler Samperton…
Are you a tidy desk person or more… layered? I would say relatively tidy, until it reaches a point of chaos then I have to have a good clear up/ edit. I have lots of stuff around me but try and keep the desk as a functional space, not an extension of personal ‘clutter’.
Your favorite everyday pen or pencil? I love using fountain pens so have a few Kaweco pens just because each one has a different coloured ink cartridge so I can err on whether it’s a brown ink day, green ink day or classic blue!
Is there a desk accessory you dream of owning? I’m madly happy with everything I have but if something catches my eye, a good desk lamp would be perfect, some of the Bauhaus designs were wonderful.
Do you keep a notebook or planner? If so, what kind? I have a green leather Smythson diary and note book- just not brilliant at keeping diary up to date.
Do you have any favorite stationery? I love Mount Street Printers for notelets and invitations but day to day books tend to marbleized A4 pads from Compton Marbling in Wiltshire.
Is there a card or note you’ve kept over the years? I still have all the silly letters my father used to write to me with his hilarious anecdotes of home life…..
Coffee or tea? Coffee (mostly) but a good cup of lapsang with lemon is tea of choice…
Is there a ritual or routine to the way you start your day? Used to always be the dogs but sadly we lost have lost both of our gorgeous girls in the last 5 months, so now, less structured. Usually up by 6.30, brew coffee with the bialetti and weather permitting, first cup taken en plein aire with the chorus of birdsong.
And one for how you end it? In Spring & Summer, it’s either a glass of pink wine or Botivo with soda water (if I’m being abstemious) and then a potter in the greenhouse or borders to clear the ‘desk/ work’ head.
Do you listen to anything while you work, or do you prefer silence? Depends on tasks at hand, e.g, if it’s a lovely thing to do I’ll have something like Nick Drake playing in the background. If it’s client orders I tend to prefer peace and quite often I have BBC Radio 4 just softly in the background…
When you do listen - what tends to be playing? My music taste is rather eclectic- listen a lot to Michael Kiwanuka, Massive Attic, Rotary Connection, Nick Drake, Kate Bush, Tom Misch, John Martyn, Lambchop, Patrick Watson, Nina Simone……it goes on and on.
Whose desk would you most like to rummage through? Jean Cocteau, can you imagine all those delicious sketches and thoughts or Evelyn Waugh & Nancy Mitford to find something brilliantly indiscreet to giggle over?
A place you’ve traveled to that felt especially creatively inspiring? Always Italy and Morocco, especially Tangier.
A favorite shop you’ve discovered while traveling (or locally!)? A cookshop in Toulouse, gosh, it was good, we bought an absurd amount of canelè moulds, still yet to attempt to make them but they are glorious little copper delights…
A favorite bookstore? Probably John Sandoe just off the Kings Road in London and Daunt Books are brilliant for a small chain.
If you could go on a creative retreat anywhere, where would it be - and what would you do there? Here we go back to Tangier. I went on a painting/drawing holiday there for 5 days run by my friends Gavin Houghton and Joan Hecktermann- huge fun.
A book that changed how you see the world? Not sure if it changed my view of the world but it certainly opened my eyes- John Fowles The Magus was the 1st truly grown up book I first read at 14 and loved, it transported my to mythic lands and bad people (there isn’t one sympathetic character in the book)- I’ve re-read every few years and take something new away from it- it’s a complex post modernist book (of which I understood little of the metaphors and God Games at 14.) The most recent book that blew me away was Claire North’s Wonderful Songs of Penelope trilogy- just utterly exhilarating and beautifully written imagination of Penelope waiting for the return of Odysseus.
A film you could watch over and over again? Trash but not trash as dialogue so brilliantly sparky is Mike Nichols Working Girl- heaven. Booksmart is hilarious too and Love Hitchcock’s Rebecca even though the Joan Fontaine character is madly irritating…
Comfort TV show? This is brand new but totally hooked on Widow’s Bay on Apple- the cast are divine
A favorite children’s book? I Capture the Castle by Dodi Smith
A book you judged by the cover - and bought because of it? Never!!!
Any podcasts you return to regularly? Rarely listen (even though I’m a Podcast Host too) shameless I know…
A rabbit hole you’ve gone down recently? I go down music rabbit holes a lot- if I’m going through a folk phase I’ll scroll through Spotify and find artists I’ve never heard of, had a bluegrass moment recently too.
Your favorite object in your home? Not sure tbh, I only ever buy things but they mainly have an emotional or aesthetic calling- sounds madly pretentious . If I had to call a single object, possibly a 1950’s Ukranian oil painting that hangs on the wall to the left of my desk so I get to see it every day.
Favorite gift you’ve given? I bought my partner Paul a beautiful Dunhill fountain pen for his 50th, which I now use. Win win!
Favorite gift you’ve received? I’m the absolute worst to buy for- everyone thinks I am utter hell so I usually drop hints if I think people may be going off piste.
What do you collect, intentionally or accidentally? Quite a lot of ceramics- my partner Paul was a ceramicist and studied at the RA in London so he is the cause of this crush. I don’t buy a particular type or style but do love early English slipware
Do you have a favorite accessory? I was given a very beautiful brass brooch last year by the madly talented Jess Wheeler- it’s star anise and just lovely-, I tend to wear it in the lapel of a great camel coat.
Is there an accessory you wish you could wear - one you admire on others but aren’t quite sure you can pull off? I can’t wear hats, my head is too big or wrong shape but love the idea of wearing a proper panama in summer.
Is there an outfit you feel most creative in? None in particular but much happier with bare feet- I feel huge freedom without shoes or socks but we all know most feet are ugly, so apologies
Your favorite place to observe people? Not sure I do, consciously anyway?
Favorite snack? Various nuts home roasted with honey, spices and rosemary or Cavolo Nero crisps
Favorite pasta? Beef cheek ragu in winter with rigatoni or Thomas Strakers crab linguine in summer
Favorite dessert? The River Cafe crostata di limone- sharp, lemony bliss
Favorite flower? Depends on the season but at the moment we have vases and jugs full of viburnum opulus (guelder rose) all around the house and Lily of the Valley
If you could host a dinner party anywhere, with anyone, what would it look like? Really simple, you never want the food to take over the occasion, simple is best. It would be outdoors, under a loggia somewhere, plates of charcuterie, grilled mackerel and shellfish, seasonal salads, local cheeses, seasonal flowers simply dressed in old pots and jugs….. Just happy people chewing the fat of life
I have a deep fascination with very specific color naming - a world you are more than familiar with! If you could name your favorite color, what would you call it? I made a paint for Sibyl Colefax a few years ago called Eye Bag Blue, it was a bluey lilac, genius name thanks to Wendy Nicholls.
Speaking of color, and since I love your Podcast - I have to ask: what color feels most defining of your current chapter in life?
Although I haven’t stepped into the world of neutral, I think I’m craving an off white, something like Stony Ground. The world feels so grim at the moment I want calm and whilst plenty of colours can help achieve this, I feel this would be a nice start point and maybe even encourage me to ‘edit’ my life’s possessions and clutter. I was recently looking through the Bill Blass’ sale catalogue and whilst I don’t possess anything of the quality BB had, letting just key pieces really register within their own space feels madly appealing.
Do you have a favorite pretentious or whimsical word? Denouement….
A book that made you laugh a lot? Still Life by Sarah Winman, gorgeous, made me cry a lot too. Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford always perks me up as does Vile Bodies or Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
Favorite idiom? Never use them ( as he racks his brain to remember!)
What do you do to get out of a creative rut? Gardening- the cure for all malaise and melancholy- nothing like getting the hands dirty and being outdoors- nothing else matters.
Thank you, Paddy, for indulging my nosiness, and for being a guest on “From the Desk Of…”
If you enjoyed this, consider sharing it with someone who still writes letters, keeps too many books, or has a desk with far too many notebooks. More desks, more objects, more people worth meeting…coming soon.
Curiously Yours,
Carly
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.