THE ANTIQUES THAT SHAPED ME Georgie Wykeham

The interiors and furniture designer reflects on her antiques-filled childhood and favourite finds

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What first sparked your interest in antiques, and how did it grow from there? I grew up surrounded by antiques. My grandmother loved collecting, and my mother and father have a keen eye for antiques too, so home for me has always been full of them. My mother specialised in gold boxes, and used to lecture at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Apsley House and The Wallace Collection. As a child, I was often dragged around these beautiful buildings and taken to the antiques shows at Olympia. It wasn't until I grew older and left university that I really started to love and appreciate how antiques add such a brilliant dimension to an interior. They tell a story, hold lots of secrets and memories, and give the patina of time, which is near impossible to recreate with a new piece of furniture.