OK, so here are a few basic principles I adhere to:

• form follows function
• the simpler the better
• clean lines work best
• less is more

Where did it all start?

With four Marcel Breuer Bauhaus designed Ceska chairs bought from Habitat some twenty-three years ago. They were on sale and I loved the bentwood, steel frames and cane seats. Unfortunately the cane took some punishment from two young children and their friends but we still have two of these chairs left.

The next piece I truly coverted was an Isamu Noguchi coffee table, glass top and walnut base that I saw in a Modernist antique store in Antwerp in 1998. Unfortunately, I didn't have 20.000 BEF to buy it but I visited it for three months until it was sold. Happily many years later I had the opportunity to buy a new Noguchi table just like the image on the right.

The other piece of modernist furniture I possess is a Le Corbusier glass table. This always freaks out friends who have young children, it is glass and they are frightened that it will shatter or that the kids will run into the edges and puncture themselves. Visions of gore and torniquets, I think. So far there have been no life-threatening injuries caused by this piece of furniture. I love it because it is so light and yet really substantial, but mostly because it is so simple.

What I am currently coverting?

At the top of my wish list is that beautiful red chair to replace the dog-worn sofa in the sitting room. I think a black leather sofa would go perfectly with it. DWR has a great design by Ted Boerner. I'd also like the Eilen Grey daybed to lounge on and look out at the bay while I'm reading a book. As for the George Nelson clock - well the kitchen refit was completed a year ago and there is still much discussion about the right clock to fit the space: red classic George Nelson, sober steel Arne Jacobsen or bright blue plastic Alessi. This argument could run until we move.