Love them or hate them, Colefax and Fowler have been one of London's leading interior designers since their inception in 1934. Country style meets late 18th century romanticism, their designs are instantly recognisable. Roger Banks-Pye joined the company in 1977 and soon made his mark as a designer extraordinaire. Injecting his own style and modernism into Colefax and Fowler's more traditional stance, he brought the company uptodate with his novel vision of their future. Up until his tragic death in 1996 he was renowned throughout design circles for his quirky tastes, for his dismissal of antique snobbery and his eye for detail in the most mundane of objects. "Inspirational Interiors" is a testament to his style, his perfectionism and his knowledge, much of which was acquired during his work in an architect's practice. Beautifully illustrated with the photographs of James Merrell, this is not just a work for would-be designers but a bible for all those seeking the perfect match between the architectural and the decorative. His fresh approach to colour and fabric mix opens a whole new exciting world to the uninitiated. His use of material be it as drapes, wallcoverings or even as replacement carpet is inspirational. But throughout the book his solid advice stands out, making sense having had its basis tried and tested by him many times. Theatrical, over the top, cluttered, whatever you call his style, it can only be marvelled at when put in context. As Valentino says in his introduction "Roger had a meticulous eye for detail, a great sensitivity for beautiful objects, a natural instinct for scale and an artist's understanding of light". And, as all good designs should be able to do, he gave Valentino exactly what he was looking for: a "perfect English house - Valentino style". And that perfectly sums up the genius that Roger had.