Mark Lewis
Mark Lewis is a London-based product and interior designer and the founder of Mark Lewis Interior Design, based at Islington Studios in North London. Today his work centres on architectural hardware and homeware, made in Britain using traditional methods and sold to homeowners, designers and trade customers around the world.
Mark’s creative career began in his twenties as a costume stylist for film and advertising. He then moved into set design and art direction, where he learned how materials, light and texture shape the feel of a space. Largely self-taught, he set up his interior design studio in 2008. He has since designed and renovated homes across London and beyond, specialising in Victorian and Georgian properties. His interiors take their lead from the architecture of each building. He works room by room, respects the original fabric of a house, and favours natural materials and quiet layers of detail, so that spaces feel as though they have evolved over time.
The hardware collection grew directly out of that practice. Time and again, Mark could not find fittings with the weight, texture and character that period homes deserve, so he began designing his own. He now works closely with a British foundry and a small group of craftspeople, using sand-cast bronze, unlacquered brass and sapele hardwood. Each piece is cast in small batches by traditional methods and carries the small variations of that process. Because he has spent years seeing fittings go in on site, he designs every product with installation and daily use in mind.
His approach is rooted in honesty, simplicity and an appreciation of texture and character. He believes materials should be allowed to age naturally, and that patina and slight irregularity give an object its soul. Whether he is designing a room or a door handle, he wants each element to sit naturally within its surroundings rather than demand attention.
Mark continues to run his interior design practice alongside the product business, and the two inform each other: new products often begin as the solution to a problem on a live project. His work has been featured in Elle Decoration, Remodelista, Domino, Livingetc and Homes & Gardens.
A practical guide to café curtains and unlacquered brass curtain rails, including how to choose recessed or face-mounted brackets, measure the rail, select headings, and size linen curtains.