What happened in 2008 stopped people in their tracks. People stopped looking at their homes simply as commodities to exploit and starting thinking about how they might personalise that space and make them less bland and more autobiographical, and that's healthy, I think.
I am a big fan of long drop, composting toilets - I like the cycle of using waste. When you have experienced one and seen what comes out of the bottom, it is amazing stuff. It's the most beautiful, driest, sweet-smelling compost.
Your home should be about enriching the daily experience.
People have got to get over the fear of not being able to trust others. I come across people who are very successful in their own sphere, and really believe they can do it all themselves, but they can't.
There's no reason for your imagination to be fettered by money.
I've got lots of friends who are musicians, and there is a fair proportion of broken marriages and relationships as a result. You are on the move all the time. It's difficult if you have kids, and it's hard to make money unless you are in the premier league.
Building a house from scratch in the middle of a field is a bit like building a prototype car. As with all prototypes, if you're building a car you usually have the luxury of producing several prototypes before you arrive at the production line version - so the opportunity for changing things is quite rich.
My favourite authors include Trollope and Dickens.
I don't want anything that I buy to have done any harm to anyone or anything.
I'm terrified of being poor, I always have been. It's growing up as a Methodist. I'll spend that bit of extra money to get a better seat on a train sometimes, because it's quieter and calmer, but I refuse to spend money on clothes.
I spend a frightening amount of money on books.
If you said to me, 'Lie down on that concrete floor and fall asleep,' I could do it. I can sleep anywhere at any time of day on any surface.
I hate negativity. I hate people who say the phrase 'I hate'. I really don't like the word 'hate.' Dislike, frightened of, terrified of, or yukky - but not 'hate.'
Generally speaking, I think that if you do anything with commitment and passion, it will come good.
The thing that I champion is sustainability. My terror is that suddenly we see it as a luxury, not an essential. That's a danger.
As a property developer, I learned a long time ago to choose your battles wisely and that, unfortunately, compromise is a given.
I'm terribly fastidious. I like symmetry and neatness, but my house is as chaotic as any other family's.
Every breath we take as human beings damages the planet.
I've got a farm in Somerset, and I think it's God's own country. I love it.
If I welcomed people into my lovely home every week in the pages of a magazine, they'd soon see how incredibly dull it is. It's important to maintain a bit of mystique.
