Nicholas Haslam at the Toronto Interior Design Show

Nicholas Haslam has decorated the homes of the rich, famous and royal.

Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger and Charles and Diana, to name a few.

The English interior designer – best known for his lavish designs, imaginative rooms and insatiable curiousity about people – spoke at the Toronto Interior Design Show.

Here are a few of our favourite quotables from Globe Style Saturday:

On decorating:
“There is humour in decor. You need to find out how to make [your clients] smile. What makes them happy, what colours they like, what foods they like, etc. It’s very intimate.”

On bathrooms:
“I love avocado coloured bathrooms. I think they’re wonderful. Lets bring them back. Avocado plastic – it’s Heaven!”

On interior design in the 50’s and 60’s:
“In older days, we had to sort of invent. There were no schools for interior design. It was all industrial. Decorating a house was like doing a collection for Dior. It was all about invention.”

On his favourite design style:
“Gothic. It works everywhere, and in anything.”

On his philosophy:
“Rooms are made to make women look beautiful. To feel prettier and happier. That’s the point of interior design, fashion and life.”

On his favourite room:
“The greatest room in the world is the Austrian National Library, located in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna.”

On his best piece of advice:
“Be naughty.”