Fiona McDonald

Fiona McDonald's London showroom has built a growing reputation for offering stylish and sympathetically restored pieces, demonstrating the best of 1930s to 1970s design. Items regularly sourced from Italy and France provide for an eclectic mix of antiques - timeless pieces that are perfectly suited for domestic and commercial interiors, whether traditional or modern.

After a degree in History of Art specialising in the C20th I worked first as an illustrator, then as a photographer's agent. I set up the business in 1997. It's hard to describe what I buy as it changes all the time, but the common thread is something well designed and well made that I can see working in both commercial and residential spaces. At the moment mid century Italian design is captivating me.

It's exciting to discover a neglected item, visualising its potential. I have wonderful restorers who revitalize almost every piece in some way. I like furniture to function - doors, drawers and locks work, legs and arms are wobble free, chairs and sofas are reupholstered, not just recovered, and lighting is rewired and PAT tested.