Profile

MARY GILLIATT - Decorator, fabric and wall covering designer, author, lecturer and television host.

Mary has written for all the major broadsheets and glossy home and fashion magazine titles and writes a monthly column for NZ House & Garden.

She has been design consultant for Marks and Spencer, Liberty of London, ICI Paints and Debenhams and is currently consultant to Decor & You, a major interior design franchise in America.  She is also on the Advisory Board of the New York School of Interior Design.

Since her first book, English Style in 1965 she has written over 30 books including The Complete Guide to Home Design, Decorating on the Cheap, Dream House, Period Style, Short Cuts to Decorating, The Blue and White Room, Great Renovations and The Decorating Book, that has sold 3 million copies worldwide. Her latest books are the Bedroom Book, and Mary Gilliatt’s Fabulous Food and Friends both published in 2008.

A recent book, Mary Gilliatt’s Interior Design Course, is part of the course work on some American interior design courses.

Mary recently appeared on a documentary about Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret on Channel 4.

Biography

Decorator, fabric and wall covering designer, author, lecturer and television host, Mary Gilliatt was educated at Farnborough Hill College in Hampshire and the Sorbonne in Paris. She began her career in London. Mary worked as feature writer for The House and Garden and The Daily Express and as copywriter for Everett Advertising and Harrods before joining The London Times as assistant woman's editor.

After three years she joined the newly established Sunday Telegraph as home editor and senior feature writer. Her position with The Telegraph sent her all over the world, including South America, East Berlin, Prague, and to Russia to interview Khrushchev. She also designed a model home for the newspaper. When she left The Telegraph to raise her family she continued to contribute to magazines including Country Life, Woman's Journal and Homes and Gardens, and to American House Beautiful, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Decorating and Remodelling, Redbook and Family Circle. She produced monthly columns for Australian Vogue Living, started her own decorating firm and also worked as a design consultant for Marks and Spencer, Liberty of London, ICI Paints and Debenhams. Mary also designed her own ranges of wallpaper and fabric. She currently writes for NZ House & Garden.

In 1965 Mary was commissioned to write her first book, English Style, which was simultaneously published in England, France and the USA to great acclaim. She has since written nearly 40 books including The Complete Guide to Home Design, Decorating on the Cheap, Dream House, Period Style, Short Cuts to Decorating, The Blue and White Room and House Into Home. Many of Mary's books have been translated into other languages including Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Chinese, Norwegian, Dutch, French and Afrikaans. The Decorating Book has now sold 3 million copies worldwide and Mary Gilliatt's Interior Design Course, was her 33rd book. Mary's most recent books include the Bedroom Book and Mary Gilliat's Fabulous Food and Friends which will be published in 2008 by Pen and Sword.

Mary has spent many successful years working in the USA, and for the past three years, along with fellow British designer Jane Churchill, Mary has been on the advisory board of the New York School of Design. Mary has now returned to the UK and has been working on a massive 500-page book. Mary Gilliatt's Dictionary of Architecture, Furniture and Interior Decoration was published in the US in Autumn 2004.

Mary recently appeared on a documentary about Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret on Channel 4.

Updated 28/02/2009