How Designer Susie Watson Built a Beloved Interiors Brand Inspired by Family and Everyday Living

Effortless, inviting, slightly elevated, and always lived-in – is how Susie Watson Design’s style could be described. It’s an aesthetic that’s hard to pinpoint, and that’s the whole point. It’s layered, collected, and totally timeless.

This idea of creating pieces that are both beautiful and suited to everyday life has been at the heart of every version of Susie Watson Designs. What began as a family-run art gallery over 25 years ago quickly developed into a small pottery business, selling at fairs across the UK, and then flourished into an iconic British design brand. It moved from stalls to stores around the country and expanded far beyond pottery to include beautifully handcrafted cushions, rugs, furniture, and more – all still grounded in the same idea: that these pieces are not to be ‘saved for best’ or treated as overly precious.

Another thing that hasn’t changed is that this is still very much a family business, with Susie working closely with her daughter Anna Watson. Together, they collaborate on new ideas, travel the world for inspiration and to work with suppliers, as well as drawing constant inspiration from their own everyday lives. The family ties also extend beyond Susie and Anna – the designers, suppliers, and factories they work with are family-run too, and the brand’s whole ethos is centered on elegant design for everyday family life.

Here, in our most recent Layered Lives interview, we sit down with Susie to find out more about where the brand began, how it grew into what it is today, what inspires her now, and to gain a real insight into the dynamic of this mother-daughter duo.

Homes & Gardens: Can You Share the Story of How Susie Watson Designs Began?

Susie Watson: Susie Watson Designs really started with a simple but lovely idea: why should beauty be saved just for gallery walls? I wanted to bring art into everyday life – turning the things we use all the time, like cushions, mugs, and tablecloths, into something a bit more special. Everything is thoughtfully handcrafted, full of character, and made to be loved and used. It’s about making your home feel personal, warm, and filled with little stories in every corner.

Homes & Gardens: How Did Your Design Journey Begin Before Susie Watson Designs?

Susie Watson: I designed clothes in my twenties, which I absolutely loved. My focus gradually shifted to interiors when creating a home became more important to me. With four children, I spent a great deal of time at home, and renovating houses evolved into both a career and a lasting fascination.

Homes & Gardens: And What or Who Were Some of Your Earliest Influences?

Susie Watson: My best friend at school lived in a beautiful Suffolk farmhouse. Her incredibly artistic mother had a large, brick-floored kitchen with wonderful dressers. It made a lasting impression on me and was undoubtedly an early influence – my own kitchens still carry something of that same spirit.

Homes & Gardens: Can You Describe the First Space That Shaped Your Design?

Susie Watson: As a family, we embraced kitchen living long before it became fashionable, so the kitchen was the first room I became truly interested in designing.

Kitchen suppers always felt more fun and informal to me, and I’ve always loved cooking. A large kitchen dresser was probably our first real piece of furniture, and we still have it today. That’s the wonderful thing about investing in furniture or paintings – they become companions for life. No matter how many times you move, your home still feels like home. The kitchen table is the heart of most homes, and I still work from ours most days.

I’ve always designed my own kitchen cupboards, working with a carpenter to make them. They were never particularly high-spec, but understanding how you use a space means everything is exactly where you need it. I’ve often gone on to design kitchens for others as well.

I like to keep ceramics out where I can see them. Plate racks are by far the best way to store plates and bowls – they make it quicker and easier to empty the dishwasher, and you can immediately see when you’re running low.

Most of my kitchens have had pink walls – it makes them feel warm and inviting. The color works beautifully with the brick floors I’m especially fond of, and it provides a perfect backdrop for paintings and table lamps, both of which are essential to a lived-in kitchen.

Homes & Gardens: Can You Walk Us Through Your Typical Design Process, From Initial Inspiration to the Finished Product?

Susie Watson: Sometimes we have a clear idea of what we want to create – for example, a bedside table with more storage, or a kilim rug that complements a new wallpaper. In those cases, the design work feels more like problem-solving.

We find inspiration everywhere – antiques, paintings, nature – our ideas can come from anywhere! We work through each design together, producing drawings that we send to our brilliant makers. Samples are created and refined until we have something we’re happy with.

We take several trips each year to Sri Lanka and India and do a lot of our designing while we’re there. It helps that we’re together 24 hours a day for a week or so, but being in another country and free from the everyday running of the business also gives us time to truly be creative. Working side by side with our makers makes the whole design process so much easier. We can watch as different threads, paints, dyes, or carvings are used and shaped – and make changes on the spot – so it becomes a much more fluid process.

Sometimes, when we first arrive, it takes a while for the ideas to start flowing. But by the time we’re getting on the plane home, we’re bursting with inspiration and wishing we had a few extra days to try everything out! That’s just the nature of how our creativity works – it’s all about having the time and space to really get into an artistic headspace.

Homes & Gardens: What Are the Key Elements That Define the Susie Watson Aesthetic, and How Has That Signature Style Evolved Over Time?

Susie Watson: Designing products for the home has been a huge learning curve! We began with ceramics and tablecloths in a limited palette of pinks, blues, and greens. But alongside our makers, we’ve developed increasingly sophisticated ways of creating fabrics – learning how to stonewash and screen-print intricate designs, and embroider beautifully detailed patterns.

Over time, we began making kilim rugs and added furniture to our collection. The more we design and create, the more we discover what’s possible. Beautiful colors inspired by nature are a constant theme throughout all our interiors. We use only the very best natural materials – stonewashed linens, silk velvets, wool kilims, pure wool throws, and acacia wood.

As soon as people walk into our showrooms, they immediately feel the warmth and coziness of home. Because we are the designers, our collection feels very organic. We never design what we think someone might like – we follow our own instincts entirely. That’s why our style feels timeless and never simply 'on trend.'

Homes & Gardens: Are There Any Behind-the-Scenes Rituals, Routines, or Traditions That Shape the Way You Make Design Decisions?

Susie Watson: No – the whole design process for us is pretty chaotic! Every item we create has a completely different backstory. Some of our kilims were perfect the first time we wove them, while others went through several iterations before we were happy. Some designs get abandoned completely, even after hours and hours of work. And sometimes, a great product comes out of a mistake!

Color is always a real challenge – it’s so difficult to get just right. And occasionally, we’ll love a product when we first design it, only to decide we don’t like it at all once it’s in the stores! The key is to keep moving forward and learning from each experience.

Homes & Gardens: In the Competitive World of Interior and Textile Design, How Do You Stay Innovative While Maintaining a Consistent Brand Identity?

Susie Watson: We never set out to be a big competitor in the interior design world, and we’d never fool ourselves into thinking that should be the goal. I think if we started second-guessing what we should or shouldn’t be designing, the whole process would become inorganic.

Our brand is strong because we have a tight-knit team and we refuse to be swayed by trends. We simply focus on creating beautiful things, and our customers seem to recognize and appreciate the value in that.

Homes & Gardens: How Does Family Influence Play a Role in Your Work? Are There Lessons or Values Passed Down That You See Reflected in the Brand?

Susie Watson: Family plays a huge part in the brand. Not only do we have various members of our family working in the business, but we also see each of our stores as a family, and the people who make our products are all small family businesses. This gives a wonderful sense of continuity, stability, and longevity to the brand – something our customers really pick up on.

Everyone understands the importance of their own family, and I think people recognize that Susie Watson Designs is built on that same foundation. We are a family business, designing for families and family life.

Homes & Gardens: Are There Any Misconceptions About Running a Family-Led Design Brand That You Would Like to Clarify?

Susie Watson: I think some people get hung up on the idea of inheriting a business rather than earning it. To be honest, it’s a lot of work and quite a responsibility to take on – something many people might not actually want. The benefits for the business, however, massively outweigh any negatives.

The biggest advantage is that investment decisions are always made with the long-term growth and health of the company in mind, rather than short-term gain. I didn’t take a salary for the first 15 years! It’s incredibly hard to build a strong business in just one generation. Later generations get the opportunity to build and expand on the original concept – but it’s still hard work.

A family business also provides great security for those working within it. In a small company, the wider team becomes an integral part of the family, and that gives everyone a much greater sense of stability about their future. By contrast, a company buyout can often be traumatic for staff who’ve helped build the business – they sometimes choose to leave, saddened by how the culture they loved and felt part of has changed.

Homes & Gardens: Can You Tell Us a Little About Your Relationship as Mother and Daughter, and How It Shapes the Way You Work Together Creatively?

Susie Watson: We naturally have very similar design ideas, having spent so much time together over the years. We’re very honest with each other, which is helpful – we don’t tiptoe around our opinions when collaborating! We both understand how valuable true collaboration can be.

Of course, there are moments of frustration when something isn’t quite working, but we instinctively know when to step in and when to step back. There’s no pride or ego when it comes to design ownership – if something works, that’s great. If a product doesn’t end up working, that’s fine too. Often, the lessons we learn when things go wrong are far more valuable than when everything goes right.

Homes & Gardens: How Do You Divide Responsibilities at Susie Watson Designs, and Where Do Your Roles Overlap?

Susie Watson: I am involved in almost every aspect of the business, and I still enjoy every part of it – from initial product design to store interiors, photography, stock ordering, and even dealing directly with customers.

Anna focuses more on product design and works extensively on the bespoke side of the business, helping customers resize furniture and kilims for their homes. It’s mainly on the design side that our roles overlap, but we constantly look to each other for advice on all the day-to-day decisions involved in running the business.

Homes & Gardens: What’s a Typical Day in the Studio Like When You’re Working on a New Collection? Any Rituals, Routines, or Little Quirks That Define Your Process?

Susie Watson: It’s only really when we head to India or Sri Lanka that we have proper full days to be creative. For the rest of the time, it’s snatched hours here or there in which we think about new product design.

If we do have a spare afternoon, we’re usually in the summer house at our home with the floor covered in bits of kilim and rolls of fabric. Becca, our brilliant graphic designer who has worked with us since she graduated, works closely with us and is an integral part of our design team. She also manages all aspects of photography, which is a major part of what we do each month.

And there are usually my four badly behaved dogs sitting on everything, barking to be let in or out, and eating sandwiches from Becca’s bag! Endless cups of coffee are a staple. But usually, out of the chaos, something good will come! It’s not a recognized design process, but it’s really the only way we know how.

Homes & Gardens: How Do You Navigate Creative Disagreements? Do Those Moments Ever Lead to Some of Your Best Work?

Susie Watson: If one of us feels strongly about a new idea – against the judgment of the other – we’ll usually still go ahead and get a sample made anyway. We’ve been doing this long enough to know that until you have a sample in front of you, it’s really hard to tell whether something’s going to work or not. At that point, it quickly becomes obvious to both of us if it’s good.

Interestingly, the new designs we really love are always the ones the head office team love too – and they often go on to become bestsellers. Sometimes, the designs that look best on paper turn out to be the most disappointing once they’re made. That’s one of the joys of the process – the happy accidents. It’s certainly never predictable, and that’s what keeps it such an exciting area to work in.

Homes & Gardens: How Do You Maintain the Balance Between Running a Business and Nurturing Your Mother-Daughter Relationship?

Susie Watson: There’s an understanding between all of us that running a business is hard work – and there’s no escaping that. There isn’t really an 'off' switch, and Anna realizes more and more that this has been key to my success – she lives and breathes the business, and work naturally seeps into every part of life.

We’re happy to talk about work most of the time, but a phone conversation between us will usually cover product design, dogs, gossip, and politics – all within a few minutes! We don’t even try to keep work and home life separate; we’re lucky enough to do jobs we love, so the two blend together quite naturally.

When we’re working in Sri Lanka, we even share a hotel room and will still be discussing a new mug design while reading our novels before bed. It may not be considered the healthiest approach, but it’s the only way we know how to work!

Homes & Gardens: Are There Any Behind Closed Doors Moments – Fun, Chaotic, or Surprisingly Emotional – That Define the Life of the Brand?

Susie Watson: Everything we do is slightly chaotic – and definitely funny! We both value humor more than anything and spend a lot of time laughing at (and with) each other. Photoshoots are always a hive of activity and chaos – Anna once fell in the pool during a shoot at her house, and on one of my trips to India, my suitcase rolled across the train floor and straight out of the open train door! Luckily, a kind man on a bicycle at the next station retrieved it me.

It’s also hard to avoid emotional moments when we all work so closely together. We go through incredibly stressful times as a team, but as anyone knows, those shared challenges are often the most bonding. It’s through those hardships that we’ve built such loyalty and genuine affection for the people we work with.

None of us could do it alone – we all need each other. That can feel a little scary at times, but it’s also incredibly energizing. We’re constantly amazed by how far we’ve come, and knowing it’s all been achieved through hard work and perseverance gives us the reassurance that there’s no reason it can’t continue.

Homes & Gardens: What Inspires You Outside of Design? Travel, Art, Nature, or Heritage, and How Do You Translate That Into Your Collections?

Susie Watson: Everything around us is an inspiration – we never stop looking. Wherever we are, we subconsciously absorb why some things work and others don’t, and how certain elements complement or clash with each other. We’re constantly building ideas around shape, color, and texture, and how they all come together.

Homes & Gardens: What Advice Would You Give to Aspiring Designers About Collaboration, Creativity, and Building a Brand With Authenticity?

Susie Watson: Start small. Get your product out there in the simplest, most cost-effective way possible and see if people like it. Fairs are hard work, but they’re a great way to get your products in front of customers – and you can usually just about cover the costs through sales. You’ll get a sense right away of whether people connect with your style or not.

You need to be single-minded and not give up when a million problems come your way (and they will!). We’ve had so many ups and downs in this business, but through sheer stubbornness and hard work, we’ve forged ahead. Not many people realize how much effort goes into building a small retail business where everything is handmade. You have to be prepared to work long, hard days to get your product right.

Homes & Gardens: If You Could Describe the Heart of Susie Watson Designs in Three Words, What Would They Be and Why?

Susie Watson: Family, home, color.

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