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Friday Five with Tracy Lowy

In this installment of Friday Five, we spotlight London-based Tracy Lowy, the British powerhouse behind Living Rooms, luxury alternatives to hotels that offer you the services of a hotel but the privacy and space of an actual home. Noticing a need in the market for modern, luxury-filled apartments in 1993, Lowy set out to fill the gap of extended stay residences that make the likes of Hollywood stars and film producers and directors feel right at home in temporary digs across the pond. Coming from a family in the hotel business with a desire to be an architect, Lowy combined her skills and decks each property with influential British designers and unique finds. Let’s see what she picks in this edition of Friday Five.

Photo courtesy of Solange Azagury-Partridge

Photo courtesy of Solange Azagury-Partridge

1. Solange Azagury-Partridge
Without any formal training Solange has defined an iconoclastic approach to jewellery design. The exquisite collections are beautifully made and every piece says something, everything has a hidden message. Offering the modern woman everything she could possibly wish for.

Photo courtesy of Piet Hein Eek

Photo courtesy of Piet Hein Eek

2. Piet Hein Eek
A Dutch furniture designer who works bits of found wood and salvaged materials into intricate patchwork, one-of-a-kind pieces. The thinking behind his work is partly a desire to rescue these discarded pieces of wood and also to escape the soullessness of mass production.

3. Gorilla trekking in Uganda
I trekked through Bwindi impenetrable forest to see some of the last remaining mountain gorillas. Seeing these incredible creatures in their natural habitat was both inspiring and humbling. I was struck by how intelligent, playful and expressive they were. An experience I will never forget.

4. Gary Hume
One of my favorite artists. Hume is an accomplished draughtsman and painter of minimalist pictures that teeter on the edge abstraction. He captures emotions and characters and simplifies images of everyday objects that are boldly rendered in thick high gloss.

5. The milkman
The milkman is part of the cultural heritage of British tradition. I get organic milk delivered to my door three times a week by my friendly milkman Steve who arrives on an electric float. I love supporting a service that was until recently on the brink of extinction.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.