Corin Mellor's top London spaces: the creative director of David Mellor Design reveals his favourite design shops

The designer is a fan of London's art galleries and his secret shop is an old-fashioned ironmongers he discovered by chance.
Liz Hoggard11 February 2020

Corin Mellor is a designer specialising in silverware, tableware and furniture.

Son of the biographer Fiona MacCarthy and cutlery designer David Mellor, when his father retired in 2002, Corin took over as creative director of the family-owned manufacturing and retailing company, David Mellor Design.

Where I live: Little Venice

It’s a second-floor flat in a period stucco terrace near Little Venice.

My wife [the photographer Helen Mellor] and I bought it years ago but these days I divide my time between London and the David Mellor cutlery factory site in the Peak District National Park.

My decor: neutral

The interior of our flat is reasonably plain. Walls and floors are simple and the flat has wooden period shutters.

Objects and furniture are a very eclectic mix ranging from design classics and Sixties paintings, to an Ettore Sottsass Memphis table lamp.

Bay table lamp, created by Ettore Sottsass in 1983 in glass, aluminium and Plexiglass for the Memphis design collective

I’ve also collected one-off pieces by some of the amazing craftspeople we’ve worked with over the years. I also have a model car collection of every classic car I’ve owned.

Best homeware shop: Aram Store

Zeev Aram set up his shop in King’s Road around the same time my father set up his Sloane Square shop and Terence Conran set up Habitat. This was over 50 years ago, all in the same area.

Zeev’s a true design connoisseur and became a family friend. I even remember him coming to my degree show.

Best for homewares: Aram Store in Covent Garden

Aram Store has since moved to Covent Garden and their range of modern furniture and home accessories is monumental.

Favourite studio: Allen Jones's Barbican studio

Recently I’ve had the privilege of working with Pop artist Allen Jones including an edition of knives in the shape of a woman’s leg.

His private studio near the Barbican is really quite incredible.

British Pop artist Allen Jones's work, Artistic Foot(wear), 1966, on exhibition at Christie's auction house in London in 2013
AFP via Getty Images

From an unassuming door on the street you spiral up an endless staircase and eventually pass through his living space and into a huge room with vast skylights, filled with works-in-progress, new ideas and art dating back decades.

Many pieces really push the boundaries. It’s a transformative, exhilarating and slightly surreal experience.

Secret shop: David Penton & Son

David Penton & Son ironmongers on Marylebone Lane.

I discovered this absolute gem while designing the interior of the new David Mellor Marylebone shop.

Secret shop: traditional hardware shop David Penton & Son, in Marylebone Lane

As I insist on getting involved in every detail of our company, I inevitably need screws and paintbrushes. That’s when I discovered this old-fashioned ironmonger.

As a boy I used to help my father sell screws in our Sloane Square shop whose original name was actually David Mellor Ironmonger, so it particularly appeals.

Bowls at David Mellor by leading Irish woodturner Liam O'Neill are priced from £26

Best gallery: Saatchi Gallery

I often visit Saatchi Gallery. The layout of the spaces flows well and the art is always outstanding.

A highlight was Collect, the international art fair, which was hosted there last year.

Organised by the Crafts Council, this year it has moved to Somerset House.

It straddles the boundaries between craft, art and design. It challenges me to really think about materials and forms.

My cultural hotspot: the V&A

The V&A is the biggest hotspot for culture in London, with centuries of treasures.

David Mellor Design's Marylebone shop

If I’m working on a new design I invariably go there for inspiration and to understand how things were done in the past. I particularly like the Ceramics Gallery.

Most treasured object: vintage 1966 Porsche

I’m lucky enough to own a Viper Green 1966 Porsche. I bought it from a railway arch in Bermondsey over 20 years ago.

I always keep its aesthetic in mind when designing products in the hope of one day achieving similar perfection.

Best green space in London: Clifton Nurseries

Clifton Nurseries was established in 1851.

This amazing upmarket garden centre not only sells exotic plants from around the world but also serves superb teas and cakes.

You enter between two houses into this magical oasis.

Dream property

I’ve always been keen on boats and one day I’d like to live on one. Designing and building my own houseboat to moor somewhere like Cadogan Pier or Chelsea Embankment would be my dream.

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