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Documentary, CH4 - Millionaires' Mansions- Series 1 - Joanna Wood
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00:00Before we begin there are two things really I don't want to talk about and that is disclose the
00:09names of clients and people we work with. I mean privacy is a huge issue and secondly I
00:14don't want to talk about money. The world of luxury design is a very private one. When we
00:23start designing you won't be able to film any of that. I'm not asking you to leave I'm asking you
00:28to not film without the permission. The country's top designers are competing with each other to
00:34work in Britain's most exclusive homes. It is absolutely perfect in every way. It's pretty
00:42obvious it's not done on the cheap isn't it. Satisfying their clients often means delivering
00:48a product that exists nowhere else. We do have a few granite tanks and it's normally middle-aged
00:56it. Luxury is largely about exclusivity and it's about having something that's just for
01:02you. This is petrified moss that's been injected with silicon. Those that succeed are transforming
01:10the nation's most luxurious houses. These houses here are the palaces of today. I guess at some
01:18level we are tastemakers. This is not about curtains and cushions. This is about power, politics and keeping
01:30one step ahead of everyone else.
01:36Okay are you ready? Yeah. Shall we go?
01:51We've always got to be very discreet please on arriving no filming of the street or the outside
02:00of the house or anything like that for privacy and security reasons. We have spent three months
02:07getting you guys into this private family home. It's certainly one of the biggest projects I'll ever be
02:15privileged to work on. It's got 93 rooms for a start. Okay Jeff, if you if you just pull up on the left
02:22please. Just to say when we get inside the house you're only allowed to film the floor through the
02:31entrance halls and the lobbies until we get into the designated rooms. Thank you so much.
02:45So this is the small state dining room which was created from an office five years ago. Absolutely
02:56everything is new or newly built and the ceiling was just plain grey emulsion paint muddy office. In fact,
03:05it had bits of sort of polystyrene stuck on it. This is 22 karat gold leaf. It's none of you none of
03:12your fake. It's leaf by leaf by leaf applied. Just to say please don't film the doors as we go through.
03:22In this house there are I think it's 187 pairs of curtains, 94 blinds and nearly three kilometres,
03:34especially printed lining with the owner's cartouche on it. The large state dining room.
03:40Which is for larger and grander occasions. I think we're only allowed to film at the fireplace. Yeah,
03:50this is quite literally I think the most extraordinary mantelpiece I've ever seen in
03:55my entire career. And it's made out of enamel.
04:04A large state reception room, which again was a creation from absolutely nothing.
04:12Wow. Are we allowed to talk figures in terms of how much this was purchased for and the renovation costs?
04:19No. No. No? It's obvious it's a fortune isn't it?
04:32London in 2016 is unlike anywhere else in the world. In the last 10 years, a hundred billion pounds worth of
04:40property has been bought by foreign investors. If you want to be part of the international elite,
04:45you need a house in this city. It's a status symbol. You have your house in Mayfair, Belgravia,
04:53Kensington, Chelsea. It says something about you. There you are, you're part of an elite club,
05:00the best of the best. The biggest value contract I've had was over a hundred million. It's a lot of money.
05:07Joanna Wood has been at the top of the industry for over 25 years.
05:13If we're going trellisage, how about that?
05:15I love it. You know I love it.
05:17Yeah. It's too gothic, isn't it?
05:19Today sees the start of another exclusive project.
05:23This project is a rather wonderful penthouse.
05:26Sort of couldn't be more central. It's got views of the mall, the palace, everything else. It's fantastic.
05:34And we are about to redo the whole space from top to toe, modernising it, redoing bathrooms, etc, etc.
05:40It's a big project. We know what we're putting in. We put in the staircase. We put my clientele.
05:45We're talking duchesses, rock stars, royal families, film stars. I've done everything from
05:51castles to bedsits. I mean, I've even done a horse box, aeroplanes. What about a little corner bonk hit?
05:58At the moment, I wouldn't want to be an interior designer anywhere else in the world. I mean,
06:02London is the centre of the design world.
06:04The luxury interior design world is booming, and leading designers are flocking to London.
06:20Everybody must carve their own niche, so new styles crowd the market.
06:25On the King's Road in Chelsea, one designer is just setting out. She has very distinctive taste.
06:44One of the things our customers do like an awful lot is this light-up LED wallpaper.
06:50It not only has the LED lights on it, but it also has the crystals. If you look closely,
06:57you can see here, all these are Swarovkovsky crystals. We can inlay crystals into anything.
07:03Fabrics, furniture, rugs. Just name it, we'll do it for you. Beautiful.
07:13Juliet Thomas opened the shiny doors of Juliet's interiors two years ago, with very particular clientele in mind.
07:20We go from royal families to very young people who have made their own money and done extremely well for themselves.
07:30We're talking international DJs. Footballers, yes, we get a lot of Chelsea come in here.
07:36A lot of people from Scotland will come down here, because they don't have this type of offering in Scotland.
07:42And they do walk through the door and they say,
07:44we want drama, we want over the top. Our answer would be, well, you've come to the right place.
07:51Juliet has come to London from rural Warwickshire, bringing with her a slightly different approach.
07:58A few years ago, being posh was the way to go.
08:02But what my customers are wanting is somebody who can do the job and do it right.
08:07Having a posh accent and lardy-darring it around and not getting anything done,
08:11which I sort of think was perhaps the old way many years ago, doesn't wash anymore.
08:16This month, a new furniture range is exploring her customers' wildest fantasies.
08:29I'd just like you to just make love to the bed, yeah, and just slide up and down the bed.
08:34Have you ever done pole dancing?
08:35No, how about an old pole?
08:37So, in front of your boyfriend, wrap yourself around that pole to push your body into that frame,
08:42yeah, so we've got the arch on your back. Oh my god, that dress.
08:49I'm totally confident that what I've put in that bedroom will end up in a sheik's palace,
08:55in a royal family, somewhere, probably in the Emirates. Arch your back, stick your boobs out.
09:00You've got a lovely arse. You won't look like that when you've had kids.
09:06We want to give some undertones as to the potentials of what might happen
09:12with people who buy this furniture. The type of people that would buy our furniture
09:17would do this naturally anyway. These people work hard and they have to have a release,
09:22so I'm sort of showing them we're on your level. I'll tell you what, that looks really good.
09:27Do you like a sandwich? Do you like something very fattening while we wait for the lighting to be done?
09:36Ikea wouldn't sell their stuff like this.
09:40Welcome to Juliet's Interiors.
09:42Whatever your taste, to survive in London, every designer must have a distinct style.
09:55But whether bling or baroque, their challenge with every house is having that first moment of inspiration.
10:01Just three leaves I picked up earlier and you look at the colours that we can translate into a home
10:10and how the texture of the tree that can so easily translate into a wonderful wallpaper.
10:17Brian Wade is a celebrated interior designer whose work is inspired by the natural world.
10:26With the clients we work with, it isn't necessarily about Swarovski crystal chandeliers and gold taps.
10:34I think what we're doing, are we bringing together the rarest of materials to create a sanctuary and their palace.
10:43For the last four years, Brian's palace has been a Knightsbridge townhouse.
10:47It is one of the most luxurious projects currently underway in London.
10:56I think what is so exciting about opening the front door, two turns, light on the outside, dark on the inside,
11:03is this sense of ultimate luxury. You've got this roaring fireplace, wonderful wall covering, which is stingray, chagrin.
11:12The staff would then take the coats and lead you up through to the drawing room for drinks and cocktails and snacks.
11:25This seven-storey house has a basement sauna, nine bathrooms and a separate floor for live-in staff.
11:36Brian's Russian clients want a home of understated sophistication, filled with nature.
11:42The little girl's bedroom. I think she's eight. She loves pink and she loves purple.
11:48So running with the pink-purple theme, I found this gorgeous Jean-Paul Gaultier fabric, which is reversible.
11:54Then the bed obviously sits here. And then just to add a little bit of luxury and touch and feel,
11:59we've got this beautiful rabbit fur throw, which is in pink, lined in cashmere.
12:05So you can cuddle and sleep and it's all beautiful and cosy.
12:09And of course, she's got her wonderful little magical bathroom, which she has access to.
12:16Come through to the dressing room, which is her own little bespoke space.
12:20So she can be sat here and she can be doing her make-up, leather clad for her jewellery and so on.
12:27And I mean, I'd love to be here to see her little six-year-old face shine as she dances into the space and goes,
12:33this is mine!
12:38Clients we work with really want us to help them define who and what they are,
12:45make a statement with what we bring, with fabrics, with colours.
12:49I mean, dining room chairs. We probably tried 13 or 14 dining room chairs alone.
12:56We had them flown in, one from Canada.
12:59All of those aspects are an important part of the interior design process.
13:07Brian has even installed a glass lift, connecting the bedrooms to the treasures of the basement.
13:13This incredible and amazing haute couture dressing room.
13:18The lady of this house is an avid collector of very expensive clothes.
13:24Obviously, there's plenty of space for your long frocks, which would hang here.
13:31Generally, the top section is for sort of handbags from your Birkin to your Hermes,
13:38to your Celine bags, to your Louis Vuitton Gucci bags.
13:42We have designed a shoe cupboard, which is this beautiful space,
13:46which presently has enough space for 350 pairs of shoes.
13:53We think that she has just now probably about 600 to 650 pairs of shoes.
13:58So, what we're going to have to do initially for the move is actually to put the present seasons,
14:052015-2016, shoes down in this section, and then the older shoes,
14:1020, 11s, 12s, 13s.
14:13They could perhaps go to auxiliary rooms upstairs.
14:20For almost half a decade, Brian has lived and breathed every inch of this house.
14:26And now the finishing line is finally in sight.
14:30We've been working on this really fantastic home for four years, which sounds a long period of time,
14:35but more terrifying is the fact that we need to get the client in by Easter.
14:41So, we have four months.
14:55It's the beginning of the week at Juliet's Interiors and an induction day for new staff.
15:00Never, ever underestimate our customer.
15:05We're not asking you to arse lick. We're not asking you to, you know, lick somebody's feet.
15:09I'm just saying, think about them. Think about what makes their life easy.
15:14Because when I come to the door and I see fag butts and leaves and crap on the pavement,
15:20which has been done from the bus stop only the night before, it's got to be moved.
15:25OK?
15:27As the new girl on the block, Juliet has made customer service her top priority.
15:33Right. Has anybody opened champagne before?
15:37Come in. Ready?
15:39Right. What?
15:40Ow!
15:42It shouldn't do that.
15:44Oh! I'm going to stink of alcohol later.
15:48If they start drinking a lot, it's amazing how much they start to spend, yeah?
15:53Now, if they look like they're staying a while and they can't believe you've offered them
15:57a Peroni and a chilled one, get the big one out. Get the big bud out, yeah?
16:03Every client even gets their own music.
16:06When the Italians come in, you know, you put the Gypsy Kings on in your case.
16:12You can put ABBA on if the Swiss come in. When you see the Arabs come in,
16:17it's a flick of a switch, as you know, and put the Arabic lounge bar music on, yeah?
16:21Yeah. This training is well-timed, for today also sees the visit of Juliet's biggest customer.
16:27Can you go and get me another one?
16:29I'm just putting on some music that I think would be appropriate for the client that's turned up.
16:40Sergei Sherbakov is a Russian millionaire whose Surrey mansion Juliet has been furnishing for the last year.
16:46I've got some issues with some of the furniture that's come in.
16:51It hasn't been an entirely straightforward process.
16:55Is this close to what you're thinking?
16:57No.
16:57No?
16:58No.
16:59No.
17:00Okay, we'll have to look.
17:02Sergei is a client that came to us last summer.
17:08He does have an attention to detail.
17:09If another problem arises...
17:12Or, for example, some problems with the existing items.
17:22Sergei's house has an interior's budget of half a million pounds.
17:26But Juliet is struggling to get her furniture past his Lithuanian housekeeper.
17:31When they brought this table, there were shadows on the floor.
17:40They were everywhere around the floor.
17:43The light here is far from the wall.
17:49This light is attached to the wall.
17:51They are not the same.
17:52Two light here.
17:53They are not.
17:56Lyama Dorisenko is a former weapons inspector for the Russian military.
18:16None of this has made Juliet's life particularly easy.
18:23Rejected pieces have to be replaced.
18:27We have had a serious amount of bad luck on this particular job.
18:31A lot.
18:36Three times this table's been back.
18:42This would be the end of the line for this factory if they're not right.
18:48That's a very basic error to have that little chip out the top corner.
18:52That's very basic.
18:53So now I have to get another one made.
18:57With Juliet's problems mounting, there is still one object outstanding.
19:02A three-storey statement chandelier for Sergei's entrance hall.
19:07The big chandelier at entrance hall is the most important decoration item.
19:16You will make your first opinion of my home, of its decoration, through this chandelier.
19:25Inside here is a solid frame.
19:29It's metal.
19:30You know, we don't know if the fixing points are strong enough.
19:33We have no idea yet.
19:35For all of your jobs, this is the hardest, to make sure this is done correct.
19:39OK.
19:44After a month of searching, Juliet has yet to find anyone brave enough to fit such a huge piece.
19:51Sergei's chandelier, I'm comparing it to the pyramid behind the Sphinx in Cairo.
19:56And it will be admired by many, but thousands of people were killed in the process of building that pyramid.
20:03And that reminds me of Sergei's chandelier.
20:15Today, all the furniture is arriving.
20:18I mean, it really is an exciting day.
20:20A little bit nerve-wracking, but I just want to check the house and make sure everything is ready.
20:26Back in Knightsbridge, Brian's vision of bringing nature into a luxury home is taking shape.
20:32Thanks very much.
20:33We're looking at the £1.9 million worth of really beautiful, bespoke, amazing furniture.
20:40Here's the truck now.
20:41They've just arrived.
20:42Oh, my word.
20:44I feel nauseous.
20:48I want all the pieces, all my little children, to be really safe.
20:54The babies are coming.
20:56Oh, my God.
20:57I love the fact that it's a piece of sculpture.
21:01It's curved, and it's sexy, and it's got this bulbous end, so it's practical.
21:05You put this beautiful little tray, and you're...
21:07Oh, here we go.
21:09This is so exciting.
21:11I hope it doesn't hit the pole.
21:14Yay!
21:15Brian's furniture has an exotic blend of fabric and animal skin from 13 countries.
21:26That's Stingray here.
21:29There's another piece there.
21:30We've used 25 Stingray for the top section, and there's probably 15 below.
21:37This is solid brass, but what I absolutely love are the guinea fowl feathers pressed under the glass.
21:44The material is wild olive.
21:48400-year-old tree from Versailles.
21:52Perhaps most importantly for Brian's client, these pieces are all one-offs.
21:57Nobody else can have this interior.
22:0115 years ago, clients we work with felt a strong desire to be part of the club,
22:07and part of the club was having the gorgeous car with the Louis Vuitton handbag.
22:11I think there is a tendency in this day and age not to be so much part of the club,
22:17but you want something to be unique.
22:22It's this drive for uniqueness that's fuelling the luxury interiors world.
22:28London's elite are quite relaxed about gutting whole houses,
22:31simply to make them different from everybody else.
22:36It's even happening next door as Brian is unloading.
22:38We're going in, and everything's coming out.
22:43And that's probably thousands of pounds worth of furniture, hardware, brassware,
22:49sanitary ware, that's all just going into the back of that lorry, and it's just going to be thrown away.
22:55A home often has just been refurbished two or three years ago.
22:59It then gets sold. New owner, they want to put their stamp on the space,
23:04and this is exactly what happens. I mean, it's shockingly wasteful, actually.
23:15Nice to see the spaces without the furniture in it.
23:18Across in Mayfair, Joanna Wood has completely gutted her new penthouse project.
23:24So we've blocked up this window, and I am a candelabra in the middle of the dining table.
23:30Yeah, wall-like positions here and here, and on the...
23:33The apartment was owned by somebody called Rudolph Palumbo, who appears to have been
23:37a real player in 1950s society, and I am standing in a room which has seen Maria Callas sing in it,
23:46which has seen Marilyn Monroe drink a cocktail before going on to film
23:51The Prince and the Pulper with Sir Laurence Olivier,
23:54which has seen more glamorous parties than you and I have had hot dinners.
23:59Her clients, an international family, have owned the apartment for 30 years,
24:04are now one to complete overhaul. We're turning two small rooms into one large kitchen.
24:11And we're making this enclosed space into a sort of orangery conservatory breakfast room,
24:16so adding to the space, and there will be doors out to the breakfast room.
24:22Kitchens sometimes can be what we would describe as trophy kitchens.
24:27I mean, lighting that would, you know, a sort of central London discotheque would be proud of,
24:33and we've got machines that ionise your face cream, that, I mean, literally,
24:40practically produce the paella.
24:44But like many international owners, they will only be in residence for part of the year.
24:50They're an investment, I mean, because the one place that, you know, over the last,
24:54shall we say, 40, 50 years has not gone down, is London property.
24:59What used to be worth half a million pounds is now worth 15, 20 million pounds.
25:06It's the one secure place to put your money in the world. I mean, there is nowhere like London at the moment.
25:11As international big spenders have breathed life into luxury interiors,
25:20they've also made London property some of the most expensive in the world.
25:24For those coming into the industry, this makes life rather difficult.
25:29There's no way I could afford to take my family to live anywhere close to where I work,
25:36because of the inflated property prices.
25:39It's just, it's absolutely not an option, so it has to be managed from far away.
25:49Juliet commutes five hours every day from rural Warwickshire, where her business first began.
25:54This is where the organisation started. I had £1,200 in the bank.
26:03This is all the money in the world I had, nothing else. I could either take care of my children
26:10and feed them, or I could risk it and go and buy a carload of accessories, home accessories,
26:17put them all on eBay and try and sell them. So I decided I'd take the risk.
26:22Juliet is a single mum with four young sons. She began the business shortly after separating from their father.
26:31I just came up with an idea and I suppose when you're solo and you're so in the ditch
26:36and there is nowhere further down to go, it gives you the luxury of being able to choose what you want to do.
26:45These two lives do not mix whatsoever.
26:48I suppose when I went down there, I just thought, can I do what they all do?
26:54I remember some comments on the King's Road. One or two came up to me and said,
26:58you don't belong here, Juliet. You're two, we've seen through your window, we've seen what you've got.
27:05And they inspired me so much by saying things like that.
27:09I feel a little bit like we've joined the Grand National and I'd like to think we're a little bit
27:17the outsider, maybe a bit later out the stalls. We're going to come up on the inside and come up to the
27:24front and hopefully without too many people noticing while we're doing it and the odds are quite high.
27:30There is one month to go in Brian's Knightsbridge house.
27:47With the finishing touches being applied, dozens of artisans have arrived.
27:57So these are hand-woven metallic panels, leather, and then it's pigment dyed with this bronze.
28:03They're covered. Brian's used 20 types of stone, 12 wood veneers,
28:11and even collected leaves with the owner's family for a unique chandelier.
28:16We decided to get the children to be part of this process and we went to Hyde Park and we collected
28:23leaves. I wanted them to feel that experience and to really live that experience of leaves thrown up
28:30into the clouds and then we see it in its form in the dining room. The leaves have been dipped in three
28:37types of gold. The chandelier was around £180,000, which I understand is an enormous amount of money,
28:44but it'll be the only one in the world in your space. This obsession with exclusivity means every
28:52product is a unique artwork, even wallpaper. This started off as a rubbing,
28:59a wax rubbing of a fish skin. Brian asked me if there was anything that was quite unusual that I'd done.
29:09One of the strangest things I've been asked to do was to paint or decorate a hallway like the
29:13inside of a denim shirt and the client was quite specific that it was the inside rather than the outside.
29:20In the final weeks, Brian must also consider the tiniest details of his client's life.
29:29Part and parcel of my job is to think of everything, the spoon, the ladle, the alcohol that they love,
29:37the squeeze of lemon. Got a few here for you. There's a Macallan 25 year old, £750.
29:43Right. King George from Johnny Walker. That cost you £437. Right. I think in the last few weeks
29:49before you run up, you really do stop being yourself. You're trying to, well, I think you fully
29:55immerse yourself into the skin of the client. That could be a bit of fun. That's a wallpaper.
30:00OK. For the little girl's bedroom. How about that blues?
30:04When buying for their basement gym, Brian will even become the client's wife.
30:09She's a lot smaller. So this is her sprinting. You know, she might be watching the programme
30:19while she's running at 16.1. Personally, I think you need to eat, sleep and breathe the client.
30:28Um, I need to sort of be them, feel what it is they require, what they want. So I'm her,
30:36so I'm a little shorter. So she will also step forwards. That's the perfect way to get an incredible
30:43result. This is perfect for him, really. You get a happy client. You've got the finest of everything,
30:50from furniture to magnificent artworks, to ceramics, to gym equipment.
30:55It's like having the Rolls Royce next to the Skoda.
31:05Right. No pad, scale roll. We've got samples of stone and ideas for flooring.
31:12In Joanna Wood's office, the owners of the penthouse have announced they're coming to London to inspect
31:17her plans. This is her first chance to explore their particular tastes.
31:23I think we're, we're all good. Part of my job is being a psychoanalyst,
31:28and to get the vibe of whether somebody is genuinely liking it, genuinely pleased,
31:33feels in a good mood, a bad mood. Are you guys all ready?
31:36You've got to learn when to push your case and when not to.
31:42Well, hello. Come in, come in too.
31:46Please, sit.
31:50Her clients are father and son, Paul and Deepak Mehta.
31:54So give me more of a feeling of what's in, what's in your mind, what's in your...
31:58We're talking about the...
32:00Well, we're trying to get a style.
32:01So I'm trying to get a style for this area?
32:04Yeah. For the whole room, because you're not going to have three different styles in the space.
32:09The space needs to flow, doesn't it?
32:11I don't know.
32:13As a general rule on the first meeting with the client, I am trying to find out what they are looking
32:18for, what they are, learn as much about them as possible. Them, their family, how they live,
32:23and what they are wanting.
32:26I think we all like this staircase, is that correct?
32:29No, I don't like it.
32:30Okay. I'm just saying I like it.
32:32Mum, you like it, but for where?
32:35Well, we'll put it on the back burner with when...
32:38Family dynamics can affect proceedings hugely. I mean, aggression, control,
32:47children, um, on all sorts of levels. You know, it's something else you have to read.
32:52Dad, I think so.
32:54I knew you were going to say no, so I didn't say it.
32:55Dad, no.
33:01This is all cooking, yeah?
33:02Yeah, and then you've got the tandoori cooker here.
33:07Despite a multi-million pound budget and live-in chef...
33:10It doesn't matter what you give them.
33:12For this client, the kitchen is much less of a priority.
33:15It doesn't matter how durable it is.
33:17I was going to go for IKEA, but...
33:20IKEA is not super durable.
33:21Yes, I know, but...
33:23You know, a fridge is 500 pounds.
33:24As you don't go in there...
33:25Throw a few 500-pound fridges in there.
33:28If they abuse it, they do whatever they do,
33:30for four or five thousand pounds, you change it every four years.
33:34With clients, there's no such thing as good taste and bad taste.
33:37And my job is to take somebody's taste and style and turn it into lifestyle.
33:45Because we're not walking inside the kitchen, is that fair to say?
33:48There's no way that the budget is going to be spent on the kitchen.
33:51Absolutely fine.
33:52But it's my job to advise them to go to a level that has durability
33:56and doesn't affect the value of the property.
33:58I think that's important.
33:59We will show them how to clean things.
34:01We'll show them what to buy to clean.
34:04Okay.
34:04Don't you worry.
34:06They'll be plumping cushions and polishing stainless steel like...
34:09We have a bit of a joke, actually.
34:10We have a cushion-plumping masterclass.
34:13Unless you can dream the dream with somebody, not my dream,
34:21their dream, then you're in the wrong business.
34:28That's a nice spot, but it's in a grotty part of the road.
34:32Now, that there's a good one. That's a good one there.
34:35That there would be perfect.
34:38In the heart of Knightsbridge, Juliette's on the hunt for a new office
34:44and dreaming her own dream.
34:46When we get to the point where we've got the ex-SAS guy
34:50in a stiff white shirt and a nice suit on the door,
34:55I think I know we've got there. We've done it.
34:58We're right in the thick of it here.
35:00But before she can get there, Sergei's chandelier needs hanging.
35:09Only one fitter has agreed to take on the job.
35:11Good morning.
35:12Good morning.
35:13Juliette.
35:14A man called Joseph.
35:19Oh, thank you, Joseph.
35:20Erm, okay.
35:22By appointment.
35:23Well, we missed that bit out.
35:24Did you miss that?
35:25It doesn't say anywhere by appointment.
35:27To Her Majesty the Queen, chandelier refurbishers and maintenance.
35:30We'll maintain and look out for restore the chandeliers
35:32in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle
35:34and some of the other residences, yeah.
35:38I don't think you've got that on your website.
35:40It is, yeah.
35:41Is it?
35:41Yeah.
35:41I must have missed it, then.
35:42Yeah.
35:43Do you want me to hold that?
35:44No, I should be fine.
35:46Is the Queen nice, anyway?
35:48Do you meet her?
35:48No, we haven't.
35:49My dad has.
35:50My dad's been to a garden party with her.
35:52Yeah.
35:55We assume the Queen makes the right choices.
35:57So, maybe I have too.
36:01This is the manufacturer's guide.
36:03Sergei's chandelier has 25,000 crystals.
36:07Oh, my God.
36:10Joseph has only 24 hours until Sergei and his wife return.
36:17As ever, Liyama is on patrol.
36:20If we finish at midnight, will you be OK?
36:26Artificial legs are not doing it.
36:28Brought the fish.
36:30Ah, it's doing Polish, that's why.
36:32But with Joseph barely a thousand crystals into the job, the lift runs out of battery.
36:44Oh, God.
36:47Is it out of use completely now?
36:48Er, pretty close to it.
36:52It wouldn't go back up and we have three plugged it back in again.
36:56So, it looks like we're going to have to call off and then we come back in the morning.
37:01Gutted, really.
37:02Absolutely gutted.
37:03Because this has pushed my customer to the edge and I think it's about to tip me over the edge in a while.
37:08Hi, Hannah.
37:21How are you?
37:21Haven't seen you for ages.
37:23How are we?
37:25OK.
37:26A week after her pitch, Joanna Wood is buying bathroom fittings for the Mayfair penthouse.
37:31So, what are we thinking?
37:33Probably we're off nickel a bit, aren't we, at the moment.
37:36I think one of the things the client said was that he wanted polished chrome,
37:40because it was very easy to look after and it was more...
37:42Yeah, well, it's quite now.
37:43Yeah.
37:44OK, look at that.
37:45I haven't seen a swan head for 25 years.
37:47Here's our Swarovski crystal detail here, designed for His Royal Highness the Prince of Monaco.
37:53All of our taps are very precious and have to be kept as dry as possible.
38:00Today, he sees the start of a design process which will take Joanna well over a year.
38:04This is about as kitsch as it gets. A drum-playing cherub sitting on a gold spout
38:10is something that I will not be choosing any time soon.
38:12You must remember to present a crosshead and a leader.
38:15We're gathering information about him all the time.
38:18How he wants to live, how he wants to be.
38:20That's nice.
38:21We like this too, don't we? Yeah.
38:22Yeah. We like this too.
38:25Over the next year, we will probably ask several thousand, if not tens of thousands,
38:30of questions in order to get the end game from where we're sitting today.
38:36In Joanna's exclusive world, every product is at the cutting edge of design.
38:41And one day, if successful at the high end, some of them might filter down to the rest of us.
38:46OK, so this is what we're being asked for all the time now, the Toto.
38:52It has got a heated seat. It's got a turbo flush technology.
38:57So you have different settings on your remote control,
38:59whether it's the front or the rear that you're washing.
39:02And then you can move the position of the wand.
39:05And this particular range has a pulsating option.
39:11If you've got one of these, you don't need a husband.
39:17You will find that things that are new in our world today will become absolutely normality
39:24in a year, two, three, four, five, six years' time.
39:28So eventually, it's in British Home Stores or Tesco's or Sainsbury's
39:34or whatever the supermarket is down the road.
39:37But at that stage, we've all moved on.
39:45It's 9am in Surrey and the lift is working.
39:52OK. These are the... Oh, we're on dim light at the moment.
39:56Yeah, just to keep some coolers working.
39:59Juliet has four hours before Serge returns.
40:04If my client is happy and he loves what he's got,
40:07at the end of the day, I think all of it will be forgotten.
40:11It's like giving birth. It's extremely painful at the time,
40:14but then it's all forgotten afterwards.
40:19But danger is lurking.
40:21What is no good?
40:31In a chandelier of 25,000 crystals,
40:35Liyama has found three with tiny imperfections.
40:38It's very, very small, but there's plenty of spares,
40:55so they can be swapped over with.
40:56Well, your goal is the last strand.
40:59It's taken Juliet three months and many sleepless nights
41:02to finally see Sergei's chandelier in all its sparkling glory.
41:08I'd like to say I feel happy,
41:10but I feel like crying.
41:14Why?
41:16Because it's been a lot of heartache.
41:18OK, here goes.
41:38Hi.
41:40Oh.
41:43Very beautiful.
41:44Thank you, Sergei. Thank you.
41:46Thank you, Julia.
41:48I'm glad you like it.
41:51Thank you very much.
42:01Looks very good, and I see very nice quality.
42:14Very good. Excellent.
42:17We leave these people in peace.
42:21So, enjoy your light.
42:24Bye.
42:25Bye-bye.
42:25Bye-bye.
42:26You get a smile, and they're looking at you, and they're happy.
42:39That's a good result.
42:40The Russians don't really ever tend to jump up and down and get overexcited and hysterical.
42:47But the true test will be if he proceeds with another order, because there are some more
42:56rooms to be done there and more rooms to be done there. We'll have to wait and see about that.
42:59This is the day where everything needs to be absolutely perfect.
43:11This is the day where everything needs to be absolutely perfect.
43:13It really needs to be wild. In fact, it needs to be super wild.
43:21After five years, Brian's Knightsbridge interior is complete.
43:26Seven stories of nature-inspired luxury.
43:31Aren't these just wonderful, these cushions? I mean, these are pearls.
43:34There's probably over 5,000 pearls used, and I absolutely adore this cushion.
43:38This was actually a haute couture dress worn by a Hollywood star for one of the events.
43:46It's terribly soft and comfortable, so it's absolutely gorgeous.
43:51We've got this beautiful rabbit fur throw, which just sort of hangs over the bed.
43:57I know fur is an issue for a lot of people, but these are farmed, and we've used probably 188
44:05rabbits here. In the last weeks, I've spent days and hours and minutes trying to make sure that everything
44:17is just perfect.
44:25For a designer as immersive as Brian, saying goodbye is often the hardest part.
44:30I know we've been working for sort of over five years, and God knows how much money's been spent,
44:37but these really are, um, they are the palaces of this time. And as you leave, there's that sinking
44:47feeling, because it's been such a huge part of my life. And you sort of, well, I sort of feel as if I
44:53might be leaving a, leaving a lover.
44:55In the dying hours, Brian has one last duty to perform.
45:06I make sure I do a last check, top to bottom of the home.
45:11And we've spent all this time and effort, and they've spent all this money.
45:15What I don't want is the client walking in, and then the hot or cold water doesn't work,
45:21or the loos don't flush.
45:25Brian will check all 11 toilets before saying his goodbye.
45:33It's a pretty sweet moment, really.
45:36I mean, there's this joy and this delight, because we created this incredible space.
45:40We've had this love affair and this passion with everything that I've done.
45:44And, um, it's coming to an end.
45:50At the end of the day, I need to remind myself that it really is not my home.
45:56It's their home.
46:01Really, it's, it's very sad. I feel very emotional, actually. It's, um,
46:06it's the end of a long, a long, hard road, actually. But it's, it's exciting for the client,
46:14I really, but for me, it feels like the end of something.
46:20Next time, meet the craftsmen flourishing under London's elite.
46:40If you went to a public aquarium, they wouldn't have the budget for this kind of tank.
46:45They're leading a creative revolution in Britain's luxury homes.
46:49There's no question that people love to hate the super rich,
46:52but through their spending, they help to keep businesses like us going.
47:00That's next week at the same time. Now, it's where you never normally get to see
47:05flying cameras above the barbed wire. Sunday at eight, Tony Robinson is watching
47:09hidden Britain by drone. But coming up from civilians to squaddies, push it ladies,
47:15learning to fight and survive on the battlefield. British Army Girls, new and next.
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