Design Finds Form
- Jamie Crocker
- Jun 25
- 2 min read
Words by Jamie Crocker
Colour, clarity and character shape each of Frances Healy’s interiors.
Frances Healy approaches every project as a conversation, not a blank canvas, but a series of cues to be read, understood and translated into spaces that reflect how people want to live. With over 30 years in the industry, her instinct for colour, proportion and texture is finely tuned, yet always open to fresh influence.
Raised in a Georgian house near Penzance, Frances learned early how a home could be transformed through detail. Her father’s approach, layering wallpapers, fabrics and furnishings with confidence, left its mark. Today, she brings that same energy to her clients’ homes, balancing strong visual ideas with practical, lived-in warmth.
Each commission begins with listening. Clients often arrive with scattered thoughts or strong preferences; Frances’s skill lies in drawing those out, refining them, and shaping a clear direction. Whether working on a boathouse in Rock or a farmhouse inland, she builds colour palettes from observation – a tidal estuary, a garden in spring, a favourite painting – and calls on a trusted network of suppliers, craftspeople and design showrooms in Cornwall, London and Europe.
TOP: The deep green in the curtains is echoed in the wall colour and the super comfortable seating LEFT: The textured fabric lifts the simplicity of these art deco style chairs RIGHT: Patterned wallpaper lifts a chilly cloakroom
The result is always layered and specific. Never generic, never formulaic. Textiles soften and anchor, joinery is thoughtfully scaled and furniture feels both placed and correct.
She brings a strong sense of order to the design process, but what stays with clients, long after the furniture has arrived and the curtains are drawn, is a feeling of clarity. Rooms that work. Spaces that speak.
LEFT: Shape, texture and colour enhance this simple rug RIGHT: Layers of pattern and texture in a cool rooftop apartment
TOP LEFT: Clean lines and soft colours in a modern kitchen TOP RIGHT: A modern Ikat cushion lifts an antique chair ABOVE: A soft, green, wool fabric and velvet cushion, makes for a cosy reading spot
