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Michelle Ogundehin, former editor-in-chief of Elle Decoration magazine, is the head judge on the BBC’s Interior Design Masters and co-host of Grand Designs: House of the Year. She trained as an architect and also works as a commentator and consultant, as well as being a trustee of the Design Museum.
Her bestselling first book, Happy Inside, explores how home shapes health and happiness; her forthcoming book (spring 2027), Your Powerful Home: 4 Steps to a Home that Heals, looks at your home as a partner in your wellbeing, an ethos she shares through her Happy Insiders Club, which offers guided monthly coaching.
What’s the last treat you bought for yourself?
A small bundle of artist-grade watercolour paper. Not exciting on the surface, but it gives me disproportionate pleasure. I’ve learned that treats don’t need to be indulgent – they need to remove friction from something you love doing.
Great linen sheets fall into this category, too. I still have an ancient pair of Belgian linen sheets I bought from an Elle Decoration special offer back when Ilse Crawford was the editor.
Khadi Papers white rag paper pack, A6 20 sheets
Where do you buy your food from?
Basics and staples from Sainsbury’s or Waitrose online, and a weekly organic veg box from Riverford. I get most of my meat from there too. I like food shopping to be rhythmic rather than overwhelming – fewer choices, better ingredients.
Veg box delivery
What’s the best present you’ve given?
Over the last few years, we agreed between friends and family that we wouldn’t do gifts for adults any more, only for our kids. We grownups have more than enough stuff already. The kids too, to be honest.
… and the best present you’ve received?
Souad, the owner of Larusi, which sells exceptional vintage Berber rugs, sent me a gorgeous small tapestry for Christmas, which I absolutely love. I’m not sure where I’m going to put it, though. I’ve promised her a visit.
What’s your favourite online store?
I don’t like to browse online. I prefer IRL places that feel edited rather than infinite. That said, when I get emails on things to buy from Japan House, I always open those. But if anything tickled my fancy, I’d go to London to buy it in person. I’ve had my eye on a bottle of yuzu sake, but it’s £49!
Yuzu sake, 720ml
What’s your favourite bricks-and-mortar shop?
Any proper independent hardware or DIY shop. They’re the unsung heroes of domestic wellbeing. I like the shops at the Design Museum and the V&A, too. And old-fashioned art supply stores (such as Cornelissen’s near the British Museum), and absolutely any bookshop.
What’s the gadget you use most often?
My stove-top kettle. It’s matt stainless steel, originally designed by Sori Yanagi in 1953. Second to that would be my water filter jug, from Aarke. Glass and stainless steel too, no plastic.
Sori Yanagi kettle
Aarke water purifier
What’s the purchase you regret the most?
I don’t regret anything I’ve bought because usually by the time I’m ready to part with cash for something, I’m already fully in love with it. I’ve learned to wait – your habits reveal themselves if you give them time.
What’s the thing(s) you get delivered?
All the boring stuff like loo roll and dog food.
Where do you buy your underwear?
M&S packs of three. I’m less interested in how things look in a drawer than how they feel on a long day.
What would you buy with £20 – and £200?
£20: a hardbacked notebook from Papier. Or the thin brown-paper-covered ones from Muji. £200: lighting. It’s the most underestimated tool for wellbeing in the home.
Hardback notebook
What’s your ‘saved search’ on eBay/Vinted?
I don’t have any. But if I did, it would probably be old wooden stools, lights, mid-century ceramics, or anything described vaguely as “Japanese pottery”.
What item do you buy on repeat?
Tisserand organic essential oils (juniper berry, lavender, clary sage and rosemary). Scent changes the nervous system of a room more than we realise.
Rosemary organic essential oil, 9ml
How do you make your coffee at home?
I don’t drink coffee. Only water. And one cup of green tea in the morning, from a stash brought back from Japan for me by a friend.
What’s your biggest splurge?
My house. I’m right at the beginning of a renovation, so about to spend a lot of cash on all the boring but important stuff like insulation.
And what everyday item do you scrimp on?
Everyday items are the things you need to spend the most on because they’re the things you will use the most: pens, notebooks, loo roll, door handles. The touchpoints of life are the essentials.
What’s your greatest vintage find?
A 1950s chandelier in teak and ribbed glass, with five hanging pendants. I left it in my old house when I sold it because it looked so good in the bathroom where I’d hung it. I regret that slightly now. But it would have been a right pain to take down.
For more, read How I Shop with Andi Oliver and How I Shop with Henry Holland
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