Ahead of his episode of BBC Two’s The Big Deal, airing Thursday 20 August, we spoke to the designer behind the Peter Staunton Collection about the Henry Blake collaboration, his design philosophy and what’s next.
The Peter Staunton Collection for Henry Blake comprises five pull handles: Nova, Astor, Clover, Plateau and Dante, developed with designer Peter Staunton over a collaboration that began at Decorex, and grew from a shared belief that craftsmanship should never be an afterthought.
Peter joins BBC Two’s The Big Deal with Steph McGovern in an episode airing Thursday 20 August. We asked him about the collection, his process, and what’s next for Peter Staunton Design.
Your design philosophy is built around what you call ‘Raw Luxury, Refined Design’. Can you explain what that means to you in practice, and how it shapes the spaces you create?
For me, Raw Luxury, Refined Design is about finding the perfect balance between authentic and quality materials juxtaposed with considered design. Luxury isn’t about excess or decoration. It’s about quality, longevity and how a space makes you feel. I love working with materials in their most authentic form: natural woods, beautiful stones, raw metals and beautifully textured fabrics, allowing their natural character to become part of the design and sit harmoniously next to each other.
The refinement comes from discipline. Every proportion, every junction and every detail is carefully considered.
You’ve spoken about being influenced by music, fashion and art as much as architecture and interiors. How do those influences show up in your work, and did any of them feed into the Henry Blake collection?
Some of my biggest influences actually come from outside the world of interiors. Fashion has an incredible understanding of proportion, tailoring and layering. Music teaches rhythm, mood and emotion. Art teaches scale and composition. I don’t consciously borrow from one particular discipline, but those creative disciplines continually train my eye to recognise balance and beauty. That definitely filtered into the Henry Blake collection.
I wanted every handle to feel sculptural, almost like a small piece of functional art or jewellery. They aren’t decorative for the sake of it. They’re clean, confident forms where proportion does the talking.
How did your relationship with Henry Blake begin, and what was it about the brand that made you want to collaborate?
I first met Stewart and Jane at Decorex, where they were exhibiting. I instantly loved their products, not to mention we immediately got on very well. There are plenty of companies producing beautiful hardware, but what stood out to me was their commitment to craftsmanship and authenticity. Their products have a real honesty about them. You can see and feel the quality. That aligned perfectly with my own philosophy.
We both believe that the smallest details often make the biggest difference. The collaboration felt very natural because we shared the same values from the outset.
Hardware is often one of the last decisions made in a scheme, yet you’ve always championed fine detailing and materiality. How do you approach hardware selection in your own projects, and has that thinking shifted through designing your own collection?
One of the first things I consider is the overall concept and aesthetic of the scheme. Is it a clean, architectural interior where the hardware should blend seamlessly into the joinery, or a richer, more layered interior where the hardware becomes the jewellery of the furniture? That decision influences everything that follows, because the hardware should always support the wider design narrative, rather than compete with it.
Designing my own collection has only strengthened that way of thinking. It made me appreciate just how much difference the smallest details can make, whether it’s the balance of the proportions, the way a profile catches the light, or how a beautifully finished piece of solid brass adds warmth and depth to a scheme.
Great hardware shouldn’t feel like an afterthought. It should feel like it was always part of the architecture of the furniture.
The collection comprises five distinctive pull handles. Can you walk us through the thinking behind it as a whole?
The ambition was to design a family of pieces that all share the same design language, each with its own individual personality. Some are softer and more organic, while others are stronger and more architectural, but they’re all connected through simplicity, balance and proportion.
It’s very much like architecture. You can have different rooms with different characters, but they should all feel like they belong to the same house.
Each piece has a strong individual character. Did you start with a single design and develop outward, or did the five pieces evolve alongside each other?
There were a few early sketches and ideas that established the design language, but after that they evolved together. I’d refine one design, which would influence another, and then I’d revisit the first one again. It became a very iterative process. Rather than designing five individual handles, I felt like I was designing one collection where every piece had to earn its place.
What was it like to see the designs translated into solid brass for the first time? Was there anything that surprised you?
That was probably my favourite moment of the whole journey. When something exists on paper or on screen, you’re still imagining how it will feel. The moment I saw the first solid brass prototypes, everything suddenly became real. The weight immediately communicates quality, but what surprised me most was how the hand-finishing transformed the designs. Brass has an incredible warmth, and as the light moves across the surfaces, the forms almost come alive. It’s something that simply can’t be appreciated until you hold one in your hand.
Henry Blake’s finishing process is central to what makes the hardware distinctive. What did it mean to you that the collection would be hand-finished in the UK?
It was incredibly important. As designers we often talk about authenticity, craftsmanship and supporting genuine manufacturing. It would have felt contradictory if the production process didn’t reflect those values. Knowing that every piece is individually hand-finished means no two are ever completely identical. Those tiny variations are what make beautifully crafted products feel alive, and that sits perfectly with my philosophy of Raw Luxury, Refined Design.
In a world that’s becoming increasingly automated, I think people value that human touch more than ever.
Do you think the hardware industry does enough to champion craftsmanship, and where does Henry Blake sit within that landscape?
There are certainly some fantastic manufacturers, but I still think hardware is too often treated as a cost-effective finishing accessory rather than an integral part of the design. The reality is it’s one of the key tactile elements within most interiors.
Brands like Henry Blake are helping change that perception because they’re putting craftsmanship, materiality and finishing at the centre of the conversation, rather than simply talking about style. As designers, that’s exactly what we should be celebrating.
For interior designers and specifiers considering the collection, how would you suggest using these pieces within a scheme?
I don’t think great hardware always has to dominate a room. Sometimes it becomes the jewellery of a piece of furniture, a focal point that immediately draws your eye. Other times, it’s there to quietly reinforce the quality of beautifully crafted joinery.
With this first collection, my intention was very much the former. I wanted each piece to have enough presence and sculptural quality to become a feature in its own right. I naturally see these pieces being used on key focal points within a home, perhaps a beautifully crafted drinks cabinet, an entrance hall console, or a statement dressing room. That said, I was also conscious of creating something more understated, which is where Dante comes in. Kitchens often involve a much greater volume of cabinetry, so I wanted a design that could sit more quietly across an entire run of joinery, while still holding the same attention to proportion, materiality and craftsmanship.
Do you approach door and cabinet hardware differently within a project, or do you always aim to run a single family throughout?
Functionally, yes, the ergonomics are different, so they each have their own requirements. From a design perspective though, I always try to create a common language. I don’t necessarily believe every handle has to match, but I do believe they should feel related. That continuity creates a subtle rhythm throughout the house and gives the whole project a much stronger sense of cohesion.
Is there a project where you feel the hardware made a genuinely significant contribution to the overall scheme?
The first project that comes to mind is a townhouse we completed in Chelsea. Throughout the ground floor, we used a simple edge pull, but rather than treating the hardware as something applied at the end, we integrated it into the joinery design itself, running a fine inlaid brass detail through each door and wrapping that brass around the handle. In the principal suite, we took a very different approach, using large Half Moon Pulls in a waxed antique brass finish against rich walnut doors, complemented by leather panels and bespoke mirrors with brass and bronze inlay. For me, that’s where hardware has the greatest impact. It’s not simply a functional object. It’s another material within the palette.
What’s next for Peter Staunton Design?
It’s a really exciting time for the studio. We’re fortunate to be working on some incredible private residential projects, from large-scale renovations to complete new-build homes, where we’re involved from the earliest architectural stages right through to the finishing details. Alongside that, we’re continuing to grow our curated online collection and explore new product collaborations under the Peter Staunton brand.
The Henry Blake collaboration has been a fantastic experience because it feels like such a natural extension of what I already do. I’m already exploring ideas for what a second collection could look like, evolving the design language of the first.
Away from the studio, it’s also an exciting year personally, as I’m appearing in the new BBC Two series The Big Deal, which explores the world of art and collecting. My episode airs Thursday 20 August, on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
