Paterson’s central love is undeniably her home. After moving to Sydney in the late 8o’s, she studied interior design with Mary Neilson, and has continued to throw herself into every imaginable decorative milieu in all her houses, many and varied. There has been rag-rolling, stencils and painted finishes, Marimekko, Laura Ashley and Florence Broadhurst wallpapers, tartan swags and toile de jouy, English country house and the faded elegance of Paris, the inevitable result of two years in a 19^th century apartment in the seventh arrondissement . “I‘ve tried everything!” she says. Her current home, in starkest contrast, is all the more extraordinary for the absence of decoration. ”It’s as if I‘ve come full circle, exploring everything only to discover the essence of me. With my family now grown, this is space for myself. Luxury for me is space and light. ‘I find that a sunny house is incredibly cheering,’ Virginia Woolf once wrote. Restraint is so peaceful. I love being able to wander around and not bump into things“.