You know those restaurants that give you mints with the bill, those are the restaurants I loved as a child. The Chinese restaurant in Mayfair that we were regulars at gave out After Eights, while our burger joint on Park Lane had a large fish bowl of white mint balls by the front door. They also gave away branded matches, something you don’t see much anymore. Mints! Matches! What a stash to walk away with! My father had heaps and heaps of matches that he’d collected on his various travels. I still think retro matchbooks would make a great table top. My friend Stephanie has a gazillion of them. I’ve got a few –– from Claridges and The Plaza –– special ones that are hard to throw away. I’ve also got matchbooks from various weddings. If I ever have a guest loo, there will always be chic matches in the soap dish.

It’s a fun pastime to peek into other people’s homes, particularly ones belonging to architects, designers and artists. If you have a few moments today, you may want to escape to the northern Tramuntana hills of Majorca into the home of fashion show producer, art director and designer Alexandre de Betak. When he couldn’t find an old house, he decided to build one. “I spent the first year and a half buying windows and doors and beams and tiles and rocks.” Milanese designer, Italo Rota’s apartment is packed with collections and curiosities. “They are provisional or impromptu collections that I put together because I have a fleeting interest.” His house was once a Christmas bauble factory. “I get regular moments of unbelievable pleasure in this house,” says sculptor Daniel Chadwick of his Victorian mansion in the Cotswold Hills.  Nowness creates such wonderful series, and this series is really inspiring. Plus, they’re short enough to step inside at least six homes over breakfast.