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Get to know deVOL's Creative Director, Helen Parker

By Holly Bishop

If you watched our TV show, 'For The Love Of Kitchens', you'll probably know (and love) our Creative Director, Helen. But for those of you who haven't been able to catch the episodes, we thought you might like to know a little bit more about the person behind deVOL's unique and beautiful style... We asked our followers to send over a few questions and there were so many good ones, thanks everyone!! Helen has picked out a few of her favourites to answer and we've popped them all down below.

Meet our Creative Director, Helen Parker.

What books inspire you in your creativity and designs?

I have so many books, but to be honest my inspirations come from actual places I visit, different countries, markets, restaurants, homes.

Wispy curtains hang from a window, ceramic bowls are below on the window sill. A painting has been fitted to a white wall.

Tetsis Home, Hydra. This was the home of Hydra's most beloved artist, Panagiotis Tetsis, and is now a museum to showcase his studio and work.

Where do you go clothes shopping?

I keep all my clothes, some from thirty years ago, so I have rather too many, but I still wear most of them. I like to buy things when I’m on holiday or vintage, something different always appeals to me. I also love DÔEN, Toast, the sadly closed Cabbages and Roses and Levi jeans.

A selection of vintage-looking, pastel dresses hanging up on on a mirror and on a wardrobe door.

Helen has the best wardrobe!!

What do you like most about your job?

The freedom to design and create spaces in all our showrooms across the world and fill them with old and new things that inspire me and other people. I also love being able to choose vintage and antique pieces to give our showrooms their own personalities.

Helen Parker and Paul O'Leary sitting in antique leather chairs at an outdoor antiques market

Helen and Paul at Newark Antiques Fair, their favourite place to source beautiful and unusual pieces with history.

What is your very favourite thing in your house?

Gosh, I don’t know, I have a lot of old things from my father who loved books, antiques, pottery and maps. So probably all the things that remind me of him.

A photo of a photograph, it shows a young girl with her father behind wearing a suit.

Helen and her father in Ibiza, taken in 1967.

What’s your favourite deVOL item?

Most definitely our Classic furniture, Paul designed this range of freestanding cupboards over thirty years ago. Without our Classic cupboards deVOL would not be what it is today and neither would I.

A large galley-style kitchen with cupboards along either side, as well as a dining table. The floor is made up of chequerboard tiles, the walls are a soft pink and a section of the wall straight ahead has been fitted with teal coloured tiles.

We all love Helen's kitchen with its Classic English sink cabinet, mix of vintage freestanding pieces and the squishiest sofa.

Best concert you have seen?

Arctic Monkeys at Hillsborough Park, Sheffield 2023

Favourite Instagram follows?

There are so many amazing accounts I follow, but I get most excited when I see posts pop up from my family and people I know. Nothing fancy or styled just simple pictures of people having fun or on holiday.

Favourite colour?

Easy peasy, pink!!!!

A corner of a kitchen table, it has a wooden top and a vase of pink tulips on it. The walls behind are a soft pink colour.

The prettiest pink tulips in Helen's kitchen. The walls are 'Setting Plaster' by Farrow & Ball, an all-time favourite of Helen's!

What is your favourite decade for design of interiors or fashion?

For fashion definitely the 70’s, I love little t-shirts and bell bottom jeans and hippy dresses. Lots of jewellery and floaty stuff!!!

 

Helen Parker in a deep orange floaty dress, behind is a beautiful view of homes, hills and the sea.

The perfect dress for holiday evenings!

Where’s your favourite holiday destination?

Well, it was always anywhere in the Mediterranean, especially Greece, but since going to Thailand last year it's got to be Thailand, but only just!!!

A small boat on a beautifully blue ocean.

The bluest water in Thailand.

Where is your favourite place to draw inspiration from?

It’s been said too many times before but it’s always the same answer, Princelet Street, Wilkes Street and Fournier Street, East London.

An old sage coloured car in front of a beautiful London townhouse with exposed bricks. The door and downstairs windows have been painted in a deep grey, the upstairs window frames have been painted white.

East London streets will always be so inspiring.

Where do you save vs splurge?

Save on secondhand jeans, basic authentic holiday accommodation, local restaurants, old crockery and glassware.

Splurge on good produce, good shoes, good shampoo, white t-shirts, presents, anything Astier de Villette.

A dining table laid with a tablecloth, a mix of plates, check napkins, wine glasses and a few bottles and plates of food.

Laying the table with a mix of fancy and simple! Helen always gets this so right.

What’s your pet peeve in standard kitchen design?

Tray slots, wine racks, appliances on worktops and metal tile trims.

When you are sourcing for yourself, do you imagine the piece in your home or just decide that you love it, and know it will organically find a home in your home?

Good question!! Because I am the worst at buying things I love but don’t need, but I always find a little spot for them. There's always room for a bit more tat and clutter!!

A marble fireplace with lots of little trinkets on the mantelpiece, as well as dried flowers and foliage. A large mirror has been propped against the rich mustard yellow wall behind.

The coolest fireplace! It's really hard to achieve this imperfectly perfect, effortlessly styled look but Helen can do it so easily.

What are your kitchen must-haves for (a) function and (b) design?

Function – somewhere comfy to sit and somewhere nice to eat.

Design – carefully considered lighting is the most important choice for me. Simplicity and atmosphere are sooooo important.

A full room shot of a peaceful looking kitchen. The walls are soft pink and there is a selection of freestanding furniture pieces, as well as a black range cooker, down each wall. Black and white chequerboard tiles make up the floor.

An angle of Helen's kitchen we don't see so often, what a perfect room.

When designing and styling a space, where to start? With a special item? A colour? A gut feeling?

A special item, something that just makes you think, I love that!!!!

An angled photo of an ornate base cupboard, painted in a soft pink which matches the wall colour. The piece of furniture has been topped with Carrara marble. A potted plant, a ceramic bowl and some bottled oils sit on the worktop. On the wall above is a still life painting of a fish.

The starting point for Helen's kitchen was this beautiful still life painting of a fish by Wendy Prather Burwell.

If you weren’t a kitchen designer what would you have liked to have been?

An artist and a cook living in a simple home with lace curtains on a Greek island by the sea with Paul.

An open window in a simple home, the view is out to the ocean.

A perfectly simple home in Hydra, a really special Greek island where Helen spent her birthday in 2024.

Wow, that was fun. Thanks again to Helen and everybody who sent in a question. You can follow along with Helen on her Instagram, @hapdesigns, or watch her and Paul on our TV show, 'For The Love Of Kitchens'.

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