Fiona McKenzie Johnston
Fiona McKenzie Johnston has been contributing to House & Garden since 2017. She writes the art pages as well as decorating columns for the website, having started her career with the magazine’s sister publications AD and Vogue. She has an MA in History of Art from the University of St. Andrew’s, which included the study of furniture and decorative arts, and she came to journalism via a spell in the V&A’s Furniture Department.
Fiona has lived in - and loved - a variety of houses of differing styles, from a Jacobean manor house to a 1960s-designed central London maisonette. She is now in the process of renovating and decorating a Victorian terrace on the East Sussex coast, involving much DIY. Her spare time is mostly spent on the beach with her children, or at exhibitions, or reading vintage decorating books and biographies and scrutinising the interiors and exteriors of any house she can visit – both for ideas, and because she is endlessly fascinated by how people live.
Dear Fiona: is doing an extension immoral?
Our agony aunt Fiona McKenzie Johnston considers how to get neighbours back on-side in a building project
Dear Fiona: why do people hate the idea of carpeted bathrooms?
House & Garden's friendly resident decorating columnist and agony aunt Fiona McKenzie Johnston offers her advice on one of design's most taboo decisions, wall-to-wall carpet in a bathroom
Dear Fiona: is it bad that I buy everything for my house on the high street?
In the latest in our Agony Aunt series, Fiona McKenzie Johnston responds to a reader suddenly plagued by guilt about her high street shopping habit, advising a judicious mix of second-hand and hand-crafted pieces. Got a question for Fiona? Email agonyaunt.houseandgarden@condenast.co.uk
The swoonworthy appeal of Jean Monro chintzes
Spilling over with blowsy flowers, Jean Monro's ultra-romantic chintzes are a must for a classic country house look
Why did we fall out of love with dressing tables? And is it time to fall back in love with them?
From Madame de Pompadour to Hollywood Regency – and how to incorporate this bedroom essential now
Dear Fiona: how many is too many cushions?
Our resident agony aunt Fiona McKenzie Johnston considers how many cushions is too many, and if the limit even exists
‘Every room needs a touch of black’: how to decorate with the colour that isn't a colour
Whether you're tempted to paint your walls chalky black like Charleston or just buy a beautiful piece of lacquered furniture, Fiona McKenzie Johnston explores the many ways to use black in an interior
The comfort rules: interior designers on how to create a comfortable room
It's all very well creating a room that looks pretty, but do you feel inclined to put your feet up in it when it's done? Fiona McKenzie Johnston investigates the key principles behind that essential quality every interior should have, comfort
Dear Fiona: I want to move to the country but how do I know it won't be a mistake?
Our resident agony aunt Fiona McKenzie Johnston advises a reader who is (reluctantly) on the verge of a countryside move
Art
The best exhibitions in London for February 2025
From the drawings of Michelangelo, Raphael Leonardo da Vinci and to Tim Burton's 600-piece showcase at the Design Museum, here's our invaluable guide to the best art exhibitions in London to see in January
Dear Fiona: how do I make a house mine again after divorce?
Our resident agony aunt Fiona McKenzie Johnston helps a divorced reader work how to keep her house post-divorce but make it feel new and not like she's stuck in the past
Why Art Deco merits another look
100 years on from the style’s inception, the decorative flourishes that still feel fresh, elegant – and optimistic
The new rules for using neutrals at home
Fiona McKenzie Johnston unpacks interiors' newest neutral phenomenons – and shares how to make them beautiful
An artist's ‘asbestos-covered shed’ turned into a beautiful live-work studio
Fiona McKenzie Johnston and photographer Joshua Monaghan join the Royal Academician at her live-work studio in north London, which she shares with her assistants, her family and two Bengal kittens.
The varied decorating lessons to take from Scotland
It’s not entirely tartan, tweed, and wall-mounted antlers (though also, it can be)
An asbestos-ridden former engineering factory in Stoke Newington becomes a striking newbuild
When artist Rana Begum stumbled on her now house, it was a wreck in need of demolishing. Now, a striking, light-filled house stands in its place
Fitted carpet is back: here's what you need to know
And a complete guide to types, terms, and usage
What's behind the enduring influence of John Fowler?
The design lessons to learn from the decorator responsible for some of the most influential schemes that have stood the test of time
The enduring decorative influence of the Ottoman Empire
The many (and sometimes surprising) ways the Ottoman Empire influenced our interiors, and how we live
An extremely comprehensive travel guide to Yorkshire
From the loveliest hotels to off-grid glamping, taking in Michelin-starred restaurants, ruined abbeys, ferret racing, design shops, historic houses, sheep fairs, sculpture gardens – and more