Gallerist Rebecca Willer on a blue library, ruby-red fruit and a carnelian ring

My personal style signifiers are my big, bold earrings. Current favourites are long, black, dangly strands of beads and carved horn, which I buy at Monies, a Danish jeweller in Paris. I also always wear black, and it’s always Issey Miyake; I’ve collected about 100 pieces over the past 20 years. In my head I have a map of worldwide Miyake stores: my favourite is on Rue Royale in Paris. Issey Miyake, 11 Rue Royale, 75008 Paris (+331-4887 0186; isseymiyake.com). Monies, 320 Rue Saint-Honoré, 75001 Paris (+331-4020 9001; monies.dk)

The last thing I bought and loved was my dog Gina, an Italian Spinone: big, shaggy and bearded. I walk her near home, in Kensington Gardens and Holland Park.

The thing I’m eyeing next is an Ego kitchen by Italian company Abimis. It encapsulates everything I love in a kitchen: non-fitted, in stainless steel. It’s a hybrid between a professional and a domestic kitchen, and it has a newly developed non-marking finish. Via Pontaccio 19, Milan 20121 (+39328-625 9868; abimis.com)

An unforgettable place I’ve travelled to in the past year is Sri Lanka. It’s a perfect mix of sun, ancient sites, good food and pockets of exceptional architecture and design – one of which is the foundation of the late Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. Our favourite hotel, Kahanda Kanda near Galle, was exquisitely conceived by English interior designer George Cooper. Kahanda Kanda, Angulugaha, Galle 80000 (+9491-494 3700; kahandakanda.com). Lunuganga Estate, Dedduwa, Bentota 32350 (+9477-330 8602; geoffreybawa.com)

The best souvenir I’ve brought home is some shards of glass from Murano. Massimo Micheluzzi, a glass artist, took me there in a tiny boat. By the jetty were skips full of broken glass pieces in incredible colours, and I took a few home.

The site that inspires me is Villa Foscari, near Venice, designed by Palladio in 1558‑60. The proportions of the vaulted central space are breathtaking, the frescoes by Franco, Zelotti and India perfectly faded, the furniture simple, elegant and unobtrusive. It is both incredibly grand and homely. Via dei Turisti 9, 30034 Malcontenta di Mira (+39041-547 0012; lamalcontenta.com)

The last meal that truly impressed me was dinner at The Five Fields in Chelsea. The owners grow much of the produce in a kitchen garden in Sussex, and last year it won a Michelin star. I had a wonderful starter called Winter, five variations on celeriac, cranberry and salsify in separate bowls. 8-9 Blacklands Terrace, London SW3 (020-7838 1082; fivefieldsrestaurant.com)

The best gift I’ve given recently was an autographed publicity photo of cowboy Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger to a great friend for her birthday. We both grew up in the US with those 1950s TV programmes. I found it in a tiny antiques shop near my home. Arieta Decorative Arts, 97B Kensington Church Street, London W8 (020-7243 1074)

And the best gift I’ve received recently was a rare piece of ancient Roman porphyry – a kind of purple stone – that my eldest son, who’s an artist, brought back from Italy. You might find a similar piece at McMarmilloyd, a very knowledgeable stone specialist in Wiltshire. 01672-870 227; mcmarmilloyd.co.uk

The person I rely on for personal grooming is Charlie Chan at Michaeljohn, who cut off my very long hair 22 years ago and whom I have trusted ever since. 144A Brompton Road, London SW3 (020-7589 4550; michaeljohn.co.uk)

The one artist whose work I would collect if I could is Matisse. I never tire of his greens and reds and his extraordinary colour relationships. I am obsessed with the colours in The Rocaille Armchair.

My favourite websites are all sorts of news sites, from Bloomberg.com to NYTimes.com to Standard.co.uk. I’m like a magpie and love a good trawl through Sothebys.com, Christies.com and Bonhams.com – if I see something especially interesting, I always go to see it in the flesh.

My style icon is Pauline de Rothschild, second wife of French playboy and poet Baron Philippe de Rothschild. From fashion to interior decoration to entertaining, she had a genius for creating magnificence that was somehow thoroughly contemporary without a modern object in sight. I loved the living room and the blue library at Château Mouton Rothschild, as well as her private apartment at the Albany in London and her famous “tablescapes” – sadly these are only visible now in old photographs and magazine articles.

A recent find is Cox Workshops, a foundry in north London owned by Christopher and Nicola Cox. It has finally enabled us to develop objects and finishes that we had almost given up on being able to produce. By appointment, 47 Millmead Industrial Estate, London N17 (020-8880 3923; coxlondon.com)

An indulgence I would never forgo is one cup of very good coffee in the morning. I can’t have more than one a day or I’m finished. I go to Sally Clarke. 124 Kensington Church Street, London W8 (020-7221 9225; sallyclarke.com)

The best book I’ve read in the past year is The Door by Hungarian author Magda Szabó. It’s a haunting tale of the relationship between two women, a mysterious old servant and her employer, set in mid-20th-century Budapest, where my father’s family comes from.

The last item of clothing I added to my wardrobe was an Issey Miyake piece, a long-sleeved tunic that falls into cascades of billowing pleated fabric when belted. I bought it in Paris. 11 Rue Royale, 75008 Paris (+331-4887 0186; isseymiyake.com)

In my fridge you’ll always find pomegranate seeds – the deep ruby-red variety, which I buy from my local Whole Foods, and Total Greek yoghurt. I eat them every day for breakfast when I’m at home. wholefoodsmarket.com

My favourite room in my house is my first-floor drawing room. It’s actually a flow of three rooms, with three windows across the front, painted off-white with simple mouldings. The space just feels satisfying – it’s both classical and the perfect envelope for our very eclectic mix of furniture, paintings, tapestries and books lovingly collected over the years.

If I had to limit my shopping to one neighbourhood in one city, I’d choose the Left Bank in Paris, which is full of quirky, elegant and individual shops that are excellent for antiques and interiors. Deyrolle has very chic gardening gear and an extraordinary display of taxidermy on the first floor. Librairie Alain Brieux is another favourite. It sells old science and medical books and antique anatomical models, an art form that has always intrigued me. I’ll stop for lunch at Le Bistrot de Paris, where antiques dealers and interior designers gather and the waiters always remember you. A recent discovery is Musée Bourdelle in Montparnasse: Antoine Bourdelle’s studio is preserved in all its glorious decay, and there’s a sculpture garden and a wonderful modern extension by the French architect Christian de Portzamparc. Deyrolle, 46 Rue du Bac, 75007 (+331-4222 3007; deyrolle.com). Le Bistrot de Paris, 33 Rue de Lille, 75007 (+331-4261 1683). Librairie Alain Brieux, 48 Rue Jacob, 75006 (+331-4260 2198; alainbrieux.com). Musée Bourdelle, 18 Rue Antoine Bourdelle, 75015 (+331-4954 7373; bourdelle.paris.fr)

The beauty staple I’m never without is Vaseline Original, which I have used around my eyes for decades. I developed an allergy to mascara, and got round the problem by using Vaseline as a barrier. £2 for 100ml; boots.com

An object I would never part with is a carnelian ring that I bought for my father in the 1970s at a tiny antiques store in New York. He loved it and wore it every day. Now my mother wears it. I know it will come back to me eventually and then I will wear it every day.

If I weren’t doing what I do, I would be a gardener. I am in every sense the opposite of spiritual, but I think of gardening as my zen. I can lose myself for hours in the garden, even on a weeding day.