20 cabinets and shelving units to store your perfumes in

(And some tips on how to stop your bottles going off)

True story: I moved Belle from her tiny box-room to share a bunkbed in Poppy’s room so that I could turn it into a perfume library. I think they’ve forgiven me.

It sounds pretty enchanting: a perfume library.

In my dream life this would be a cellar-temperature corridor lined with bespoke built-in walnut shelving units, shielded by hand-woven, tobacco-toned rattan canework cupboard doors, clicked shut by elegant brass fixtures and handles. One unit would be an alphabetised apothecary tallboy for sample vials lying on shallow, midnight-blue velvet-lined drawers. There would be blotter pots in each cupboard, a ‘tasting’ nook with a sofa and a cocktail trolley for when friends come over and want to try perfumes. Obviously there’s a candle library organised by season, with a gold Celine wick-trimmer nearby. The very best lighting throughout - low, ambery and warm; I’m thinking Connaught Hotel cigar lounge vibes - with dimmable spotlights in each cupboard to turn up when perusing and searching. Sigh.

The reality, chez dP, is nowhere near as fantasmical I’m afraid chaps.