Why this is Judy Dobias’s favourite room

Born in Toronto and, since 1979, a resident of London, England, where she has become an influential figure in British media and design, Judy Dobias lives in a historic house in Primrose Hill, near Regent's Park – and next door to England's foodie favourite, Jamie Oliver.

The 1885 property, which she shares with her commercial real-estate-agent husband, Paul Rivlin, was purchased 15 years ago and was once home to Jose Rizal – liberator of the Philippines – and has a blue plaque on the exterior marking its cultural significance. "We get a lot of people from the Philippines knocking at our door," says Dobias, president of Camron, her own PR company, whose clients include the British supermarket chain Sainsbury's, Bentley and numerous international design clients, among them the Salone del Mobile in Milan, Design Miami Basel and the London Design Festival.

Visitors to her part of London have recently diversified since Paddington, a film based on the hugely popular series of British author Michael Bond's children's books, was shot on her street last year. The neighbourhood's appeal lies in its many rainbow-coloured houses. Dobias, whose own home is yellow, likes looking at them from the window in her living room, her favourite in the house.

The couch

"It's by B&B Italia, a company with which I have a strong relationship. I have worked with them on and off for about 10 years. It's very comfortable as well as being a classic. It's from the brand's Maxalto Collection."

The lamp

"This is by Flos, one of my clients. I love the simplicity of all the lighting they do and that the light they give off is not glaring. This lamp is cool because you can control the level of light from the outside, making it strong or soft depending on the mood you're after."

The cabinet

"This is a Fornasetti, and it's gorgeous. The reason it works in the room is that the black-and-white graphic pattern provides a good contrast to the colour of the walls. In there you will find lots of bottles of wine, along with my best crystal."

The cornices

"I renovated the house top to bottom but was mindful to retain the original architecture. This moulding is original to the home, and would have been in place when Jose Rizal lived her for three years starting in 1889. It's why it's a listed property, because so much of the original details are intact."

The walls

"They are coloured a dusty pink, a colour picked for me by the English interior designer I worked with on decorating the house, Suzy Hoodless. She worked at Tyler Brûlé's Wallpaper* in the early days. The inspiration was the pink-grey marble surrounding the original fireplace. It's the perfect palette for this room. It's very restful; it's quite calming and it blends with the array of colours seen on the exteriors of houses that can be seen through the window. I don't tire of it at all. In any case, it's a much more interesting colour than white."

The mirror

"This is the kind of room that needs to be opened up, so a decision was made to put a mirror over the fireplace to reflect what's going on at the other end. And what's going on is a lot of books. I used to be in publishing, so I love books. I collect them. I never hide them away."

The figurines

"These are three Inuit sculptures given to me by Pat Feheley, owner of Feheley Fine Arts, a contemporary Inuit gallery in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood. She went to Queen's University with me in Kingston, Ont., where we both studied art history. Her father had been an extraordinary collector and these three pieces were once his. They remind me of the Feheley family. But I also just think they are exquisite."