I am rather tickled by a phrase that has emerged from the U.S. to describe the return of Old School or English Decorating. It is a favourite blog topic and one that is currently experiencing a renaissance of interest on both sides of the Atlantic. Thanks to Emma Bazilian in her September 2019 piece for US House Beautiful magazine (a much preppier version of Hearst’s UK edition), Grandmillennial style has been coined.
No stone was left unturned this week as I dived in and out of showrooms at The Design Centre for Focus 19. I had the pleasure of attending talks from top interior designers, interviewed creative directors and textile company owners discovering along the way that more than just a handful are several generation family owned. I even managed – on neutral territory – an undercover meeting with the Interior Spy.
In its second year, The London Interiors Show (15 – 17 September) at The Chelsea Harbour Hotel offers interiors companies who don’t have a presence at The Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour a very welcome three-day opportunity to present their new collections to press, interior designers and the trade. Complete with camouflage of West London uniform of tea-dress-and-trainers, I have hot footed it around the show to share with you some interior design highlights…
Textile design is as much about storytelling as it is about design for me. The storytelling is important because I want to know how the design came about and from whom. When it comes to the plot, the quirkier, the better. Especially when the protagonist has not only worked as a set decorator in the world of film, for at least two of Britain’s most treasured interior brands, but whose debut fabric and wallpaper designs for Lewis & Wood are currently lining the walls of an interior designed shipping container in the Cumbrian Hills.
It’s the time of year when exciting new interior designs from the UK and around the world are showcased as part of London Design Week in Chelsea (10 – 15 March 2019). I have been attending press launches, talking to designers and viewing interior collections from some of the world’s top furniture, wallpaper and fabric companies. The ‘blog-mobile’ is bulging with gazillions of photos from different showrooms. Before my phone finally combusts on the pavement in a fireball of colour, pattern and general haute interieur gorgeousness, I am going to share with you a few key highlights with my inside styling guide!
Where are you on the colour spectrum? Are you more of a neutral Kelly Hoppen fan or perhaps a maximalist colour lover such as Sophie Robinson? A celebration of colour in all its hues is a big interiors trend this Autumn and happens to be the theme of Focus/18 at The Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour in London (16 – 21 September 2018). I am really excited to have been again asked to collaborate on Tissus D’Helene’s window at the centre and the blog is going to share with you some of the ‘backstage’ styling secrets of how it came together…
Before you throw another log on the fire (I jest – as I am hoping the weather is now firmly Summer-bound!) the worlds of UK interior design and publishing have everything you need to bring the turquoise shores and warmth of Mediterranean sun into your home. No passport required, no need to practise your Brexit queuing techniques at immigration…
These are exciting times for small businesses because with the advent of Instagram, many people can now control their own advertising/marketing campaigns (on an hour by hour basis if they so wish!) as well as use it as a selling platform for their fledgling lifestyle brands. One such person who is not only an inspiring new fabric and wallpaper designer but extremely adept at social media and new marketing ideas is Northumberland designer Charlotte Gaisford.
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If you are unsure about decorating with Monochrome in your home, frightened perhaps that it could look too stark or too gloomy, remember it’s really just about getting the colour percentages right and adding a little texture. Think about the success of Chanel, Jo Malone and The White Company branding and you can’t go too far wrong. You may remember that I wrote about Monochrome last Summer – Style It Dark For Summer – but my love of it has recently been stoked again.
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The art world has seen some eye-wateringly expensive pieces being sold at auction recently but Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler’s current Art for Living exhibition (6 – 21 December 2017) at their Pimlico Road showroom is exciting for two reasons. Firstly, the selling exhibition shows how to use contemporary art in room sets with both antique and contemporary furniture and secondly, the prices are in the more affordable region of (£1,500 – £15,000) – think high street sofa to budget kitchen.
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