Sunday, December 11, 2011
Carol O’Callaghan waves goodbye to white walls and minimalism and says hello to warm and fashionable patterns
SAY goodbye to minimalism and white walls, and hello to pattern to warm up your interiors as the chilly season takes hold. Cheeky checks, tasty tartans and dotty spots can be as subtle or as mesmerisingly large as you fancy to bring texture and life to an otherwise neutral decorating scheme.
Tartans might conjure up thoughts of kilts with outsize safety pins to hold the wearer’s modesty together, but these traditional skirt fabrics work beautifully on everything from cushions to blinds. Bolder versions are probably best suited to accessories, but if you want something that touches on tartan without too much colour, consider how Burberry tartan, first designed in the 1920s, was revived and became much beloved of fashionistas in recent years.
Inevitably, similar takes on the pattern have made their way into interiors, and when applied to window blinds, they offer pattern without being too great a departure from plain simplicity for lovers of neutral.
Stripes have always been synonymous with a certain sort of chic, especially in interiors, stretching back to Regency times and revived in the 1980s with what we now know as the Habitat look. Key to this was the overstuffed sofa with jumbo stripes, but for more timid tastes, narrow stripes were favoured, the latter standing the test of time and not really dating like so many trends these days. With the revival of stripes there are some novel approaches to their use, so if you don’t want obvious bold versions or too much colour, consider upholstery that pairs two different, but same coloured fabrics, in alternate strips so the stripes are created through texture rather than colour.
Stripes on the horizontal have always suggested unflattering girth when donned by the human form, but they bring a chic and eye-catching approach when painted onto walls. Admittedly, this sort of paint job would require a professional unless you are an amateur DIY enthusiast with great patience and a very steady hand. A more achievable option is wallpaper and versions with patterns of horizontal stripes bring a refreshing approach to straight lines, but remember larger spaces can cope more effectively with bold and wide stripes without making the space oppressive, whereas narrow gauge stripes are better in confined areas. In all cases, use sparingly otherwise they can create that dazzling, headache inducing effect.
Spots, dots and little circles are prone to looking a little on the twee side, or even childish, on the most grown-up of products, so perhaps best to confine their use to accessories and tablewares. One room, however, that lends itself really well to spots is the bathroom. Shower curtains invariably have pattern and the dear old dot manages to hide a multitude should the lock fail and someone barge in while you are indulging in your daily ablutions. White towels look gorgeous and feel so clean and refreshing yet very hard to maintain and will discolour over time, but if you can’t bear to defect to full colour, try spots set against a white background, or tableware with spots to liven up white porcelain. It’s an easy approach to introducing a new trend and affordable too.
* Next week we look at decorating for Christmas without turning your interiors into Santa’s grotto.
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