Granny chic: Another trend for interiors

SO THERE’S yet another trend for us to embrace in interiors.

Granny chic, a look which channels vintage furniture and floral and patchwork fabrics has taken the unfashionable and made it hip.

Instead of storing old hand-knitted throws in the attic along with antique china hand-me-downs, take a second look. These items are not only desirable, but so covetable that the trend has given rise to a new interest in car boot sales, house clearance warehouses, and charity shops. It seems our interiors are having a senior moment.

To define it, the granny chic look is about taking decorating elements your grandmother would have used and applying them to your own home. The chic part is about adding a modern touch. Don’t, however, confuse the look with shabby chic which emphasises a romantic look with items like deliberately distressed white painted furniture and the palest of pastels and lace.

Granny chic pays homage to old fashioned activities like afternoon tea, knitting, and home crafts. It incorporates currently fashionable botanical prints and encourages the display of accessories mismatched in design and colour.

Get foraging in the attic for treasures in the hope of finding an old quilt, a long neglected set of china given to granny as a wedding present, and the knick-knack end of decorative objects.

These reflect the tastes and style of a bygone age just emerging from the fashion doldrums. This is a look requiring careful editing so it is not over-decorated. It can run the risk of looking tacky if too many items are crammed into one space. For example, if you love vintage china cups and saucers take one or three (odd numbers always work best for display purposes) and place them together on a shelf with a vase of garden flowers and a few cookbooks. But try displaying your entire collection in this manner and it will look like a jumble sale. Less is definitely more with this trend.

In fact, a fine line exists between granny chic interiors and rooms decorated to look exactly like granny’s house. We’re interested in the former as granny chic aims to take the authentic elements of the cosy look of long ago and refresh it with modern accessories or modern takes on the traditional.

Of course, the look can be bought brand new for those who do not have the resource of granny’s attic, and the idea of scouring around the car boot sale for a few silver hairs of granny chic doesn’t appeal.

Patchwork quilts and throws flung on gleaming white cotton sheets will introduce the look in the bedroom. In the sitting room or on a seat in a cosy corner, add a modern throw in a tone picked from a floral upholstered chair.

Do the same with a pile of cushions, taking a crochet version, a floral and a botanical print and add in two modern designs, making sure you have a common element throughout such as a colour or a similar shape.

This look is really about expressing a love of what used to be called second hand and has acquired the chic title of vintage, and combining it with a modern eye.

* Next week gadgets and gizmos for making that perfect cup or tea or coffee