BRING SOME SPRING INTO THE BEDROOM
Peppy colours and cheeky patterns give a refreshing feel, writes Vicky Sanderson.
There's probably no space in the home that's easier and more affordable to refresh for spring than the bedroom. For designer and interior stylist Arren Williams, it can be as simple as adding an unexpected new element.
“Maybe it's toss cushions or a coverlet in peppy tints,” he suggests.
There's pep to spare in Williams' spring 2021 line with Hudson's Bay. With its fresh, bold graphics and confident hues, the collection is yet more evidence of Williams' ease and skill with pattern and colour. It also reflects geometric Art Deco and pared-down Mid-Century Modern influences, with a dash of cheeky, cheerful '70s style.
The Oeko-Tex certified 100 per cent cotton percale bedding comes in three new digitally printed patterns. Anni nods to Bauhaus, juggling scale, colour, and form. Spiro is a kicky '60s Op Art blast. The yellow Ponti is inspired by tiles in the mid-century architecture of sun-soaked Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Any of it could be happily paired with Williams' Skye upholstered frame and headboard.
Another prominent Toronto-based designer, Suzanne Dimma, continues her bedding line for Au Lit Fine Linens with an exceptionally pretty collection.
It's uniformly handsome, but pieces textured with French knots or cross-stitch in natural linen are especially beautiful, I think.
Embroidery is remarkable: take a look at the intricately worked branch motif on the Treen Ivory linen cushion, backed in flax linen. So simple, but such a strong design statement, she says, in the bedroom or on the sofa. For colour, Dimma offers easy-to-live-with saffron, teal and indigos.
Equally beautiful is the work of Indigo Arrows, the home goods brand from designer Destiny Seymour, a member of Peguis First Nation, who lives and works in Winnipeg.
The simple but striking patterns Seymour creates honour her Anishinaabe ancestors, who for thousands of years adorned pottery and bone tools with decorative marks. By bringing these patterns back into the home, Seymour says her designs pick up where her predecessors left off. They also connect to the past: the Bezhig pattern, for example, is inspired by a 400-year-old elk antler scraper tool used by Indigenous families and uncovered in Birtle, Manitoba.
I especially like the long lumbar pillows printed with arrowhead motifs, and the Grandmother quilts made with panels of prewashed linen.
Out of Vancouver comes Takasa, a lifestyle brand that sells bed, bath and baby lines. This socially and environmentally responsible retailer makes organic, ethically sourced and manufactured linens in percale and sateen finishes, under fair labour practices, and using environmentally safe methods.
Duvet inserts are available in Global Organic Textile Standard-certified organic wool, which is naturally hypoallergenic, and down duvets are filled with certified Downmark all-Canadian Hutterite white goose down, ethically sourced as a by-product from the poultry industry.
Bed Bath & Beyond has just introduced Nestwell, an affordable bed/bath brand launched as part of the company's plans for more in-house product. In bedding, soft lilac, oyster and clay are among the colour choices, and they come in a variety of sheens and thread counts. The line also include pillows — both down and down-alternative — along with comforters, quilts and micro-cotton blankets. Even the loveliest linen won't much help a bed that sags and dips. Fortunately, it's never been easier to get a good-quality, reasonably priced mattress shipped right to your door — in a box, no less.
The latest entry in this category is Polysleep, which calls itself “a Canadian business that sells Canadian made sleep products.” Mattresses and support frames (which serve as a box spring) are made with the kind of antimicrobial foam used in hospital beds — something it says no other Canadian brand is doing. It also has a liquid-repellent cover, and a breathable top layer to reduce heat. It comes with a 100-night trial and a 10-year warranty, making it even easier to justify a spring splurge on the bedroom. (Not that you need to, of course. After the past winter we all deserve more to sleep a little better at night.)