Blue and white will be friends for life!
You can’t go wrong with this dazzling combo, so embrace it, says JENNY COAD
BlUE and white is as perfect a pairing as cheese and pickle. as clean and fresh as gin and tonic. It’s classic, but far from boring. Just look at the range of blues and whites on offer. White lifts blue, whatever its hue. You can play it safe with navy and white, throw in an energetic turquoise or layer them all together and see what happens.
Because the beauty is, you can’t really go wrong.
Interior designer William Yeoward, a master at mixing patterns and textures, has published a new book, Blue & White and Other Stories: a Personal Journey Through Colour, in which he describes the duo as ‘my natural’.
The 59-year- old, who oversaw the decoration of Mrs Thatcher’s Chester Square flat, never had a beige period and believes the seaside combination is a cornerstone. He uses it everywhere. His sitting room has been painted blue for 20 years and his bedroom is a blaze of blueand-white patterns, from comforting spots and geometrics to big blousy florals, arrayed around a four-poster named after his beloved Jack Russell, Morris.
The garden room in his country home is laid for a candle-lit supper with a vintage indigo linen cloth on the table. It’s tempting to pull up one of the white peacock chairs and settle in for the evening — because Yeoward undoubtedly knows how to throw a party. He says the book’s aim is to give people a range of interesting combinations as well as the confidence to mix things up.
He is used to anxious homeowners coming into his King’s Road shop with a scrap of fabric to be matched, and knows how much of a twist we get in trying to harmonising our sofas with our curtains.
‘Relax! Have some fun’, seems to be his motto.
dotted throughout the book are hand- written memos, which are as much about interiors as dinner party etiquette.
‘It is totally irresponsible to have uncomfortable dining chairs’, and ‘at a good party people will huddle together in intimate, convivial groups . . . If you want to throw a bad party, then spread your guests out thin.’ ‘a vase isn’t always for flowers, a stemmed glass not always for wine’. all things to be born in mind come the entertaining season.
It’s not just about blue and white, either. ‘ Other colours came about when I realised the importance of red. It’s a necessary exclamation mark.’
AFlaSH of red in a blue- andwhite scheme adds a jolt of interest, whether it’s a velvety cushion trim, a red stripe amid blues or a bright vermillion picture frame.
Orange can be similarly effective. But use it judiciously. It is, Yeoward writes: ‘a colour, like red, to use as wisely as spices.’
‘Hints of a third colour add another dynamic to blue and white,’ says Ruth Mottershead, at Paint & Paper library. ‘Try splashes of gold for luxuriousness or hot pink for a touch of fun.’
Search the hashtag #blueandwhite on Instagram and you’ll find hundreds of images to inspire. There’s a cheery one by american-based designer Jenny Keenan, who brings zest to a blue-and-white bedroom with bold orange striped throws.
Blue and white is the natural choice in kitchens and bathrooms because it’s ‘clean but never cold or clinical’, says laura James, Fired Earth Brand ambassador. But it will work in any room.
Yeoward sells a gorgeous array of blue- and- white fabric, wallpaper and accessories. His Bretonstriped mugs and bowls look wholesome and inviting on the breakfast table (£ 19 and £ 27, williamyeoward.com).
Habitat’s Blot collection of ceramics has proved so popular they extended the range, which is handpainted with blue splodges in Portugal ( from £ 8, habitat.co.uk).
For a softer touch, try Burleigh’s Blue asiatic Pheasant design (from £8, burleigh.co.uk).
anthropologie’s Meze bath mat in turquoise and white is an extravagance (£48, anthropologie.com), but will brighten a bathroom floor and is cheaper than re-tiling.
But, if you do so, Fired Earth’s Moorish inspired andalucia tiles (£ 13.50 each, firedearth.com) will make a holiday of bath-time.
BLUE & White And Other Stories: A personal journey through colour by William Yeoward (published by CICO Books, £30). Photography: Gavin Kingcome and William Yeoward.