House style

Back to monochrome

AS ALL THE COLOUR and clutter of the past month get packed away, a homeware range designed to inspire calm thoughts and clear minds has a certain pull.

For those suffering from festive overkill, the new collection from Patternity is a timely antidote, with cushions, throws, rugs, bedlinen and bathroom accessories – along with a detox-appropriate athleisure fashion line – all in graphic black-and-white prints.

There’s an Op Art flavour to the designs – and, just as the Op Art movement was, for some, a way of finding structure in a chaotic world, the products are intended as a tool to help promote mindfulness and induce a feeling of relaxation within the home.

Patternity, the brainchild of photographer and art director Anna Murray and designer Grace Winteringham, was initially founded in 2009 as an online archive of pattern imagery, but has since expanded into a creative studio and design consultancy that has collaborated with brands such as Nike, Clarks and Céline. They also run well-being workshops based around the power of pattern. ‘Scientifically speaking, we’re predisposed to look for meaning in pattern,’ says Murray. ‘That’s how we would find prey, or spot diseases; it’s how we make sense of the world. Pattern also has a known effect of putting us into a relaxed state.’

The monochrome palette, realised in both punchy geometric prints and flowing designs inspired by reflections on water, is key to the effect: ‘There’s a level of real calm with monochrome. You can appreciate the pattern in its purity.’

Their hope, says Murray, is that the collection will ‘inspire positive patterns of behaviour, from meditation on the cushions, to daily rituals of relaxation and reflection using the candles and bath accessories. These products hopefully start the beginning of a journey for people to dig a little deeper.’ The Patternity collection will be available at John Lewis this month

From top Organic cotton towels, £8-£28; hooded jumper, £69, roll-neck (worn beneath), £39, culottes, £59, and rugs (hanging behind) £80-£150, all Patternity