the comfort of things
There are certain things in your home that are like old friends, they always cheer you up. This month we feel the love for sprigs, blooms and boughs
“One wall covered with a bold flower paper will avoid mimsiness”
In a perfect world we would all come skipping in from the garden with a trug full of home-grown blooms and arrange them artfully in generous vases. Back in the real world, however, it’s more a case of treating ourselves to a bunch on the way home from work and sticking them in a jug. Nothing is as lovely as a vase of cut flowers but if you aren’t fortunate enough to have the budget to buy them regularly, or a garden bursting with blooming borders, decorating with florals instead could help deliver the necessary horticultural boost. Nature, of course, has all the best designs so it’s little wonder that designers return to it over and over for inspiration. From flowers in bud, to sprigs of blossom, boughs of wisteria, to seedheads and leaves, floral motifs appear repeatedly on wallpaper, furnishing fabric, tableware and bedlinen. Choosing which floral design to introduce into the home however does require a certain amount of control and selectivity. Despite grannyish florals being back in fashion, banish all thoughts of papering a room with pink rosebud wallpaper and furnishing with matching cushions and bedspreads. It might also be wise to give chintz ( glazed calico printed with exaggerated flowers and leaves) a swerve, unless you want your home to look like a a suburban bungalow. Which is not to say that there is no place for small, pretty florals if used wisely – to wallpaper a bookshelf, or on a couple of cushions, say. They can add a touch of cottage garden romanticism (or country house grandeur, depending on your ambition) to a room.
To keep things modern not fusty, go big. One wall covered with a bold flower wallpaper will avoid mimsiness – little says elderly aunt’s spare room like four walls papered with tiny pansies – and a duvet cover with a simple sprig-design is enough flowers for most bedrooms. »