Romantic RETREATS
ABOVE Floral themes and shades such as lilac, lavender or rose can create an idyllic setting. Using furnishing or dress-weight fabrics for cushions, bedcovers, quilts and counterpanes will give you a greater choice of styles and colours RIGHT Flowers do make a room. Even a single stem on a bedside table can lend fragrance and lift the spirits. Engraved glassware and old transfer or lusterware china can all add charm to a bedside table BOTTOM Opulent, decorated fabrics such as silks and damasks can convey a sense of refined luxury and go well with carved antique pieces like this French bed in stylist Gabi Tubbs’s Sussex home
BLACK BOOK
Soft colours, artistic flourishes and decorative craftsmanship from another age are all key to this style. It’s about surrounding yourself with meaningful pieces that resonate for you personally – perhaps a family heirloom, a vintage find or a treasured antique with an interesting backstory. Statement pieces – such as an elegant rococo bed, a collection of old prints, foxed and faded gilt mirrors – will all work well. Or you could even add a dramatic flourish with a four-poster bed hung with fabrics or a simple bed canopy. Make sure lighting is subdued and relaxed, with low-level sources that mimic candlelight and task lighting for bedtime reading. Finally, conjure up the spirit of a midsummer night’s dream with floral prints, fabric or wallpaper – lilac, a blushing oldfashioned quartered rose or lavender.
BENNISON (BENNISONFABRICS.COM) BEAUTIFUL HAND-SCREEN-PRINTED FLORAL DESIGNS ON LINEN UNION, SOME WITH TEA-STAINED BACKGROUNDS.
CABBAGES & ROSES (CABBAGESANDROSES.COM) VERY PRETTY FADED FLORAL WALLPAPERS AND FABRICS, PLUS TOILES AND STRIPES WITH A FRENCH AESTHETIC, PLUS PRINTED COTTON BEDLINENS.
COLOGNE & COTTON (COLOGNEANDCOTTON.COM) GOOD-QUALITY BEDLINENS WITH DECORATIVE DETAILING AND A CLASSIC FLAVOUR. INCLUDES PRINTED FRENCH-STYLE DESIGNS, FINE CANDY STRIPES, DRAWN-THREADWORK AND SCALLOPED TRIMS.
THE FRENCH BEDROOM COMPANY (FRENCHBEDROOMCOMPANY. CO.UK) DECORATIVE ROCOCO-STYLED FURNITURE, DRESSING TABLES AND PLAIN AND FLORAL BEDLINEN.
Majari washed cotton square pillowcase, £9, La Redoute (laredoute.co.uk) Normandy rattan bedframe, £1,195/king, The French Bedroom Company (frenchbedroomcompany. co.uk) 3 Catherine Rose Pink wallpaper, £48/roll, Cabbages & Roses (cabbagesandroses.com)