Playful PATTERNS

Creative patterns bring a lively, spirited look to furnishings, whether hand-painted on walls and woodwork, block-printed onto fabrics and wallcoverings or extended onto floors and fireplaces. Take inspiration from the stylised brushstrokes and freehand geometrics with which the Bloomsbury artists decorated Charleston; the African and Asian fabrics that Henri Matisse collected on his travels and incorporated into his paintings. Different styles suit different rooms, so a modern kitchen might echo the clean shapes of abstract painters like Piet Mondrian and Ben Nicholson.

OPPOSITE Painterly studio ceramics make an engaging display with found objects

1 Ophelia sky/storm lampshade, from £95, Rosi de Ruig

2 Bloomsbury-style linen cushion in pink, £56, Susie Watson Designs

3 Halle Spring linen-mix fabric, £128/m, Imogen Heath

4 Bobbin oak table lamp by Alfred Newall with cobalt shade by Tess Newall, £470, The New Craftsmen

5 Charleston stripe hexagonal pen pot, £18, Cambridge Imprint

6 Hand-painted figure jug by Yolande Beer, from £120, Chalk Gallery

7 Paint your own keepsake box kit, £59.95, Annie Sloan

8 This living room has been decorated with grey sponged walls and a paisley stencil, overlaid with a delicate floral in homage to Charleston Farmhouse

9 A decorated box by Elizabeth Harbour introduces uplifting pattern

10 Artist Carola Van Dyke has decorated the walls of her Sussex cottage with exuberant painterly patterns

11 Watery, hand-painted circular motifs decorate this fireplace 12 Simple hand-painted motifs with Annie Sloan paint create wall panels, plus decorate furniture and even lighting 13 A pink wallpaper marries with block-printed Indian textiles and small-scale prints in artist Molly Mahon’s home 14 Look for fabric and wallpaper designs with dynamic and colourful patterns