Rose-tinted spectaculars for the home
It’s time to think pink! Here’s why we’re falling anew for this sugary and comforting shade
WE ARE all feeling cheerful post-Olympics and it’s rubbing off on our homes. ‘Think Pink!’ is the message, as Kay Thompson declares in the Audrey Hepburn movie Funny Face — especially if it’s a rosé hue, like the stuff we’ve been sipping all summer.
The layering of gentle, soft dusky pinks is the mood du jour in the design world, kick- started when renowned colour authority Pantone declared rose quartz one of its colours of the year.
It’s a shade much loved by British designer Bethan Gray, who was first inspired to use it for her Petal bowls for Mitchell Abdul Karim Crites’s The Ruby Tree project. These Petal pieces in precious stones were designed to celebrate Islamic craftsmanship.
‘When you think pink, you usually think bright, shiny plastic,’ she says. ‘But it’s so contemporary when you see it in its soft, matt, natural form.’
She loves it so much it formed the heart of her Band range of tables, handmade with coloured marble and brushed brass.
And it features again in her forthcoming collection of stained birdseye maple tables and cabinets, to be launched next month at the London Design Festival’s Decorex exhibition.
According to David Mottershead, managing director of the Little Greene paint company ( little
greene.com), the word ‘ pink’ was apparently adopted only in the late 17th century, derived from the flower sharing the same name. Until the Forties, pink was as much a colour for boys as girls.
The key to pink today, Mottershead says, is embracing the warm welcome it instantly lends a home.
‘It’s a versatile shade at its most modern, contrasted with deep slate greys, metallic notes of copper, bronze and brass, dark mid-century woods and parquet flooring, rich worn leather sofas and softly coloured glass,’ says Mottershead.
Next month, Little Greene will launch Pink, a range of eight feminine, seductive pink shades, from dusky, muted Blush 267 and Carmine 189, to sophisticated Hellebore 275 (with 15p from every paint can sold donated to a breast cancer charity).
‘Don’t hold back on using pink,’ says Mottershead. ‘Layer different shades on everything from walls and ceilings to skirting boards and window woodwork. It brings a feeling of freshness and vibrancy into the home.’
EVEN tiles are getting the pink treatment. At Bert & May, founder Lee Thornley suggests using ‘blush pink herringbone cement tiles on walls and floors, laid close together, off- set with grey grouting.’
It’s certainly the look that’s made the powder pink prettiness of the ladies’ loo at chef Skye Gyngell’s Spring restaurant at Somerset House in London a constant hit on Instagram.
‘I wanted it to feel like entering one of [the Italian confectionery shop] Romanengo’s rose-flavoured Rosolio sugar drops — clean and fragrant with a sort of sweet- smelling innocence,’ says Skye. ‘ Although it’s small, it’s pleasurable to be in.’
There’s pink in the main restaurant, too, alongside the palest blue and yellow. ‘I wanted to create the feel of a very soft watercolour painting,’ Skye says of the pink — ‘the colour of blush on a cheek’ — used to upholster the Arne Jacobsen sofas which help to break up the large room.
In the interiors world, designers can’t get enough of it — the pink concrete bar has proved an instant talking point for the Tom Dixon-designed restaurant Bronte, on Trafalgar Square.
Designer Nika Zupanc has used it for her Stay chair, bar stool and sofa and Whisper storage boxes for Sé London, and it is a key colour in a dusky tone for Patricia Urquiola’s tactile, geometric Trama tableware collection for Kartell. ‘
These days, when things are uncertain, we need plenty of warmth and comfort,’ said French designer India Mahdavi at the launch of her all-pink interior for the Gallery at Sketch restaurant in 2014. The room is a candy-floss pink confection of painted walls, velvet banquettes and vintage club chairs, the perfect foil to Turner Prize-winning artist David Shrigley’s witty black and white illustrations.
It’s a colour palette that’s stuck — perhaps because it’s so easy to live with. You can cosy up in softest, palest pink linen the shade of strawberry ice cream from Conran ( pillowcases, from £ 28, double duvet, £175, conranshop.co.uk) or opt for something similar but rather cheaper at H&M (£79.99 for the duvet set, hm.com).
Add warmth in white bathrooms with Design Project towels at John Lewis. These marry the trend for pink with muted white and clay/ grey (from £3, johnlewis.com).
If you want to go slow with the pink glow, start by adding a touch of muted tea rose to a room with one of vita Copenhagen’s featherylooking Carmina lights (£64) or a plush, velvety throw from Debenhams or very.co.uk.
Try the Holly and Izzy two-seaters (from £930) or Peggy armchair in dusky rose (£540) at sofa.com.
Or take a tip from Mahdavi, whose Sketch interiors renowned hotelier Andre Balazs described as ‘a bit of Beverly Hills in Mayfair’, and pick up Maison La Bougie’s L’Hotel candle, inspired by the pink-hued Beverly Hills Hotel, on sale at Liberty next month (£35).