REDISCOVERED PANELS FROM THE BRAND’S PAINTING STUDIO WERE THE CATALYST FOR THIS SCHEME CREATED BY HANNAH CECIL GURNEY
BEDROOM BY DE GOURNAY
1. These wallpaper panels are in Askew, one of the early designs dating back to when my father started the business in the early 1980s and was testing colour palettes and taking inspiration from antique chinoiserie samples. He disliked the colour and consigned them to the archives. Decades later, when I chanced upon a box, I fell for them immediately.
2. I’M DRAWN TO WARM COLOURS; it might have something to do with London weather. I’m not sure it would work so well in California, but the effect here is to create an uplifting space whether it’s night or day. Even when the clouds are grey, it feels vibrant and this mix makes my home feel happy and welcoming.
3. The joinery was existing and ugly; by putting a moulding on the front of the floating shelves and covering them in pink velvet with an overlapping trim on the front, I’ve tried to soften their design. I had the lampshades made from inexpensive Indian material.
4. I FOUND THE SCONCES in my father’s attic and had the linen shades made by Besselink & Jones. We fitted them within the wall panel, but it can look just as good to have wired wall lights. Not only are you then less committed to having them in a particular place, but you can have the wire wrapped in a colour to match the paper or paint behind and they disappear into the background.
5. On the bed, to add another accent, I’ve put a selection of cushions in different fabrics, from our own plain green velvet with a pom-pom trim to a lively geometric pattern that adds a fun, visual contrast to the wallpaper.
Daughter of the founder of esteemed hand-painted chinoiserie wallpaper experts de Gournay, Hannah Cecil Gurney is now a director of the Chelsea-based firm. de Gournay, 020 7352 9988, degournay.com. de Gournay: Hand-painted Interiors by Claud Cecil Gurney is published by Rizzoli in October priced at £59.95.