The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
House style
This is the year to introduce bold colour and print
Colourful new homeware
THE NEW YEAR might inspire a yearning for a simple, minimalist look at home (see interior stylist and designer Maria Le Mesurier’s house overleaf for a lesson in how to do it right); but it can also bring a craving for a splash of colour or print. If the latter is true of you, there are plenty of new homeware collections that will tick the box.
1 — Wallpaper and fabric company Flock, known for working with young artists and designers on modern, digitally printed patterns, has teamed up with design consultancy Print Archivists, which has amassed a collection of thousands of vintage artworks dating back as far as the early 1800s. The designers at Flock have chosen handpainted patterns for dress fabrics from the 1890s, and a design for a French shirting fabric from the late 1880s, which have been scaled up to give them a contemporary edge, and come in a choice of colours from saffron yellow to duck-egg blue.
2 — Online company Polkra was launched last year to offer striking, design-led homewares sourced from around the world, at an affordable price. So far, it has collaborated with London illustrators Katie Scott and Fee Greening on, respectively, hand-decorated scented candles and matchboxes, and also offers Portuguese coloured glassware, linen cushions embroidered in India, and vibrant ikat cushions in silk and velvet.
3 — For more statement cushions, artist Anna Jacobs develops all her products from her own original paintings, inspired by birds, flowers and trees. Her latest, Flying Peacock, comes in a palette of on-trend coral, green and blue, on velvet cushions, and a lampshade that can be paired with a clear crystal base encasing a coordinating coloured flex.
4 — The London Art Fair, which starts on Wednesday in Islington, will provide further opportunity to add bold colour and pattern to the home. Over 100 galleries from around the world will show works in a variety of media, from paint to print, and by renowned artists such as David Hockney, Banksy and Grayson Perry, along with up-and-comers. There will be a strong selection of prints this year, offering a more affordable way to buy pieces by big-name artists, with print studio Jealous offering new works by the likes of David Shrigley and the Chapman Brothers.