Elevate the everyday interior with these back-in-vogue decorative details now at the forefront of modern design
WORDS BY SALLY COULTHARD
SCALLOPED and wavy BOBBINS and beading RUFFLES and frills PRODUCTION BY ALAINA BINKS
SCALLOPED and wavy
Bring in some jaunty style with romantic, Bloomsbury-inspired scallops. Think fabric trims, hand-painted borders and rows of half-circles reminiscent of ascallop shell. Mix it up to add ablithe, playful layer to furniture, walls and soft furnishings.
CURTAIN COOL Soften the hard structural lines of kitchens and bathrooms with pretty curtaining. Here, a scallop edge turns a casual ticking fabric into an elegant shower curtain. Line the cotton with a waterproof backing or use to disguise a traditional shower curtain layered behind. Walls in Canvas wall paint, £55.95/2.5L; bath panelling in Olive chalk paint, £16.95/500ml; Graphite ticking stripe fabric, £34.95/m: all Annie Sloan.CURVE APPEAL Be inspired by Karin Hossack’s tempting palette of contemporary hues, from dusky pink and apple green to punchy coral, to keep this pattern up to date, from £15 for a pinch pot.
STATEMENT PIECES
1 Piranesi Pink wall paint (also on previous page), £55.95/2.5L, Annie Sloan2 Pink scallop dinner plate, £38, Late Afternoon 3 Round rattan tray with stand, £134, Mrs Alice4 Linen napkin in pink, £65/ set of four, Matilda Goad 5 Candleholder (candle not included), £100, Carolina Irving & Daughters 6 Sycamore spoon made from salvaged fallen wood by Nick Vorstermans, £48, Studio Critical 5 MAKING WAVES Not just confined to a shapely edge, there’s room for creativity with painted effects, too. Colourful wiggles on a pendant, fluted borders and stencils for walls and floors or glazed loops on ceramics – these are much gentler than a geometric print but still beautifully graphic and mix easily with other country favourites from checks to stripes. Blush pink and strawberry two-tone bespoke pendant, from £408, David Hunt Lighting.
BOBBINS and beading
There’s something undeniably sophisticated about spool furniture. Originally a technique that showcased a woodworker’s skill, these flourishes bring aglorious tactility to carpentry and decorative pieces.
MODERN TWIST Rich colours (and zingy shades) – painted, stained, gloss or lacquered – bring this antique style into the modern day, giving the simplest of objects bold personality. Mimicking the uniformity of the bobbin, Birdie Fortescue celebrates symmetry here, where ornate items make a statement as a collective. Stripy candlesticks, from £35; table lamp bases, £170 each; String lampshades, from £70 e
