DESIGN IDEAS
We look at the fresh and innovative ways in which decorators are using beautiful textiles in their room schemes
STYLING (GREEN WITH ENVY) FRANCES BAILEY
FEATURE ARABELLA YOUENS
GATHERED TOGETHER
‘There’s a romance to a four-poster bed that is hard to beat,’ says Henriette von Stockhausen, creative director of VSP Interiors. Her approach to decorating them always finds that delicate balance between tradition and contemporary comfort. She places fabric and pattern front and centre. In this bedroom, she chose a Chinoiserie by Watts 1874 for the walls and picked out the jewel tones for the rest of the fabric for the scheme. ‘I adore having darker fabrics on the inside of the four-posters as it just makes it even cosier. Lots of antiques and another strong colour pop with red lacquer bedside chests create this vibrant mix of traditional and modern which was my main brief from my client.’
ON A PANEL
Lining walls with fabric is a clever way to add colour and pattern to a room and soften its acoustics at the same time, making it an ideal solution for large spaces with high ceilings which are used for entertaining. The traditional route is to install a frame around the perimeter of the walls and cover the walls in padding. The fabric is then stretched across and stapled to the edges of the frame. A looser interpretation of this approach is demonstrated here by interior designer Guy Goodfellow. He’s hung three panels of Rendlesham (from his Guy Goodfellow Collection) to cover an entire wall of this drawing room. A narrow border in a matching russet helps to frame the panels and adds a definition to them.
THEATRICAL TOUCH
Pantries are an increasing feature in kitchens. This design by Australian decorator Tamsin Johnson, for a house in Darling Point, Sydney, uses a red velvet curtain in lieu of a door. Not only is it an ingenious way of hiding a mess (which could be anything from a room where all useful but ugly appliances are stored or a laundry space, if not a pantry) but it’s much more attractive than a solid door and adds some much-needed softness to a kitchen.
BALANCING ACT
Bathrooms are often flooded with artificial light from the ceiling which can flatten a space, yet the introduction of pleated fabrics will help add depth and shadows. ‘I approach a bathroom in two ways,’ says interior designer Octavia Dickinson. ‘One is to think about the practicalities of the room and then think about the aesthetics and feel. Success comes down to balancing the two, with neither overriding the other.’ Here, in her London home, the fabric panels are in Bennison Fabrics’ Petites Fleurs.
CURTAIN RAISER
Bed nooks are a great solution for small rooms, making use of every inch, particularly in attics. ‘I love a built-in bed nook,’ says Tiffany Dugg
