There is nothing quite as personal as adding decorative touches to a home using brush marks made by your own hand. Decorative artist Tess Newall shares some starting points to inspire creative projects
FEATURE SAMANTHA SCOTT-JEFFRIES PHOTOGRAPHY DEBORAH PANES
English interiors have become increasingly layered, highly decorated and personal in recent years. We have embraced layering colour, pattern and texture in ways that are braver and speak about us as owners, and we have developed a reverence for the bespoke and handcrafted. It is perhaps no surprise that as a result, there has been a resurgence in the decorative arts.
“Decorative painting gives soul and personality to a home,” says decorative artist Tess Newall. “It helps to create a layered room, adding depth to the space and character. It’s about being in a space that’s inspiring, brings joy, is uplifting and tells a story.”
It was these ideas that originally led the Elizabethans to employ skilled craftsmen to emblazon the walls and ceilings of their homes with colourful, hand-painted designs in the 16th and 17th centuries, long before the advent of wallpaper.
In more recent times, owning a hand-painted mural or piece of furniture was the preserve of the affluent or highly creative, but times are changing. “There’s been a shift in the value that we place on things that are hand-painted, things that we really cherish and love and hopefully pass down as heirlooms,” muses Newall. “I think we are now more conscious about what we put in our homes. People are more inclined to do their own upcycling now, rather than doing away with a piece of furniture someone has fallen out of love with.”
Newall also reminds us to think about the impact of small-scale, decorative pieces. “It’s amazing how just a small thing like a painted lampshade can transform a room and give it more character and soul – which is really useful where perhaps you live in rented accommodation or aren’t ready to redecorate a whole room.”
At her home in East Sussex, Newall – who has three young children with her husband, furniture designer Alfred Newall – has painted a mural in six-year-old son Wilf’s bedroom, and in the bedroom shared by her daughters, Romy, four, and Alma, two, one of her wallpaper designs forms the backdrop for play.
CREATIVE BEGINNINGS
As a child herself, Newall “always painted and made things”. Her mother, Sally Oyler, is an artist and her father restores buildings. “I’m fortunate to have grown up being
