DE S IGN CENTRE
People who want
to tap into this bold approach
are going to designers who are not afraid to flex their creative muscles. “Our design is very client led and we have never shied away from being bold and brave,” say Quinn and Derbyshire. This is a sentiment that designer Samantha Todhunter agrees with. “I think as a designer my role is to read what my client is saying and in turn then deliver the layer, to take them down the path and say, “let’s do a really huge fabulous pattern on the sofa and let’s tie that up with cushions that have a beautiful brush fringe detail and, instead of just giving you a curtain, I’m going to put a beautiful border around it and I’m going to fringe it.” Fabrics and wallcoverings are a brilliant way to
introduce colour and pattern. Ann Grafton, managing director and creative director of GP & J Baker which has a showroom in Design Centre East concurs, “we agree there is a trend towards storytelling with an emphasis on authenticity and craftsmanship which we have with our amazing archive.” Their archive prints ‘Oriental Bird’, ‘Nympheus’ and ‘Magnolia’ are incredibly popular, “we are also seeing an increasing demand for decorative embroideries and statement wallpapers.”
People are becoming more daring in expressing themselves and mixing patterns together,
“PEOPLE ARE REQUIRING MORE FROM THE INTERIOR AND LOOKING TOWARDS THE QUIRKY, BOLD AND COLOURFUL TO LIFT THEIR SPIRITS AND ENTERTAIN THEM”
“we use a lot of document textiles which are textiles which are new with their feet in the past, like Pierre Frey and Tissus d’Hélène,” says Plant, “in times gone by people might have used florals in a chintzy way but now they mix them up in a way that gives more modernity. They’re less polite and more likely to clash and that gives it more texture.” That element of surprise is the key to the magic, “when I think something sings, it’s a lot about creating such intention, there needs to be harmony but also something that’s a little bit off, or weird even,” says Heuman. A curated mix of old and new is a way of telling
stories, bringing in the client’s own heirlooms and a way of delivering uniqueness in this Instagram era we live in. “Sourcing vintage antiques is crucial”, says Plant, “this means that
the room has a personality
and that everything is not immediately identifiable, which is really nice for clients because they feel that they’re getting something bespoke that their friends can’t copy.” Scott Maddox is seeing this too, “there
In this scheme in Chelsea, designer Samantha Todhunter moved away from a bland rented space to create an
apartment filled with colour and light. The sorbet colour scheme, which includes fabrics from Métaphores at
Abbott + Boyd and ruched trim by Dedar, provided a lively backdrop to an exciting art collection
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