What will the best-dressed homes be wearing this season?

Say goodbye to pineapples, pugs and hygge as we move into autumn-winter with some new and some enduring trends. Sharon Dale reports.
Japanese Garden wallpaper, £171 per roll Osborne and LittleJapanese Garden wallpaper, £171 per roll Osborne and Little
Japanese Garden wallpaper, £171 per roll Osborne and Little

Colours: Grey is clinging on as the go-to neutral for walls and that’s because it provides a quiet backdrop to bolder coloured furnishings and accessories. Also popular is dusky pink. If you can’t bear the idea of a Barbie-style room, then use sparingly and team with the aforementioned grey. Muuto has a gorgeous rose pink light shade, £249, from Clippings.com.

Orange is having a moment and Ikea is embracing this. Its bright orange Mariam curtains are just £18 a pair and its geometric Stillsmat duvet cover and pillow case start at £13. For paint then try Charlotte’s Locks by Farrow and Ball. If you are afraid of too much zing then opt for terracotta or tone your “Tango” down with sage green, a hue best expressed by Little Greene’s paint of the same name.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Deep plums and burgundies are making a comeback and create drama when matched with midnight blue, grey and black. Cobalt blue, which was a big hit in 1980s and much loved by Renoir and Monet, is also starring on the catwalk and inside our homes.

Interior designer Karen Knox painted her sitting room in off-blackInterior designer Karen Knox painted her sitting room in off-black
Interior designer Karen Knox painted her sitting room in off-black

If you want to make a bold statement, opt for black and almost black We recently featured interior designer Karen Knox’s home in the Yorkshire Post magazine and the sitting room of her 1960s semi showed how matt off-black can make a space look and feel warm and cosy. See more of Karen’s home and work at www.making-spaces.net. Abigail Ahern is also an inspiration. Her book “Decorating with Style” is full of tips on using her favourite dark colours.

*Parquet flooring is enjoying a revival. Reclaimed parquet looks fabulous and characterful and it won’t date. Pickering-based Original Parquet Flooring Company specialise in it originalparquetflooring.co.uk. It costs from £49 per sq. metre. There are also new versions, including a pale, contemporary maple, £64.99 per sq. metre, from yorkshire-flooring.co.uk. Parquet is also being used to clad walls.

*Statement lights. Attention-grabbing pendants are in the fashion spotlight. Redbrick Mill in Batley has a great selection and has a Heal’s and a Made.com showroom. Ripon-based Glow Lighting, glowlighting.co.uk, has exquisite glass shades. Sheffield-based blacksmith Nigel Tyas, nigeltyas.co.uk makes metal lights and Radiance in Hebden Bridge stocks a range of lighting by designer makers, radiancelighting.co.uk

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

*Botanical prints. Dark florals and fifties-style faded pastels add colour and romance. Designers Guild’s Delft Flower Noir rug sums it up and is an investment piece with a price tag of £2,195.

Brass starburst pendant, £475, Rockett St GeorgeBrass starburst pendant, £475, Rockett St George
Brass starburst pendant, £475, Rockett St George

*Wallpaper and fabric that tells a story. You can’t beat traditional toile de jouy and its pastoral scenes but the best contemporary exponents of the style are Mini Moderns. Their Saturday Night/Sunday Morning collection includes True Romance, based on romantic comic strips in magazines like Jackie. The Yorkshire-born design duo are now based in London but sell in shops all over Britain and online at minimoderns.com

*Plant life. Fake flowers and plants have their uses but the most fashionable homes have the real McCoy. Ferns, cacti, aspidistras and weeping figs are on trend for 2017. Don’t forget to plant indoor hyacinth and Narcissus paper white bulbs in late September for Christmas flowering.

*Brass. Copper and soft golds are making way for brass. Brass taps work beautifully with marble and wood in kitchens and bathrooms. Yorkshire-based Bertandmay.com has a good selection and check out the Starburst brass beam pendant lamp, £475, from rockettstgeorge.co.uk

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

*Round tables. From dining to side and coffee tables, circular is the shape of the season and it’s also very convivial. Conversation is said to flow better around a circular table. We like Habitat’s Brodi walnut tray coffee table for £195.

Orange armchair, £1,395 from Mia Fleur, miafleur.comOrange armchair, £1,395 from Mia Fleur, miafleur.com
Orange armchair, £1,395 from Mia Fleur, miafleur.com

*Marble. Perfect for bathrooms and hallways and a stone that will not date easily. White is the obvious choice but check out Yorkshire-based stone specialists Lapicida for a dazzling collection, including the stunning dark green verde Guatemala and some striking mosaics. The room sets in Lapicida’s Knaresborough showroom are exceptional.

*Turning Japanese and Ikigai: Forget hygge and lagom, the latest lifestyle concept is Ikigai - which is Japanese for “a happy life”. There are various ways to achieve this, including identifying the little things that bring you joy, like going for a walk, drinking a good cup of coffee, a long hot bath and stroking the dog. Ken Mohi, author of The Little Book of Ikigai, published on September 7, says that the idea is to slow down and enjoy the small things. Other Ikigai must-dos include getting up early as that is when your brain is at its optimum; taking pride in everything you do. Japan is also influencing interiors. John Lewis has a collection inspired by the Japanese collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Osborne and Little has excelled itself with its Japanese Garden wallpaper, £171 per roll.

*