Homes & Gardens

At the beginning of the pandemic, I asked a friend who is an MD at a global fashion brand what she thought its effect would be on what we wore. Of course, she predicted the swap from suits to sweats, but I was surprised by her insistence that we would all become bolder with colour. What the catwalk showcases quickly pervades interiors, and this was demonstrated in the beautifully colourful fabrics, paints and wallpapers seen at Chelsea Harbour and Paris Déco Off in the spring. Hence, this issue’s theme: colour confidence. Our starting point was an homage to Ukrainian-born artist Sonia Delaunay’s bold work – you can see our interpretation in Artistic Expression (p38). Interior designers have been talking to us about the revival of pink for a while now and…

GARDEN VARIETY Illustrator Monika Forsberg is giving us a peek into her fantastical world thanks to a collaboration with wallpaper brand Dado. Three whimsical designs draw inspiration in part from her Swedish heritage and in part from her current life in London. Vines (shown) in Spring, £165 a roll, takes us to the stained glass that features on Victorian porches near Hampstead Heath. PARADISE FOUND With its fresh and vibrant colour palette, Thibaut’s latest collection, Eden, exudes cheery optimism. Across fabrics and wallpaper, the motifs lead you to a decorative paradise of lush vegetation, scenic compositions, ikats and small-scale geometrics. We’re drawn to the emerald hues of Pasadena, £144m, used for the curtains, and the painterly ikat, Maverick, £144m, on the chair. ECO CONSCIOUS Italian furniture maker Rimadesio is striving to lighten its eco footprint…

CLASSIC REINVENTED The Panton chair by Vitra, an icon of 20th-century furniture design, has been given a colour twist with a special limited-edition two-tone finish. The glossy lacquered chair comes in five gorgeous colour combinations and costs £1,740 exclusively at The Conran Shop. NEW TALENT London-based artist Diane Hill’s delicate chinoiserie painting gained huge popularity on social media during lockdown and now Harlequin has invited her to collaborate on a fabric and wallpaper collection. Shown here is the Florence wallpaper in Fig Blossom/Apple/Peony, £349 for a wide-width roll. The design was hand-painted on silk using traditional techniques before becoming a digital print. PASSION FOR PATTERN Take a moment to ponder these vibrant geometrics across wallpaper and fabrics…

THE design-led luxury furniture market is packed with talent. And, while influences change, tastes develop and trends ebb and flow, keeping relevant and fresh for more than 25 years is a considerable achievement. The key, says Julian Chichester, is to provide collections that combine must-have classics from the 19th and 20th centuries with new, eye-catching and innovative mixed-media pieces. Having cornered the market of creative furniture and lighting with expressive forms, bold colours and visionary materials, Julian’s designs are instantly recognisable. Testament to this is that they attract near immediate interest when they appear on auction sites such as 1stDibs. From the glossy red four-headed Medusa wall light to sleek media units in gilded steel and black vellum, via free-form bedside tables made of aged mirrored glass, the pieces are unions…

There are many advantages to a low-intervention garden. If you can retrain your mind to see beauty in scruffiness, a high-ranking advantage is that your garden brings you pleasure with a lot less effort. Key to this is not having to sow or transplant new plants to give it life each spring, relying as I do on perennials, which regrow each year from their established rootstock, to bring the joy. In evolution, the majority of plants are perennial. So isn’t it strange that most of the plants humans depend on are grown as annuals – wheat, oats, rice, rape. In our veg patches we have been taught to dig over the earth and sow freshly each spring, in line with our agricultural traditions. But knowing, as we do these days, about…