ELLE Decoration UK February 2022

Hard as it may be, I’m trying my best to forget the recurring Groundhog Day-like grimness of new variants, incompetent politicians and looming lockdowns for a much-needed dose of new-year positivity. In spite of everything, there is still a renewed sense of optimism in the air, and that’s what we’ve tried to harness for this, our first issue of 2022. More needed than ever, this focus on a bright new future has kept myself and the team going these past few months, and I hope our predictions for what is to come will propel you through the wintery weeks ahead. Undoubtedly driven by the fact that working together became so difficult during the pandemic, throughout the design industry and the wider world, there is now an explosion of creative collaborations taking…

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CORK VALUES Some 52 years after the ‘Up5_6’ chair made its conversation-sparking debut at the Salone del Mobile fair in Milan, B&B Italia has created a one-of-a-kind edition in recycled cork. It seems a fitting tribute to the original design by Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce, who seized on the sponginess of then-revolutionary polyurethane to create a seat that could arrive flat and then expand to its bulbous final form (bebitalia.com). Objets d’art When digital-art platform Partnership Editions arrived five years ago, it sparked a conversation about affordable collecting – and a slew of imitators. With the spotlight shifting onto homeware, founder Georgia Spray has coaxed 12 of its most popular artists to create one-off objects for the home. Favourites from the first drop include Laxmi Hussain’s lamps and Venetia Berry’s scalloped…

What inspired your new ‘Versus Edition’ series? The architecture in Nepal. I’m interested in what I call ‘cultural colour identity’ – the way we unconsciously express our cultures through colour choices. In Nepal, they do not use a lot of different hues, but the ones they use are strong and represent values coming from their culture and religion. Why are these particular colour combinations so impactful? They are uncensored, direct and powerful – almost contrary to the Scandinavian tradition. One half of each tapestry is woven in wool and the other half in silk. Wool absorbs light and silk reflects it, so the surfaces react very differently. Both are of an incredibly high quality, especially the pure Himalayan wool with its long fibres and naturally oily texture. What hues are inspiring you at the…

PALEFIRE As co-founder of gallery 8 Holland Street and former managing director at The Fine Art Society, it’s fair to say Rowena Morgan-Cox knows a bit about art and design. Like many, however, she suffers from impostor syndrome. ‘I can’t help feeling like a fraud for not having practical experience,’ she says, ‘but I really wanted to make things for the home.’ With the seed of an idea growing while she was still at the west London gallery, her first thought was to create elevated upcycled furniture. ‘But the logistics were impractical,’ she says. ‘I was trawling the internet for vintage lighting for my own home, and nothing was in my price range. With pandemic downtime, I decided to design things myself.’ The result is Palefire, a new brand offering papier-mâché lighting…

I’ll be honest: winter is not my favourite time of year. Dark mornings, short days and long nights really don’t do it for me, so I like to focus on creating a place within my home that feels suitable for hibernation while I gear myself up for the excitement of spring. A large part of that preparation is to ensure snugness is a 360-degree experience, engaging all of the senses. I like to start with lighting. Lamps need to be dotted around the house and I often change the bulbs to adjust the ambience in a room. Tala, which makes modern LED versions of traditional filament bulbs, is brilliant for creating the right atmospheric mood. Having lighting at different heights is always important, with a mix of wall, floor and table…