Living Etc November 2019

This month is all about confident design and decoration. Big, bright, bold looks that are original, and that stand out. This theme runs through every page in the issue. Start with the gorgeous house features. The house in our cover story, owned by the artisan bakers behind Fabrique (the best cinnamon buns in London!), knows its mind, mixing dark and dramatic features with feminine and pretty details; art and design writer Kimberlie Birks’ duplex apartment in Manhattan is an original interpretation of boho (such as the design classic chairs used alongside floor cushions); and rock ’n’ roll property developer John Hitchcox’s London pad has an indoor garden with retractable roof, a structural pillar shaped like a giant chairleg and a basement with a playroom, dance floor and sunken swimming pool. Enjoy…

1 SIXTIES FEVER Prepare for a retro revival as The Crown season 3 hits our screens on 17 November, plunging us into Palace life in 1964. And while we doubt we’ll see Her Majesty kicking back on a Verner Panton chair head-to-toe in Mary Quant, you can bet there will be Bubble hairdos, pastel skirt suits and royal scandals galore. 2 COMPETITIVE TABLE ART No longer the preserve of the faux-rustic alfresco wedding breakfast, the ELT (Elaborately Laid Table) is certified social media catnip, and you’ll need Murano glassware, vintage linen tablecloths, Astier de Villatte-this and scallop-edged-that to compete. Stock up at The Edition 94 (pictured). 3 BRAVE BEIGE Not‘blah’ifapproached with floor-to-ceiling panache. Check out the Kelly Wearstler-designed rooms in Santa Monica’s just-opened Proper Hotel, featuring cool OTT proportions, playful textures and midcentury styling that…

THE POWER PATTERN curious incident Timid decorators, shut your eyes. Pierre Frey’s latest wallpaper line, Les Dessins 4, really isn’t for the faint-hearted (it’s for the young at heart). Take the Curiosities paper, shown, which sees shells, starfish, butterflies and bugs floating in orbit against diamonds, pearls and blingy gold-chain divides. In times that often seem to favour the minimal, Scandinavian-feel interior, it’s a print capable of single-handedly sparking the renaissance of the slightly bonkers bathroom, even if just confined to your downstairs loo. Elsewhere, a collection in collaboration with French furniture designer Christian Astuguevieille sees classical motifs stamped with a graffiti-like latticework, securing Pierre Frey’s position as one of the bravest, boldest design studios on the scene. Curiosities FP589001 wallpaper in 001 Nocturne, £93.60 linear m, Pierre Frey at Design Centre…

This season’s palette is as much about mood enhancement as it is bold decorating, say Jane Rockett and Lucy St George in their new book Rockett St George: Extraordinary Interiors in Colour. For this autumn, a trend for block colours is not happening just because of their vibrancy, but because they enrich your day as much as they do the space in which they’re used. There’s now a new understanding about how colour can affect your emotions – pastels are peaceful, reds can be passionate, greens feel creative and yellows make you happy. So when picking your paint the modern approach is to first decide how you’re going to want to feel, then go with the corresponding hue. Your new mood starts here. GREEN deep calm Green evokes tranquillity, renewal, rebirth and even…