Innholdsfortegnelse for Interiors Bookazine 2025 i The English Home

There is nothing quite like the power of colour and pattern to transform a house into a beautiful home. Paint is perhaps the quickest and most inexpensive way to change the mood and feel of a room while pulling everything you previously displayed and love into renewed focus against a new backdrop. Patterned wallpaper and fabrics add energy, interest and can make interiors sing. However, with so many choices of tones, textures and brands on the market, knowing how to choose a new colour scheme or the perfect combination of prints can sometimes feel overwhelming. In this special sourcebook, we take you through the history of key colours and the origins of the most popular patterns to understand how they have been used in different architectural periods, highlighting their significance,…

Taking their cue from gentle tones found in nature, neutrals have acted as a decorative backbone for centuries. At times maligned or considered insipid, they are more than the off-whites, beiges and greys that came to the fore a couple of decades ago. In fact, almost any colour that is dialled down in terms of its saturation can act as an effective neutral in a scheme. These days, interiors are returning to the idea that earth pigments such as oxide red, ochre and umber offer a warm yet muted quality. Of course, natural materials make effortless neutrals too. “Timber, soft terracotta and limestone feature inherent textures which can be an ideal neutral base,” says Squire & Partners’ Maria Cheung. In addition, texture, from cork and micro-cement to limewash and sisal,…

Few fabrics hold such enduring appeal as chintz – a term now widely associated with florals, though its name derives from a Hindu word that loosely translates as ‘spotted’ or ‘variegated’. Originating more than five centuries ago, the patterned fabric was known for its clarity of colour due to the use of local dyes, such as indigo, cochineal, and logwood. It was widely used for furnishings, often later recycled into clothing, which sparked a fashion for printed cotton garments. Such was its appeal, that by the 18th century, both France and England temporarily banned its import in an attempt to protect their textile industries. Now, chintz has become the generic term for any colourful designs on a fresh background, particularly florals. Traditional chintz has a glazed effect, originally achieved by…

With tones varying from soft butter and warm primrose to bold citrus and deep mustard, yellow is a versatile hue whose roots lie in pigments first extracted from ochre in prehistoric times. A key note in art, architecture and interiors, yellow was prized by Ancient Egyptians for its association with the sun god Ra. In medieval Europe, it adorned stained glass windows, while the Renaissance saw its wider use in frescoes and textiles. By the 18th and 19th centuries, yellow featured in wallpapers and neoclassical architecture. Reminiscent of joy and energy, it became a symbol of post-war optimism too, culminating in Nancy Lancaster’s wonderfully vibrant 1950s Yellow Room at 39 Brook Street. Today, yellow remains a popular choice for its associations with positivity and warmth, used in an array of…

A bold, energetic colour with a complex history, red is a tone associated with power, confidence and moral strength. Beloved by monarchs, who often wore red clothing to represent a God-given right to the throne, it is a hue reminiscent of both fire and blood, symbolising life and, in the Western world, love and passion. In Asian cultures, it represents good fortune, joy and fertility. Originally a rudimentary paint made from red clay tens of thousands of years ago, it is one of the world’s oldest colours. Today, red receives mixed press: dynamic and powerful, it can evoke strong emotions; prolonged exposure to deep red can increase heartrate and metabolism. Used creatively, as an accent in a decorative scheme, combined with other colours in pattern, or in a less vivid…

If you are seduced by the traditional allure of a cosy, authentic fire experience while also longing for a modern, convenient and eco-friendly heating source, Charnwood’s wood-burning stoves will bring warmth – and a clear conscience – to the home. For more than 50 years, the family-run company has passionately honed the art of this timeless pleasure from its Isle of Wight headquarters, crafting stoves which effortlessly merge stylish design with efficiency, low-maintenance requirements and cleanliness – resulting in the perfect models for urban and rural living alike. Characterised by minimalist elegance, Charnwood stoves seamlessly integrate into any interior, with user-friendly features, including a cool-to-the-touch handle and single air control. Meticulously crafted from cast iron and plate steel, Charnwood stoves boast ceramic-glass picture windows, offering up a mesmerising view of…

Referring to a type of weave resulting from an ancient resist-dyeing technique originating in Indonesia, ikat has its roots in the Malay-Indonesian term ‘to tie’ or ‘bundle’, denoting the process of binding yarns with a tight wrapping applied in the desired pattern prior to dyeing. These fabrics have long been considered precious because their creation is both time-consuming and skilled. Ikats – whose name has come to represent both the process and the finished product – have sprung up in several parts of the world over many centuries, including Peru, India, Egypt, Guatemala, Yemen, Japan and Uzbekistan. They are often characterised by an apparent blurriness, the result of the difficulty in perfectly aligning the dyed yarns during the weaving process. The use of fine materials minimises this outcome, but the…

Deriving from the ancient Persian word ‘shah’, which means ‘king’ in an early form of chess, checks have been a decorative staple in interiors and fashion for centuries. The chequerboard pattern has been identified in Bronze Age pottery as well as in Roman design, and its usage remains familiar on chess boards, in weaving and via its popular variant, tartan. In fashion, checks remain a perennial motif, from the lining of Burberry’s coats to chic decorative emblems on suits and skirts. Its formation is repeated in architecture, too, in the form of bricks or tiles in varying tones or materials. Inside, chequerboard floors, particularly in monochrome, are a decorative staple of Victorian hallways. Like stripes, checks are repetitive and harmonious to the eye, which has the effect of being reassuringly…

Evocative of new beginnings, fertility and rebirth, green has enduring appeal due to its inherent association with the natural world. First used by the ancient Egyptians, who created pigmented tones from minerals such as malachite and verdigris, the hue later became popular in fashion and fabrics, as well as being a symbol of life in medieval art. By the Victorian era, the popularity of green had reached its peak, prized for its intensity and light-fastness. However, a major drawback at that time was the use of toxic arsenic and lead in its production. These days, green has returned to its associations with nature, latterly representing environment and sustainability, as well as energy and serenity. Beloved by William Morris during the Arts and Crafts movement, this is a tone that is…

Depicting the form, colour and details of plant life, botanicals draw much of their heritage from the carefully studied illustrations produced by Greek botanists several centuries ago, though the Ancient Egyptians captured flora and fauna in more naïve mural form long before that. Over time, botanicals progressed from scientific designs used for research purposes into prints displayed at home as symbols of elegance and refinement, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries. As wallpaper and other mass-produced decorative elements became more common throughout the industrial revolution, botanical and floral motifs increased in popularity, cemented by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century. These days, the well-being we derive from the natural world has resulted in a renewed love for botanical and biophilic designs. Leaf…

A design that consists of long bands against a contrasting plain background, stripes are by nature eye-catching, whether they run horizontally or vertically. But although they are considered an enduring classic, both sartorially and in the interiors world, stripes have a surprisingly chequered history. In the Middle Ages, they garnered attention for controversial reasons. Widely perceived as transgressive, striped clothing was ‘relegated to those on the margins or outside the social order’ according to Michel Pastoureau, author of The Devil’s Cloth: A History of Stripes and Striped Fabric. This negative symbolism was slowly revised over subsequent centuries – striped walls, drapes and furniture became de rigueur around the time of the American Revolution; Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly added a striped tented room to Château de Malmaison to receive guests, and when…

Toile de Jouy first surfaced in 18th-century Ireland before gaining popularity across France. A printed fabric, it featured depictions of rural life, scenic vignettes and romantic patterns in repeat on unbleached linen and later, wallpapers. In 1760, to capitalise on the prevalence of this popular motif, German-born Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf opened a textile factory in Jouy-en-Josas, in the suburbs of Paris, thus coining the fabric’s name. With the help of painter Jean-Baptiste Huet, he produced a wealth of scenic designs referencing history, nature, travel and European mythology. Patterns in monotone – often black, brown, blue or red – define this classic style. Toile has since evolved to incorporate a wider colour palette and occasionally more abstract or pared-back designs. More than two centuries later, it continues to lend a sense of…