For centuries, the British approach to decorating – layered, eccentric, relaxed, evolved, never overly done – has inspired interiors all around the world. From the convivial country-house style forged by Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler (and carried forth today by Ben Pentreath and Rita Konig) to the artistically intervened homes of the Bloomsbury Group’s members, our decorative instincts have long been influenced by multiple centuries, eras, designers and art movements.
Consider David Hicks’ wildly clashing geometric-patterned chromatics, Robert Kime’s well-travelled antiques, faded hues and Eastern-inspired prints, or Rose Uniacke’s stealth simplicity. Our style is a collision of cultures and continents; art, music and theatre; aristocracy and rebellion; irreverence and ‘a slight element of, not bad taste exactly, but something with character’, hazards Kit Kemp, whose whimsical, colourfully patterned and eclectic interiors are greatly admired in her hotels on both sides of the pond.
The essence of British taste – ‘refined, considered and timeless’ – resonates globally, agrees Dominic Myland, CEO of the UK’s oldest family-run paint manufacturer (a favourite of the Royal Household, James Bond filmsets and leading museums and galleries). He has witnessed first-hand how Mylands’ rich greeny-blue ‘Burlington Arcade’ (named after the Mayfair shopping destination) has become a huge hit in the US.
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Designer Tom Morris, whose interiors blend a very ‘English mix of post-war, antique and Arts and Crafts influences’, reckons only a Brit could have conjured paint names such as Farrow & Ball’s ‘Elephant’s Breath’ and ‘Railings’. Developed initially in the 1990s for the National Trust, these colours ‘evoke a sense of time and place that, much like British decorating, offers a romance and respect for the past that is subtle and timeless,’ says Patrick O’Donnell, Farrow & Ball’s brand ambassador.
We are amazingly archive-rich in the UK. ‘The Cole & Son wallpaper archive is almost absurd in its breadth,’ enthuses Waldo Works designer Tom Bartlett of the way its traditional wallpaper patterns used in the Houses of Parliament and Royal Palaces are cleverly updated in transformative new colourways (this year’s second ‘Classic Collection’ volume, released for the brand’s 150th anniversary, is a case in point).
The Brits are certainly ‘a little bit bonkers when it comes to colours and boldness,’ says Marie Karlsson, MD and creative director of Cole & Son. ‘We are the superstars of flowers, we love quirk. We live history and art.’
The impact of Liberty’s 60,000-piece archive is also impossible to ignore (and greatly appreciated by its growing fan base in countries including Japan). ‘We are in constant dialogue with the archive,’ says Liberty Interiors’ head of design Genevieve Bennett, ‘pulling forward threads from the past while pushing into new territories, its designs are being constantly reinvented, recoloured and simplified for a modern audience with experimental colours, scales and forms.’
Equally, GP & J Baker’s archive is packed with some of the most celebrated designs in textile history (‘Oriental Bird’, ‘Magnolia’, ‘Nympheus’). Ann Grafton, the brand’s MD and creative director, sees their role as ‘guardians of the past and innovators for the future’.
Indeed, it is important not to be slavish to the past. Emily Mould, Romo Group’s director of design and excellence notes how ‘the ability to reinterpret long-held craft-led processes like hand-drawn and painted artwork and block printing [notably the brand’s new ‘Aubin’ collection] with modern relevance is what sets British design apart’. This brings a ‘soulfulness to a space,’ says designer Linda Boronkay (formerly responsible for the modern eclectic vibe of Soho House’s interiors), that ‘speaks to the heart as much as the eye’.
The beauty of our countryside bears equal influence on our collective decorating style. In a new weave collection, Christopher Farr Cloth has captured the depth and mood of British interiors in hues inspired by ‘the ephemeral beauty and movement of rain, which, let’s be honest, couldn’t feel more British,’ says creative director Michal Silver. Designers Guild, meanwhile, has drawn on Cornwall – its dramatic coastline and its enduring artistic scene (Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron and Bernard Leach were among its acclaimed residents) – for a new collection that will feel ‘earthy, refined, quietly sophisticated but contemporary’, enthuses its founder and creative director Tricia Guild.
Naturally, British decorating is tied to centuries of curiosity and culture, from the gilded glamour of the Georgians to the adventurous Victorians who brought back treasures from exotic lands. The Great Exhibition of 1851 – and the rise of purveyors such as Heal’s, Liberty and William Morris – as well as the post-war Festival of Britain held a century later (where designers including Terence Conran, Robin and Lucienne Day came to the fore) celebrated British imagination, manufacturing and daring.
It’s a narrative that plays out across books and screens: ‘The Regency joy of Jane Austen, the 1920s glamour of Downton Abbey,’ notes O’Donnell – but catapulted forward by the influences of today’s British melting pot of ‘people from all over the world, bringing with them a welcome myriad of different points of view in design, craft and culture,’ adds Martin Brudnizki, globally sought-after for his show-stopping, flamboyant interiors.
While our die-hard love for big, blousy, chintzy florals, ticking stripes and velvets endures, and can be seen resonating through today’s trends for colour-drenched, theatrical interiors, pattern-on-pattern maximalism, granny chic and cottage core, Cassandra Ellis, whose Atelier Ellis natural paints come in shades inspired by the British landscape, smells change in the air.
‘In between traditionalism and modernity, there is a middle waiting for a revolution, where every corner isn’t filled with colour and pattern,’ she says. It’s time for floral curtains and a really simple industrial stainless-steel kitchen. ‘Our decorating is a bit of this and a bit that, mixed with beautifully made things, things passed down, bought things and found things (maybe repainted or reupholstered), but it is never shambolic.’
Philip Hooper, joint MD of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, agrees: ‘The younger generations are very design-literate, but not just about one period; it’s an encyclopaedic knowledge across the board,’ he argues.
‘They don’t want the Four Seasons hotel look, they want that brand of Britishness that’s unique – instinctive, imperfect, characterful, inquisitive, non-formulaic – reimagined in some way with an appreciation for craft and comfort.’
Contemporary brands such as House of Hackney (Victorian botanicals with a gothic twist) and Colours of Arley (reinventing classic stripes in bold colourways) have captured nostalgia and familiarity but made it sexy too. Today’s British interiors, says Hooper, reflect
‘a confidence in mixing things up’.
So, when it comes to British decorative style right now, it seems the words of Arts and Crafts pioneer William Morris – ‘have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’ – still hold true nearly 150 years later. The difference, though, is today’s British interior decorating ‘doesn’t really have rules’, says Sanderson’s lead designer Rebecca Craig. ‘It’s the panache with which you put them all together that makes is quintessentially British.’
