We both love color and pattern and a layered look, so we think it's logical that some sort of return to English style or English country will be the next big thing.
Mario Buatta interior designIn the 1980's into the early 1990's I was a lady-in-waiting to Mario Buatta The Prince Of Chintz, who still does what he has always done, beautiful colorful rooms filled with pattern, and layered to the nines.
Maheshwar Stripe by Sanderson 
The English never stopped loving wallpaper and prints, and tea cozies.
Holy Tea Cozy! Is English decor coming back?! The look certainly has evolved and is more modern looking, almost in a Domino way.
Finches by SandersonSanderson, a home furnishings company in the UK is celebrating 150 years of English decoration.
Lacecap by Sanderson This is a momentous occasion for the oldest surviving English brand in its field. The Sanderson story spans many eras of changing tastes and styles, and the designs have moved with the times, always reflecting contemporary style and new technologies. The company has experienced both success and struggle across its fifteen decades, and is proud to remain today a prosperous British business with an international reputation for lasting quality and timeless style.
Ever wondered who produced the first coordinated collection of mass-produced wallpapers and fabrics in Britain? Or built what has been called the world’s most fabulous decorators’ showroom and invented the hinged display screens now seen in showrooms worldwide?
How about who was first with post-impressionist wallpapers, or even earlier, the sole source in Britain of the most extravagantly expensive French papers?
How about who was first with post-impressionist wallpapers, or even earlier, the sole source in Britain of the most extravagantly expensive French papers?
Early Tulips by SandersonThen again, what company – from the Americas to the Far East – is most closely associated with the English chintz style? And who received the first Royal Warrant granted to a wallpaper manufacturer? The answers to all of these questions and more are revealed in an exhibition celebrating the 150th anniversary of Sanderson, to run from 19 March – 13 June 2010 at the Fashion & Textile Museum, London.
Love this chic Chinoiserie by Sanderson As Sanderson celebrates its 150th anniversary it marks this significant occasion, and introduces ‘Vintage Wallpapers’. Nine wallpapers offer a glimpse of treasures in Sanderson’s unparalleled archive. The resulting collection is a celebration of the creativity and diversity.
The shelter magazines in the UK have never stopped showing chintz in some form. And Tricia Guild is certainly true to keeping English style going in a huge glam way.
Tricia Guild - Pavilion fabric Yet, here in the USA we shy away from wallpaper and floral prints, not to mention color.
And layering is now associated with he dread 'C' word: Clutter.
A small segment of die hard cottage style/shabby chic decorators hang in there, but there is nothing tempting us in the vein of the great Nancy Lancaster.
The great Nancy Lancaster HEREWhat do you think? Will English style, in the form of the great English country decorators be rediscovered and be the next big trend?
I don't know if it will be next, but I bet it will BE again in some form. There are so many of us who like our "stuff" and we like to be cozy, and no matter how hard we try to be sleek and minimal the comfort and layering creeps back in. But like you said in one of your earlier posts about people and their stuff: It's such a human way to live. The only thing between me and lots of fabric these past 8 years has been the fact that I live on a dusty acre with two dusty dogs! I would love to layer more.
ReplyDeleteFunny that you should mention this. I have spoken to a few of my fabric reps who have said that English country is the next fabric trend. You may be clairvoyant!
ReplyDeleteFunny that you should mention that. I've spoken with a few of my fabric reps, and they have all said that English country will be the next big trend. Maybe you are clairvoyant!
ReplyDeleteBravo!! I say yes! But in our usual American twist... a bit fresher and younger...
ReplyDeleteI have been seeing the flower prints of Cath Kidston Every where! ( and Liberty of London prints) They look like updated chintz ...in a modern type of way....
Cath pairs the floral with the polka dots and it looks just plain Fun!! Not Stuffy at all! ...
As Seen in This months issue of House Beautiful; a wonderful example of the large florals in a beach cottage ... it looks so British to me, with an unusual exciting slant!!
I think you hit the nail on the head!
I think it will, but with a cleaner, crisper twist. There are plenty of young, hip English designers who love color, and bold patterns.~Lidy
ReplyDeleteI am solidly in the English design camp. Flowers, pattern, books, dogs and fireplaces. All me. Always.
ReplyDeleteIt will most certanly make a come back in a new form maybe, or in a more subdued way, not as colorful as you would like?? :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe, but I'm thinking chintz won't be in the forefront of peoples minds since Ikea's memorable TV ad campaign a few years ago urging we Brits to 'Chuck out the Chintz'!
ReplyDeleteThat is good news as I luv that look too. Why not have a little French, English and American style going on?
ReplyDeleteThrow in a little Eastern flair and you have got good Karma going on!
L.
Too stuffy! Too femme. I like my girliness to come through via velvets and mirrored furniture or accessories, like old fashion illustrations. But all those cabbage-y florals make me think a dude who lives there is whipped and gave up having any input.
ReplyDeleteEspecially a flouncy floral bed? Does a guy want to have sex there?
Granted. I'm 34. And my guy has an opinion - so we keep it in check.
and I prob fall into the "chic chick" category -- though I think it has many permutations and variances.
This post makes me ever so happy. I've been telling my DH that the 80's will be back minus a few impressionist paintings and "paint stroke modern" chintz. He concurs. I am all too happy to see a resurgence of British country house style in all its eclectic forms, including horsey, which is my fave.
ReplyDeleteYay Chintz!!
all hail nancy lancaster. we should all be so chic and grand.
ReplyDeletei love chintz. just not on every surface.
Let's hope that beautiful English fabrics never go out of style. They have been the staple of American design for decades. The blogs are full of rough luxe and it is getting very old. I have to wonder what some of the blog/designers are going to do when they run out of linen, seagrass and bamboo shades. Viva Mario!
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope you're right. I love chintz! I love layering! I love colour!
ReplyDeleteI hope so! I can pass on the shiny chintz of old, but it would be nice to see something besides pale linens and monochrome beige rooms. Bring on more color!
ReplyDeleteGreat images - love these textiles you should the patterns are really beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI think its all waiting to spill into the rooms. Chintz with glitz. Stylish personal mix and color. The crisp fresh greens pinks yellows of the garden. Flags, checks shapes. Love your salivating selection of pics.
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:55
ReplyDeleteIt's called using a press release that was sent to me.
Grow up and quit the immature stalking.
xo xo
The curtains with the outsized sunflowers are fab. I could see them in a modern interior or in your sister's house or mine for that matter. I love a lot of the wallpapers too.
ReplyDeleteXO-Sabina
I love chintz. (I think this is proof that I was born too late.) My mom made me a chintz laundry bag when I went to college that matched her living room pillows at the time. I can't bear to get rid of it even though I'm not carting my laundry through the dorm anymore!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think it will, but not the foppish, overdone, overstuffed 80s American take on British decor from decades past. And I don't think layering is synonymous with clutter in British decorating today, either. I look forward to the British invasion!
ReplyDelete