New Lorca Collection for Spring ’16

We were fortunate enough to have our lovely sales rep from Osborne & Little come into the office the other week to show us the new collections for spring 2016, and by the amount of samples we ordered you can tell we absolutely fell in love with everything! However what really struck a chord were the wonderful new Lorca collections, Aradonis and Aradonis Weaves!

There are some wonderfully bright and colourful patterns and colours being used that are sure to put a spring in your step and into your interiors.

Hanging fabric: Yolanta, back of chair: Loana, seat: Calina

The inspiration for the collection comes from the style, architecture and general aesthetics of the Eastern Mediterranean visualised in a modern, contemporary way. The collection sees Lorca’s distinctive signature colours including fuchsia, lavender, orange and turquoise mixed together with a new palette of apple, hyacinth, linen, saffron, taupe and black.

What’s so lovely about this collection is that each pattern is inspired by something specific, you can really imagine a designer’s journey through the Mediterranean and the places they visited and the things they saw. The ‘tree of life’ pattern in the hanging fabric above takes its inspiration from mosaics in a Byzantine Palace. The inspiration for the pattern, just like all the patterns in the collection has then be translated into a contemporary design with just the right combination of snappy 21^st century colours and historical and traditional nostalgia.

Hanging fabric and cushion: Aradonis Stripe, sofa and base of footstool: Calina, top of footstool: Loana.

There’s a lovely sleekness to the Aradonis Stripe design and a sense of fun in the colours that gives the fabric a light-hearted nature. The fabrics in this photograph all take inspiration from various items of clothing, the stripe from the costume of a temple dancer, the Calina design from an antique Maltese belt and the Loana from an ottoman waistcoat.

Hanging fabric: Natalia

This beautiful floral design on a mixture of viscose and silk is absolutely stunning and is a fantastic way to do glamour and florals without the scheme looking dated or tacky. The design follows suit of a brocade spotted by a designer in a Cypriot villa, and is beautifully elegant, reflecting the rays of sun amazingly.

Hanging fabric (left): Fombelle, hanging fabric (right): Palatine

These two fabrics are absolutely perfect if you’re looking for something vibrant and contemporary to revamp a room. On the left, Fombelle a lovely embroidered feather pattern that also comes in a vivid palette of colour for a really contemporary look. Palatine, the fabric on the right was influenced by rope work seen at a quayside on Syracuse, Sicily. You can really feel the energy of the sources of creativity shine through into the patterns and designs, and knowing their origins helps to paint a rather enticing picture of a rich history for your interiors.

Hanging fabric and cushion: Palestrina, sofa: Calina

The Eastern Mediterranean heritage and culture shine through in the Palestrina fabric, having acquired its name from the ancient city in Italy. It’s a spectacular combination of regal damask design with modern hues in the background and is absolutely ideal for dressing up any room and creating a little Mediterranean getaway.

The Dolenia fabric makes a rather lovely finish, the beautiful silhouettes of the leaves overlapping one another is akin of looking directly underneath a tree in full bloom and seeing the sun beam through the foliage.

Hanging fabric: Dolenia, cushion and base of footstool: Calina, top of footstool: Loana

Another simply stunning collection from Lorca to feast your eyes on, we can’t wait to use them!

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The Art of Animal Prints

Blog by Philippa Rosselli

I have always loved the use of animal prints in both fashion and interiors; but I think people are often faced with issues in finding the right balance between being a little too Cruella de Vil with their animal prints and getting it spot on (no pun intended). In the last few decades animal patterns and furs stopped being associated with the glamour of old Hollywood and instead began acquiring a bad rep; partly to do with our regard for our furry friends and also their overuse by less than A list celebs. Fortunately there are some great animal prints and faux furs available that provide a perfect addition to glamorous and quirky interiors and won’t put you on the wrong side of PETA!

Christian Lacroix wallpaper is sporting some spots and stripes this season via abstract leopard and tiger patterns. Available in multiple, vibrant colours, this is a thoroughly modern way to play around with prints; so if you’re worried about your interior looking a little dated, these papers deliver contemporary living for the brave!

Christian Lacroix Pantigre Topaze Kiwi wallpaper from Designers Guild

If you want to create a true animal print effect then the Santo Sospir wallpaper in Dore could be the one for you but if flamboyance isn’t your thing and you still want an abstract approach to animal patterns, then the pattern handily comes in a beautiful creamy colour as well. This would give any wall a hint of sizzle without being overly explosive.

Christian Lacroix: Santo Sospir, Dore (left) and Nacre (right), both from Designers Guild

Osborne & Little’s 2015 Spring Collection is also seeing an array of animal prints that certainly bring the ‘wow’ factor. This python fabric comes in two styles; a natural, and a wildly vivid colour scheme (see below). It could be the perfect finishing touch to a clean-cut room that makes your interior design skills stand out from the crowd.

Naga fabric by Lorca from Osborne and Little

For a touch of Hollywood glamour, Osborne & Little’s Kesi Velvets in Pantanal and Pardus could be the icing on the cake for your home. Whether you want to feature the fabrics in a few cushions, a sofa pouffe or even go the whole nine yards and use it for an entire sofa, these velvets give a warm, vintage feel to any home.

Osborne & Little: Kesi Velvets, Pantanal

Osborne & Little: Kesi Velvets, Pardus

To me, a fun way to play round with animal prints in your home can be achieved by using zebra stripes. A friend of mine has always displayed two large zebra striped sofas in her living room, paired with lime green and bright orange cushions, and I have always felt that this setup matched her wacky personality perfectly.

Jonathan Adler has some great rugs and cushions that adopt zebra motifs in a cartoony light-hearted way.

Zebra Peruvian Llama flat weave rug from Jonathan Adler

Zebra pop throw pillows from Jonathan Adler

Or for a more modest and elegant style, you could try a few fabrics from Swaffer’s Serengeti collection, which features a lovely, sophisticated zebra print.

Swaffer: Serengeti Collection, Debra 05

If you want to play around with your style then using animal prints and motifs to accessorise your home is a great way to do it. Animal prints are a versatile theme that have been used in different eras and countries, so whatever your style there’s an animal print that will be perfect for you. They say a leopard can’t change its spots, but your home style certainly can!

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New collections from Osborne and Little

The new collections from Osborne and Little bring a wonderful explosion of colour and pattern to the interior decorators’ store cupboard this Spring with wonderful embroideries, vibrant prints, sparkly wallpaper and more than a hint of sophisticated unapologetic animal print. There are some really lovely designs in the collections and we are delighted to already be incorporating them into our designs.

The beautiful Chandor embroidered fabric inspired by India and the East Indies

A lovely bit of luminous snake skin – divine!

Great colour combinations in the Lorca collection

I love the Suleyman fabric shown here as curtains

Lovely cobalt prints are still right up to date

Delicate sparkly wallpaper which is just so pretty

A lovely bit of seaside without being twee

You’ve got to love leopard print, and fortunately I do, and then this fabric is a dream

Possibly for a dog coat? Sorry couldn’t resist.

See the Osborne and Little website for more of the collection.

 

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Joyous new collections from Osborne and Little

Lovely Lizze from Osborne and Little came to see us last week with some fab new fabric and wallpaper collections that are colourful, creative and quitely glamorous – we can’t wait to get our hands on the samples!

The Amerindia collection is inspired by the designs of the American Indian Tribes and features rich earthy colours and thick soft weaves.

This delightful fabric (Soumak) in soft colour mixes reminded of the wonderful dogtooth check Chanel suits – if its good enough for couture, it’s probably good enough for a sofa!

There are some gorgeous embroideries in the collection – I particularly love the white on grey cushion at the back which has delicate sequins sewn into it.

The Elcho print by Nina Campbell is charming and fun and comes in a great range of colours.

This exquisite design is from a guest artist and is stunning in both fabric and wallpaper. It comes in a wonderful range of colours but actually the black on neutral is divine – and a litte touch of it will be featuring in my house quite soon! 

Amytis is a glorious mix of colourful embroidery on sophisticated grey linen.

And finally a beautiful wallpaper from Nina Campbell called Ardwell which looks particularly stylish in this warm Wedgewood blue.

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