Let’s tesselate

Geometrically inspired designs are a current theme in interiors, including a pleasing inclination towards tessellation.  For those who don’t know, tessellation is a distinct type of pattern where one shape is repeated without any gap or overlap when placed side by side. These sorts of patterns often appear in interiors, and their appealing geometric qualities often result in an interesting and cohesive design. Here are a few examples for you to enjoy.

The work of fabric designer, Eleanor Pritchard is characterised by bold geometric and graphic reversible patterns making use of inky tones and sharp accents.  Her focus on geometry means that several of her designs have beautiful tessellating patterns.

This grey cushion shows the ‘Northerly’ range, made up of a repeated stepped shape. £96

The ‘Easterly’ range is the same pattern as above but with a striking retro yellow and grey palette. £230

Pritchard’s beautiful ‘Quail’s egg’ design is made up of a repeated double triangle bow shape.  £230

Cushions from top, ‘Easterly’, ‘425 Line’ and ‘quail’s egg’. £96 each

The hexagonal ‘Pov candleholder’ by Menu is cool and quirky, and as a tessellating shape it can be built up to form a larger pattern on your wall.

Available from Skandium. £30

Using the same shape, Merve Kahraman has designed this extraordinary ‘ Diplopia Monochrome’ table, and goes a step further by emphasising the 3D cube optical illusion. This stereographic effect is produced through combining different shades of marble.

Contact Merve Kahraman for prices.

Iconic chair company, Vitra, have recently brought out the ‘Maharam pillows’ range, designed by Hella Jongerius. This includes a selection using the classic tessellating Hound’s tooth check, but with a colourful twist!

In pink…

Moss…

Cocoa…

And in Lemon.

Available at Skandium. £130 each

Tiles tessellate by nature and ceramic company, Made a Mano play to this by incorporating the tessellating theme into some of there designs. One example is the Komon Natura Viceversa, which Inspired by Japanese small decorations, is made up of an isosceles triangle repeatedly rotated.

Contact Made a Mano for prices

The folded forms of origami and sculpted paper often come from repeat patterns of one shape to form a structure, which can be very simple or rather complex as is shown by the two examples of folded light pendants below.

‘Kami, white paper pendant shade’ from Habitat. £60

‘Luci, red fabric geometric shaped pendant shade’ from Habitat. £20

 

This blog first appeared on the Cambridge Evening News website.

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Treading carefully

I recently came across Made a Mano, a unique company who produce a fantastic range of domestic ceramics using unusual materials such as lava stone that makes for a resilient and refined finish.

What I love most about their work are their ceramic tiles, which in many of their projects are used for amazing floor designs. Their projects are an inspiration – but also a reminder that the floor is not a part of the room to be forgotten in the course of design, even if it is hidden beneath our feet! Here are some examples of some inspiring floor treatments.

Cristilli tiles by Made a Mano, made from smooth lava stone and terracotta. I love the Herringbone layout that Made a Mano have chosen to do on this project.

Made a Mano have used some of their more traditional tiles to decorate this gorgeous household step.

Here, Made a Mano have used their extremely resilient tiles to decorate both the floor and the walls with the same tile design.

I have seen some fantastic rugs recently, especially from The Rug Company. This example is called ‘spectrum’.

Climbing leopard by Diane von Furstenberg, from The Rug Company

Cowhide flower rug by The Rug Company

Farrow and Ball have recently showcased some of their floor paints with some innovative faux stair runner and rug designs.

Alternative flooring has some great stair runner designs, especially their ‘inspiration’ range where they let you design your own. Here are a few examples.

So tread carefully and keep a look out for what you are stepping on.

 This blog first appeared on the Cambridge Evening News website 

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