High-style homeware and interior trends for a spring refresh
Spring calls for sprucing up your living quarters, from joyful tiles and rug art to eco-friendly furnishings
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Perhaps it is down to a fresh burst of Vitamin D vitality or the seasonal urge to bring colour into our homes, but spring creates an undeniable itch to sort, spruce, prim and paint. It’s also inevitable that garden get-togethers will segue into late-night living room parties, so you want to make sure that your sofa and bar cart look the part. Stock up on spring candles and invest in the latest textile and tiling trends, including rippling wavy patterns across everything from wallcoverings to rugs. Read on for the interior design brands and new-season pieces you need to hit refresh on your home this spring.
The tiles: Bert & May
Bert & May is chief purveyor of encaustic tiles with a chalky, matte finish. Its geometric designs are catnip for Instagram, ranging from colourful constellations to Bauhaus-inspired black and white patterns. The new Ric Rac collection has been designed by Samantha Todhunter, known for her vivacious interiors with a welcome dash of wit. Capturing the ongoing zeitgeist for undulating scalloped edges (also see Matilda Goad lampshades), wavy lines can be pieced together to form a lattice or stripe. Tiles are available in bright bubblegum pink and clashing red, or buoyant shades of blue, redolent of retro seaside patterns.
The collaboration: Soho Home and Eva Sonaike
Soho Home has unveiled a limited-edition collection created in collaboration with Eva Sonaike. The London-based designer of Nigerian heritage is known for her textiles crafted from Ljoba and Okan fabrics, inspired by west African wax cloth. Discover covetable knotted rugs and cushions in rich, sunbaked terracotta and tropical green tones, inspired by Ghana’s botanical gardens.
From £295, sohohome.com
The cushions: Colourful prints
The Goring scatters its sofas with House of Hackney cushions. Cameron House in Scotland is strewn with textiles by Timorous Beasties, while Kit Kemp designs her own whimsical furnishings for the Firmdale Hotels group, which includes the Ham Yard Hotel in Soho. Let your home rival any five-star hotel by investing in exuberant cushions that feel as good as they look.
With a shop on Walton Street in Chelsea, Andrew Martin’s fanciful designs feature prowling leopards, swinging monkeys and richly coloured rainforests, while Gergei Erdei’s bright new collection evokes hot, heady days on the Med, in sunny shades of fern green and saffron yellow. Both are made in Britain and stuffed with sustainably sourced duck feathers.
The trend: Rug art
Far more than a simple floor covering, rugs can be a work of art, as impactful as a painting. For those seeking a wall-to-wall design or something entirely bespoke, no project is too ambitious for The Rug Company, with showrooms in Chelsea and Holland Park. This is where you will find the one per cent in their natural habitat, caressing woven, hand-tufted and knotted designs, all made in Nepal. The Rug Company also collaborates with the industry’s leading fashion designers and tastemakers, including Mary Katrantzou and Martin Brudnizki.
House of Hackney’s maximalist rugs and runners are created in collaboration with Axminster Carpets, the historic manufacturer of the world’s finest floor coverings. Saber tigers and swirling bouquets are luxuriously woven from environmentally friendly British wool, in a delicious palette of sage green and seashell pink. Floor_Story in Hackney boasts a collaborative collection with Henry Holland, awash with ravey, wavy swirls in neutrals and acid brights.
Too good to stand on? Try hanging it on your wall à la Beata Heuman (also a loyal Rug Company customer). She fashions BFGF rugs as wall hangings and headboards – browse these alongside other covetable textiles at A New Tribe in Hackney.
The candles: Spring scents
An abundance of new seasonal candles means spring is in the air, quite literally. Vilshenko’s inaugural home fragrance collection draws on the same Russian heritage as its ready-to-wear collections. Ornamental keepsake tins resemble Matryoshka dolls, which are large enough to fit in the palm of your hand. The Spring Doll candle bursts with blackcurrant, rose, orange blossom and tuberose, tempered by warm nutmeg and patchouli.
Henry’s Townhouse is a private rental property in Mayfair, which was once the home of Jane Austen’s brother Henry. Decorated by Russell Sage Studio, it is packed full of candles, which are now available to buy. Designed to encapsulate Regency drama and grandeur, each one will undoubtedly bring a touch of regal opulence to your home.
The furniture: Rockett St George
A sofa is arguably the most important piece of furniture in your house, aside from your bed. Rockett St George’s new foam-free, eco-sofa range is made in the UK using a velvet-style fibre created from recycled plastic bottles and is available in shades of mustard, mink and olive.
The product: A bar cart
We have commented on the return of the home bar before. Many lockdowns later and the drinks trolley, or ‘bar cart’ as it is referred to by interior designers, remains a covetable and striking design feature that can be rolled from the living room to the bathtub. Welcome at-home Happy Hours with Graham & Green’s Art Deco designs or go full Mad Men with Soho Home’s selection in glass, brass and marble. What to serve? Elephant Gin, an independent German gin that contributes 15 per cent of all profits to support the preservation of African wildlife.
