One of the most exciting trends is the move toward a new classic look. It combines the best of well loved traditional design with modern colours and patterns. The impersonal state of minimalism has given way to gorgeous colourways and graphics -- rooms are both laid back and luxurious.
The library shown here is located in the Haymarket Hotel in London. Owner and Design Director Kit Kemp has honoured the building's noble lineage while updating it with a contemporary English point of view. The room is charming and homey, a delightful respite that Kemp has infused throughout the bedrooms as well as the common spaces. Kemp's award winning design aesthetic vibrates with life and leads the way in hotel style that can be immediately transferred to our home décor.
Here are a few tips for reproducing the classic modern look in your home. It begins with colour in all its glory and the fabrics that bring colour to life. Grey is the new neutral, and ranges from cool pebble to shimmering slate blue gray. Paired with white (ceiling, moulding and trim) this presents a calm background, which is necessary if you are going to decorate with lots of pattern on furnishings and carpets. Green is a perennial favourite, although the popular shades change with the times. Right now grass green and lime are prevalent for accent walls. These shades pop in an otherwise neutral setting such as a bathroom or kitchen. Blue and white are two calming colours that pair up in a refreshing, serene and often fun manner. They can live happily in any room and make the most of patterns large and small.
Upholstery fabrics are bold and full of pattern. Modern motifs are squiggles or scribbles and other haphazard graphics. You can see the scribble pattern on the two couches in the library. It's both practical and fun, and works with the patchwork sofa. Note the move from busy pattern to colour blocks that lets the eye rest. A little romance slips into the modern classic style, introducing vivid pastels. Rosy pink and teal blue pop up in old-fashioned patterns where motifs are larger than life. Back to nature is a recurring theme with butterflies and insects incorporated into floral motifs, modernized in scale and colour. More than one or two patterns can be present in the same room as long as there is a common element to connect them. Kemp has used teal blue and vivid pink to carry the theme.
You never have to start from scratch when you decide to revitalize a room. Work with some of the good pieces that you have, repaint, reupholster and add a few new elements that will underscore your fresh look. Classic modern rooms are furnished with a mix of antiques, revamped and new pieces. High gloss walls and polished surfaces are rich and reflective, balanced by soft to the touch velour, felt, velvet, and ultra smooth soft leather. Check out accessories with a modern design edge. A shape such as the spindle that you recognize in furniture legs is a classic detail that is showing up in modern applications -- a funky set of candlesticks, a lamp base topped with a wild shade.
And finally, there is a return to hand crafts -- crochet, embroidery, and hand-painted details. These original, exclusive items are the quintessential personal touch that makes your home so special.
Debbie Travis' House to Home column is produced by Debbie Travis and Barbara Dingle. Please email your questions to house2home@debbietravis.com.
