Opposites Attract

I'm sure people who follow me on Pinterest must think I've lost my mind with all the images I've been saving recently of these colour combinations, but have you ever wondered why some colours just "go better " together?  In some cases, it's a happy accident but the study of colour is something that has been researched for many years.  Most of us are familiar with the present day colour wheel, but did you know that the first circular diagram of colour was developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666?  It's obviously been 'tweaked' over the years by different artists and scientists and there are different versions in place but they all strive to serve the same purpose - to show how different colours relate to one another.

The purpose of this post is to show how the colours opposite one another on the colour wheel translate to room schemes but to read more, there's a really useful article here.

So here goes - starting with the colour combinations formed using the primary colours and their opposite colours ..........

Blue and Orange

Blue and Orange as created by nature
















Image below saved from love-your-home.co.uk via Pinterest

Image above saved from Jane Churchill via Pinterest

Blue and orange tiles.  

Image above saved from Caoba via Pinterest.

These are modern tiles but blue and green tiles have been around for years - the tiles below are at Palacio de Pilatos in Seville.  A very inspirational place and one I'd love to go back to.

And if a completely blue and orange is too much, just go for fabrics on cushions!

Image saved from fabricsandpapers,com

My sister moved into a new house and inherited orange velvet curtains which she really didn't like.  As they were at almost every window on the ground floor, replacing them all was a big project.  She replaced one pair and we used one of the discarded curtains to make new cushions for her blue sofas (backs and piping) and I found a fabric which had orange and blue in it for the fronts.  (Pierre Frey Mil Neufchatel Vingt for the fronts).

Red and Green

Red and green as created by nature (and a Cox & Cox jug!)


















Image saved from Laura Ashley via Pinterest














Image on the right saved from Apartment Therapy via Pinterest

Red and green antique tile.  Image saved from Tias.com via Pinterest,

Image saved from British Designer tiles via Pinterest.

Red and green is a colour combination which seems to be particularly suited to kitchens!  The image below is saved from Made in Heaven

And here's my kitchen below.........

This red and green fabric is saved from Fabrics and Papers via Pinterest.

Yellow and Purple

Yellow and purple as created by nature

And here are a couple of interiors ...............

                                                                                   

Image saved from Heart Home via Pinterest




















Image saved from Home Shopping Spy via Pinterest.

Image saved from House to Home via Pinterest.

Mosaic tiles image saved from Depositphotos.com via Pinterest.

Poppies wallpaper from Sanderson via Pinterest.

Toile fabric saved from Spoonflower via Pinterest.

Thanks for stopping by!

Spring Collections 2017

Last week was London Design Week.  I didn't go unfortunately but we have had an influx of new pattern books at work lately so I thought I'd do a short piece featuring a few of my favourite new fabrics.

Zoffany
Kempshott, Atticus and Elswick Paisley

Zoffany
Marketa, Odell, Hadleigh and Cybele

Zoffany
Cybelle, Atticus and Elswick Paisley all in different colourways

Mark Alexander
Moja, Origin and Cezanne

Mark Alexander
Khari, Malian and some of their lovely new trimmings!

Mark Alexander
Origin and Cezanne in different colourways, and Haboro

Osborne & Little

Jamboree, Carnival, Pageant and Mikado Velvet

Travers 

Happy Dragons, Temple Lattice and Marin

Travers

Marin and Temple Lattice

Travers

Grand Bazaar, Astor Velvet and Beverly Velvet

Travers

Astor Velvet, Grand Bazaar and Luna

Manuel Canovas

Devani (stripes) and Daya 

Manuel Canovas

Alegranza

Manuel Canovas

Sona, Daksha, Amala Sarla and Hansa

Pierre Frey

Yima and Hanoi

Pierre Frey

Helong, Petits Chanps and Wuxi

Pierre Frey

Fujin and Bo

Pierre Frey

47, Hanoi, Dongtai and Tieling

That's the best of the bunch so far 

Thanks for stopping by!

Stair Coverings

We received a new brochure yesterday from Roger Oates which has some lovely new products so I thought I'd do a quick post on stair coverings.

Roger Oates produce beautiful flatweaves for hallways and stairs, as well as rugs - and all woven in the UK!  The one which first caught my eye is Kasuri in Indigo ........

Kasuri is from the new Eastern Collection and also comes in Onyx and Cherry.

Also in the Eastern Collection are designs called Kobe, Kyoto which also come in a range of colours but I've shown them both here in the Jade colourways:

Kobe Jade

Koto Jade

There are lots of gorgeous colourful designs as well as a range which uses natural un-dyed Shetland wool in shades ranging from cream to black - very smart!  This one is Swanson Light Grey.

Alternative Flooring also have a good range of options for stairs from sisal to wool in plains, , herringbone, stripes and for the more adventurous - Fair Isle, diamonds, spots plaids and even zebra print! For many of them you can add a linen border to make a stair runner rather than close carpeting.  Here is a small selection from Alternative Flooring:

Super Sisal Boucle Bramley

Sisal Herringbone Hambledon

Wool Cord Olive

Rock 'n' Roll Moondance  

Fair Isle Collection
by Margo Selby

Quirky Tess Duck Egg

Quirky Skinny Natural 

Quirky Dotty Duck Egg

Quirky Fling Duck Egg

Alternative Flooring offer lots of binding options in lots of colours, from plain cotton and linen to stripes, 'Fishscales', suede, leather and faux leather.

Cotton Herringbone Lunar

Linen Lead

Herringbone Green

Like Alternative Flooring, Crucial Trading also offer the option of adding a border to their carpets to make stair runners.  Here are a few of their carpets, starting with wools:

Oregon Stripe Oyster / Stone

Wilton Svelte Willow

Chicago Sage

Fabulous Diamond

And here are a few of their sisals:

Basket Silver

Harmony Herringbone

Herringbone Mist

Oriental Topaz

Harry Zinc

Crucial Trading offer a range of borders in various colours:

Cotton Picallo

Linen Basketweave

Normal Leather

Worn Leather

Suede

Cotton Herringbone

Stairrods (UK) Ltd offers a good range of (as the name suggests!) stair rods to give your stairs the finishing touch.




Blacksmith Black Ball


















Blacksmith Steel Flat

















Premier Balmoral Antique Bronze









They also do a range of doorbars in various finishes to neatly finish a room no matter what the floor covering is (carpet to hardfloor, hardfloor to hardfloor, carpet to carpet).

Thanks for stopping by!