London Design Week March 2012

Yesterday I went to Chelsea Harbour with a couple of colleagues from work for the start of London Design Week.  Following a very interesting lecture entitled "Trade Secrets: The Lightbulb Moment" we had a quick visit to a few showrooms before heading back home.

We've seen most of the new Spring collections as the reps have been out to the showroom but the highlight for me yesterday was the new Zoffany Arden collection and we were lucky enough to meet the collection's designer Melissa White.  It's a really lovely collection of wallpapers and fabrics which takes its inspiration from Elizabethan wall paintings of the late 16th century.

Photo by kind permission of Melissa White

In the image above, the painted stripe covers all four walls, including doors, hinges, and the stone fireplace.  It was found in the Merchant's House, Marlborough, Wiltshire and was the inspiration behind Zoffany's Merchant House Stripe wallpaper (shown below in Norsk Blue).  The house was built by Thomas Bayly, a prosperous silk merchant and the painted stripe is thought to represent striped silk hangings. (The Merchant's House is open to the public - for details and opening times please see their website - I shall definitely be making a visit!)

Photo by kind permission of Melissa White

To read more about the inspiration behind 'Merchant Stripe' (and other designs in the collection) please see the April edition of The World of Interiors.  You can also read more on-line on the House & Garden website.

London Design Week opens to the public on Wednesday 14th March and runs until Friday 16th March.