Camden-based Folio Design is the in-house interior design company for KSR Architects. Together, they are two of London’s leading lights when it comes to the wonderful world of design within your home. Here interior designer Beth Cowan talks us through the hot new decor trends for autumn.
Autumn is, as many people will tell you, a great time to reinvent yourself. The back-to-school mind-set never quite leaves us, even in adulthood.
While the fashion designers grab the headlines with their catwalks, the interiors world quietly goes about changing the tenor of our homes with new fabrics, colours, and accessories.
Here in Folio Design studio, we’ve noticed a few trends have leapt to the front lines, which signal a rich and cosy autumn, just not the way you expect.
Embroidery is back
This is not your granny’s embroidery. Floral is making way for graphic patterns, modern shapes, and reimagined traditional weaves. The colour palette has been liberated and ranges from the ever popular neutrals to bold and bright oranges, purples, and reds.
Jab Ansoetz has a beautiful white chevron set in charcoal grey wool that perfectly sums up the new attitude to what has always been a formal and very grown up fabric.
Velvet: No longer underground
Cut-out velvets are nothing new to the market either, but cut out velvet in zebra print is something new indeed. The latest crop of patterned velvets is focusing on lightening the mood and creating movement and introducing some fun. Look for graphic patterns, and unusual motifs.
Again, colour is playing a key role. No longer neutrals, or simply monochromatic, these patterns will be unabashedly coloured.
Velvet has moved from sitting quietly in the background to hogging centre stage.
Brave new pattern
A lot of what we’re seeing can only be described as Super Hero Chic. Bold, starkly graphic, colour blocked, these are graphic novels sprung to life.
Some in bold colours, some in neutrals, these fabrics and accessories are the perfect way to inject a bit of pattern and serious colour into a room without a serious commitment.
Because they all have a base in one neutral or another, they can be quite versatile in working into an existing colour scheme.
Pastel for grown-ups
Pastel has made a comeback in interiors with the sudden re-emergence of pink as The Hot Interiors Colour.
What we’re starting to see coming in the next 12 to 24 months are more and more pastels making the leap from heritage and regency settings to contemporary high end design.
These are not baby or twee pastels; they are dirty and decidedly not simple shades. Think of them as de-saturated rather than pale, less pigment than normal, just a bit of warm grey mixed in.
If you’re unsure about the commitment, maybe start with a pastel sheer on the windows or change out the lampshades for something decidedly not off white.
At Folio Design, we’ve seen our clients becoming more open to colour in the home, seeing it as a way to enliven and personalise their homes, making a statement with their choices.
Our focus is not so much on trying to work colour into our clients homes, but understanding how to make it sophisticated and elegant without being slavish to the current trends; lively and interesting without being overwhelming. After all, it’s your home, not a fabric showroom.
Folio Design’s impressive oeuvre covers all aspects of interior design, giving the benefit of a fully integrated architecture and interior design service. KSR Architects has a proven track record in securing planning permissions and delivering to the market luxury residential developments, ranging from bespoke individual houses to multi-apartment buildings.
Visit foliodesignllp.com and krsarchitects.com for more information.
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