Having moved on from the neutral world we adored in early 2000, we cautiously entered a bolder stage where we introduced vibrant colour into our rooms against the existing neutral back drop, and reveled in the feature wall where we could gain confidence with colour by using some strong tones contained in just a small space.

We have now clearly found our confidence with colour and big bold geometric design which leads us effortlessly to this seasons leading trend of vibrant florals - softening the 50's geometrics we have got used to - and mixing these with monomchrome backgrounds - a polite nod back to our netral roots.  Some of our favourite designs have wonderfully artisitic roots, with beautifully executed pencil drawing work and painterly florals for a work of art on fabric. So look no further for a selection  of our favourites all available from the Julia Clare website.

Romo Beatrix Rocoto from the Fougere collection

The fabulous red background in Romo's Beatrixdesign really projects the beauty of the monochrome leaves in this design.

And for those who prefer to keep things colour free - the basic design of Amrapli in charcoal is wonderfully detailed and available in fabric and wallpaper.......

Designers Guild amrapali in charcoal

Amrapali Peony monochrome and colour mixed to great effect

And if you want more, the colour and monochrome are mixed to great effect with the Peony colourway of this fabric.

Jo Bound's Peepal Tree in Parchment from Boheme Design

This stunning design from Jo Bound is exquisitely drawn and based on the Peepal Tree at Wisley RHS gardens.

Every season we think things cant get any better but a great big thank you from us to Romo Designers Guild and Jo Bound for making us want to re-decorate again this winter!

Republic of Fritz Hansen

Buy a candle from the new Cire Trudon shop at 36 Chiltern Street, London W1 www.ciretrudon.com

Cire Trudon scented candles

Take the children to the V & A for the Magic Worlds Exhibition. Enchantment, illusions and fantasy a plenty......8th October - 4 March Cromwell Road, London

Upscale a piece of old furniture from the garage and give it a new lease of life.........

Suitcase chair

Get onto the Made By Originals website and have a look at what the designers of the hottest hotel brand Design Hotels are up to. www.madebyoriginals.com

Design Hotels

Go to the Sumarria Lunn Gallery to see this amazing piece of art from Monika Gryzmala made from tape. 12 October - 4th November www.sumarrialunn.com

Raumzeichnung by Monkia Gryzmala

One of the continuing trends this season is the 50's look and we have found this quite  a successful solution to the teen style issue.  Villa Novas High Society has been a hit with the girls, using a raspberry tone rather than pink, and mixed with the antique cream background in the fabric and wallpaper it seems to fit the vintage look quite well.  I would say that you need to use the design sparingly as too much of it just shrieks show home, but most style conscious ladies that we have worked with like to mix it up with some vintage lace, beaded accessories and home craft crochet flowers can also really accessories well with this look.

Villa Nova High Society

Crochet flowers

Villa Nova High Society in Pear

For a less feminine look Sandersons range of 50's inspired fabrics have also worked well for shared areas such as TV rooms, playrooms and games areas.  The designs again, are best used sparingly, but can work well keeping all members and ages of the family happy. It evens means that Ercol chair which has been stuck in the garage waiting to go on Ebay has finally found a home!

Sandersons 50's collection

The use of black and chocolate

in these schemes sharpens the

design for a much more elegant look.

Sandersons 50's collection in red

Its good to know that when there isn't a great deal out there for this age group you don't always have to rely on stripes and border edges to keep the schemes safe and arguments at bay. You can have some bold design which agrees with everyone, its just a matter of using it sparingly and accompanying it with the right accessories.

Sanderson's Fitzroy fabric reminds me of Romo's Avery from a few years back. Whichever you prefer I am sure they will be big sellers as not only are they beautiful fabrics, the big designs which incorporate several colours make it so so easy to pull together an entire room scheme, so they are easy to sell and sell.  All the hard work is done for you with the colour pallette laid out in one piece of fabric.

Romo Avery

Sanderon's Bloomsbury Canvas collection is stunning, and really packing the topical punch was the Fitzroy fabric in green which looks nothing like the same design in other colours - a really powerful material I can see its place in Garden rooms, conservatories and Orangeries everywhere. Shown here on the chair in just green and white it sits beautifully amongst the other strong colours, and is made bolder by the use of white which always sharpens the intensity of any colour. Its forerunner Woodland Fern from the Painters Garden collection is also a great choice for a botanical and tropical look in a slightly more classic style.

Painters Garden Woodlands Fern design

Bloomsbury Canvas collection

Another of our favourite Tropical designs this season has to be the Salamander design from Bantie.  This design looks great in any colour way and has a strong Scandinavian influence along with a Tropical subject. At its best when used with other designs from the collection, Bubbel and Korall are perfect accompaniments.

Bubbel cushion by Bantie

Bantie Salamander fabric cushion

 

And finally Designers Guild's offering of Amrapali sums up the bold vibrant fresh look of these tropical influenced fabrics, again using a stark white back ground to maximise the full effect of the lush colour and design. It looks best with a big window for a long fall of fabric but wow - what an impact. Remember that saying   "I'll get my coat"? well you might just want to change that for a bikini!

Tropical summed up with Designers Guild Amrapali fabric

 

 

 

8-11 September Milan - Italy to see Poradas latest offering and Tom Dixon's Fan Chair among other things...

100% Design

22-25 September Earls Court - London to see Paperboy Interiors, Surface View and Miss Print among other things....

Tent London

22-25 September Truman Brewery - London E1 to see Abigail Borg wallpapers and cushions, Abigail Edwards gorgeous Briar Owl wallpapers and the fabulous Mini Moderns Hold Tight collection inspired by the Transport Museum.

Decorex International

25-28 September Royal Hospital Chelsea London SW3  to see  all the new fabric and wallpaper collections by all the leading brands. 250 stands of fabric, floor and wallcoverings, lighting, furniture and accessories. Its time to completely over indulge in interiors......

Fougere Room Shot

September is arguably the most exciting month in the Interiors business - all the big shows and launches are happening right now and so there is much to show and tell. Since every leading brand is launching their new collections which will set the trend until next Spring, this month we are going to focus on the best of the new ranges in fabric and wall coverings, whats hot for the months ahead and also take a look at who's new on the scene. So without further ado, here comes Julia Clare's September.....

Our Inspirational Rooms take a look at areas that children really do want to be in, and also feminine and masculine designs for kidults, where designing can often loose its appeal due to too many conflicting opinions!

With our Now section highlighting what we are reading, and who we are following, there are a few designers to keep your eye on, along with a reflective look at this months design hero.

Now you know that saying about buses......... well I'm sure I don't need to remind you we have the biggest Interior Design shows happening next month with Decorex and 100% Design both in London during September,  so its time for me to stop rambling and get on the case for next month.

Vitra Tray £45

Something from Eames..

Eames Screen £2595

Something for the garden

Stone Seats £246

Or something for the kids

Elephant table/seat £147

Our top tip is nip on line and bag yourself a piece of design excellence at a price thats competitive and all at your own convenience. Perfect!

Its an extraordinarily collectible book, presenting forty years of the Paris based fashion house, founded by Japanese designer Kenzo Takada and now in a resurgence under artistic director Antonio Marras. The designs are so on trend its easy to see why Kenzo is back in the forefront of design, particulary in the area of interiors where the large scale florals, bold geometrics and underlying Japanese influences are a style all of their own.

The books come with a real fabric cover, and are available in three different patterns, with a pop-up that evokes the romantic textiles, envelopes, and paper craft for which the house’s fashion collection invitations are known. Additional special features include three double-sided double gatefolds, folding out to the equivalent of eight pages, and three accordian gatefolds, folding out to five pages. This book is truly an object of art in itself and a definite coffee table must have for all the design conscious among you.

Kenzo by Antonio Marras

Kenzo fabric with Roche Bobois

Great Magnusson's LA Home

Digging a little deeper, the home in the picture belonged to Swedish-born Greta Magnusson, who was among the first women to matriculate at Stockholm’s School of Industrial Design, and who built this amazing house in the hills of Los Angeles.

Apprenticed in a furniture factory Greta Magnusson met Le Corbusier and other modern masters on her travels. She established her own design shop – called Studio – in Stockholm (where her customers included Swedish royalty and Ingrid Bergman) and emerged as a rare female voice on the Swedish design scene at the time. She settled in Los Angeles in 1941, where she opened the Magnusson–Grossman Studio on Rodeo Drive and embarked on a career of furniture and house design including among her clients Greta Garbo.  She won two prestigious Good Design Awards from MoMA in the early 1950s but amazingly seems to be almost unknowned compared to her contemporaries of that time who are now enjoying and enormous resugence in interest. I had certainly never heard of her, and it was only on discovering this image that I felt compelled to find out more.

Luckily some photos of her home and interiors have come to light so lets hope 2011 will be the year she is truly appreciated for her talents.