Spring into new trends for the home

With the New Year comes the urge for many to make a fresh start and a spring clean provides a great opportunity to revamp your home. With gloomy economic times outside, think tank The Future Laboratory predict that this will be the year of staying in. Many people are taking advantage of the sales to bring a bit more life into their living room, and turn over a new leaf in their décor and bring in some new trends for 2009.

The Country Living Magazine Spring Fair brings together a range of exhibitors with items to brighten up your home, from opulent fabrics to designer cushions. There will also be talks to provide advice on the best colour schemes for your home. Four experts from the Fair offer their advice on decorating trends for this season.

This year sees many new trends, from the best of Britain with some patriotic styles, to bold and brave patterns. Some classic looks are still big for spring though, such as monochrome, and retro is still very much in vogue for interiors this season. A key thing for 2009 is that colour and comfort are very much in. With less people likely to move this year, instead they are choosing to make their house more homely with bright colours and handmade furnishings.

Retro

Silvana Brasil of Beyond Fabrics, a company which designs and produces home furnishings using retro or vintage fabrics sourced from around the world says:

“There has been a strong theme of minimalism in interiors over the seasons, but now we are seeing a major comeback of the retro look. With bright colours, bold patterns and vintage items, we are taking inspiration from the past to brighten up our homes as we look to escape the bleak winter weather.

“Retro is a key trend for this year, reviving vintage into something modern. We research and source fabrics from around the world and use them to create something new. Bringing a more eclectic look into your home is important this spring, and our fabrics and vintage look blend ideally with this look. Also, our products encompass a major consumer demand for eco conscious or reclaimed furnishings.”

Patriotic

Interiors guru Jan Constantine has a background in fashion and interiors design as well as styling and specialising in hand embroidered textiles. Bring the best of British into your living room with red, white and blue, union jacks and national emblems with Jan’s range of hand embroidered cushions and wall hangings which have a strong patriotic theme.

“The patriotic or proud to be British feel which is in the air is a great inspiration,” says Jan. “But this is not going away and will grow more prolific as we approach 2012 with a crescendo at the Olympic Games. This year I will be adding more variations and colours to our Union Jack collection, such as fuchsia pink and leopard print.”

“Our new embroidered range of cushions and wall hangings carries on the Great British theme. It is inspired by the old wartime embroideries which used to show the battleships and the ports all around our shores. I have softened the look and put in our four national flowers - the rose, daffodil, thistle and shamrock.”

Colour

Combining subtle shades with striking splashes of colour is a key trend this season. Also contrasting colours epitomise the eclectic theme of interior design coming in for spring. Colours from understated duck egg to vibrant yellows make the spectrum of must have shades in your home.

Colour experts Farrow & Ball specialise in helping people get just the right tone in every room with their range of wallpapers and paint. Sarah Cole, Director of Farrow & Ball says, “Paint remains the easiest way to transform a room, and a relatively inexpensive one at that. Strong warm tones are a major theme this season, balanced by more neutral colours. Our top tips for 2009 are nature inspired shades, from pale costal blues to dark earthy browns.”

“This is where our range of paints comes into its own, as they offer great depth of colour because they have 30% more pigments than other paints, making strong colours even richer. We have recently launched new eco-friendly formulations, making the Farrow & Ball paint range even better for you, your family, your home and the environment.”

Patterns

From big and bold patterns, to delicate floral and brocade designs, interiors are anything but plain in 2009. Designers are taking out new ranges of eye catching wallpapers, fabrics and even home accessories. Farrow & Ball have recently unveiled their latest wallpaper collection, The Lotus Papers, which is a bold lotus flower pattern available in a range of tonal combinations and two pattern sizes.

Vanessa Arbuthnott Fabrics & Wallpapers, specialists in print and design fabrics, wallpapers and rugs, will be exhibiting at the Fair.

Vanessa Arbuthnott’s collections are inspired by her country location and have a strong nature theme. Her collections include Sky, Woodland and Seaside, with everything from flowers to birds being formed into subtle patterns.

“My designs are very much inspired by nature, and in my work I am now trying to be more environmentally friendly by using organic cotton. This year I am also launching new ranges at the Country Living Spring Fair, including Meadow, which is based around the ‘tree of life’ with birds and butterflies. I actually designed Meadow when my husband was in hospital being treated for cancer. He has responded well, and I have decided to donate proceeds of sales of products on my stand at the fair to Cancer Research.”

Jan Constantine, Vanessa Arbuthnott Fabrics & Wallpapers and Beyond Fabrics will be at the Country Living Spring Fair at the Business Design Centre from 11-15 March. Farrow & Ball’s colour consultant Joa Studholme will be hosting a talk on ‘Colour in the home’ on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th March at 1-2pm.

For further information and to book tickets, log on to Countrylivingfair.com.