A sumptuous four poster bed that looks too comfortable to ever get out of.
By Interior Designer Elizabeth Howell-Jones
It’s no surprise that English Country Style endures and is appreciated by many not only with a British connection but anyone who cherishes a comfortable relaxed coziness that welcomes.
It’s also a very personal style in that it allows for a lot of self expression. If you are a collector it’s probably the best style for you which include some of my clients who have purchased fine china here and haven’t found the best way to display it.
Displaying your shell collection, botanical prints, family pictures, straw hats, porcelain dolls or old silver pieces will show off your enthusiasms and tastes which is an essential ingredient of this look.
No need for restraint because English Country’s charm is its accumulated, layered look. And best of all unlike Contemporary design in which every element of a room is carefully considered before being put in place, English Country can be added to as you go along. Important elements to this style are:
English chintz fabric which is usually a polished cotton fabric with a wonderful flowered pattern and should have a superb depth of colour. It can take up to twenty colour screenings to give the material its richness.
This can be a springboard to build your colour palette and your selection of drapes, upholstery material and slipcovers. Other fabrics often used are cotton broadcloth, velvet, damask, lace and even ticking.
The furniture usually consists of a big, traditional sofa with loose back cushions, an overstuffed armchair, and massive ottoman. Also appropriate are leather pieces such as wing chairs, four poster beds, upholstered headboards and in general everything big and super comfortable. Wood pieces can be either antique or good quality reproductions with a historic appeal.
Window treatments are often the focal point of an English Country room and tend to be lavish, sumptuous and often multi-layered touching the floor or puddling at the bottom.
For this style dark wooden floors are appropriate as is wood paneling on walls, wallpaper, or bright colourful painted walls, even special paint treatment finishes used with crisp white trim.
And let’s not forget the all important presence of many books stored in free-standing or built in bookcases and luxurious carpets.
If you are lucky enough to own a Cayman cottage style home this look would work perfectly.
If you feel life is too- hurried and too-busy and long for the comfortable and relaxed, you might be well suited to this style of comfortable splendour and gracefully accumulated whimsy.
Elizabeth Howell Jones has worked as an Interior Designer in Toronto Canada and here in Grand Cayman for the past 3 years. Her clients are international and local. She can be reached at Woods Furniture & Design (345) 949-5933 or elizabeth@woods.com.ky |
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