COLOURS AND SHAPES: confident interior design

As new interior design trends emerge our level of confidence wains and, periodically, we tend to follow new, strict, unwritten rules. As we absorb and come to better understand new influences, we appear to gain the necessary confidence to break some of those rules. Over the last few years British interior design has become familiar with oriental influences, retro design, simplified structural detailing, subtler use of colour and overall cleaner lines. This new "language" of design has now become so familiar that many designers are attempting slightly richer combinations.

While leafing through an old copy of Architectural Digest (Italy, Jan 2008) I came across a photograph which illustrates this approach. Interestingly however, the project belongs to a design firm based in Brescia (Angelo Brignolli and Antonio Feraboli of Studio Linea) whose background, judging by their online portfolio, is very different to that of their UK counterparts. Most of their projects appear routed in the history of Italian architecture and furniture design and executed in conpemporary style. In the bedroom shown above the predominance of clean lines and good proportions allow the designers to play with colour and softened shapes. Ethnic influences are interpreted, not slavishly obeyed. The resulting elegance in no way forfeits comfort or warmth: an interesting example of contemporary UK design from Italian designers! There are obviously many routes one can follow to competent design...

BATHROOM DESIGN: practicalities vs aesthetics

Bathroom design has changed dramatically in the UK over the last 20 years. Whereas the clean minimal look may not survive indefinitely, I doubt we will return to unhygienic fitted carpets or the “country” look any time soon. Most good decisions in interior design represent a compromise between being sensible and being fashion conscious. With bathroom design the sensible part of the equation lies with the choice of non-absorbent materials and uncluttered spaces, all of which area easier to keep clean. The fashion conscious portion of the equation relates primarily to shapes and sizes. There is in fact no other reasonable explanation as to why I can’t remember the last time I selected a 10x10cm ceramic tile, nor can I remember the last client who insisted on raised and fielded panels for their vanity unit doors. The sensible part of the equation, in this day and age, should involve us looking at waterproof membranes for shower enclosures (something which is far from standard in the UK). The fashion part involves our keeping track of the more subtle changes: basins for instance have gone from the square pedestal (with lethal pillar taps dispensing either scorching hot or freezing cold water) through the “free standing bowl phase” and onto the square look with “attitude”.
There are a number of buzz words in interior design. They change with time and depending on which part of the home you are addressing. One of those words is “wet room”. Everybody wants the wet room look and by that they mean the absence of a shower tray and a step onto the showering platform. Without getting too technical, it is clear to anybody who stops to think about it that a wet room is only possible if the shower’s waste pipe can be angled to guarantee efficient drainage. This, in many houses and flats, is simply not possible. Shower manufacturers have taken note of the demand and started producing a number of trays which try to guarantee both looks and efficiency. Not as easy as it sounds: shallower trays allow less overflow tolerance and less access for maintenance and inspections. As ever, a good compromise between practicalities and aesthetics is not easy to reach. Peter the contractor’s advice is: start by working out where your pipes need to be and how you will conceal them and then choose your sanitary ware and taps.
Practicalities however are not as much fun as design. So: have a look at the Duravit website for the latest on sanitary ware, Crosswater for taps, Hansgrohe for showers and CP Hart if you want to have a stroll through a virtual retail showroom.

FURNISHING AT STARK'S: lucite & the age of jazz

Pick up a copy of Architectural Digest online if you have moment to spare. Stark's Manhattan's showroom must be worth a visit... especially so if you are inspired by the 30s and 40s and keen on Lucite!

FLOORBOARDS: to stain, oil or varnish?

Wooden floors have become extremely popular. The trend moves towards ever wider boards, either engineered or solid. In terms of colour, light oak used to be all the rage until wenge became hugely trendy where furniture is concerned and the general taste in wooden floors followed suite, darkening. Even restricting one’s choices to oak, the old favourite, a number of important decisions remain to be made: namely colour and type of finish. Any type of wood can be tinted, darkening is easiest (through stains) while lightening can only be achieved through liming and similar procedures. My personal preference is to either select a wood I like in its natural state or to opt for a smoked finish. An oak onto which a very dark stain has been applied will reveal its original colour when scratched or dented and this will make the damage considerably harder to repair.
Once an exact shade has been agreed upon you will need to select a way of sealing it and protecting the board from traffic. The choice is between polyurethane varnishes and oils (or waxes). The first has to be applied by a specialist who will sand the entire floor and seal it with a number of coats. Ongoing maintenance of this type of finish is easier (just wash with a soft cloth) but damage cannot be rectified without the intervention of a professional who will once again sand the entire floor and re-varnish it. Oils and waxes require more maintenance (oil needs to be re-applied every few months during the first year and twice a year thereafter in my experience). However, oil is a much more forgiving finish. Should the floor become scratched or dented it is possible to lightly stain the scratch (I have successfully used boot polish in some instances) and re-seal it. Oiling a single floorboard is in fact possible and this, in cases of minor damage, is a much more viable solution.
The bottom line is that there is no bottom line with wooden floor finishes. As with most interior design related issues the decision should be made on the basis of how the property will be used. With a rental property for instance I would
- avoid a brushed finish (as the roughness imparted to the board through brushing would be removed by the sanding machine during maintenance work),
- select an oiled finish for short lets (so as to avoid costly maintenance every few months), avoid a limed finish, which shows “traffic tracks” in the most used areas.
As ever, a list of your top priorities needs to be your starting point. Gain some knowledge of products available and find the best compromise between the benefits and drawbacks that come with them. I can’t stop saying it: interior design is as much the art of excellence as it is of compromise!

SASH WINDOWS: sound insulation possible?

If traditional sash windows are the only barrier between us and London traffic we might be able to tackle the problem simply by improving or installing draught seals. As well as draughts, these seals also reduce airborne noises which find their way through the smallest and least noticeable gap.
If the problem persists one might be tempted to consider secondary glazing. Effective as this solution may be, the “aesthetic” compromises it implies often mean it is not a viable solution. If secondary glazing is not an option the sash window glazing needs to be addressed. This will need to be upgraded to a “sealed unit”, i.e. two sheets of glass sealed on all fours sides and installed, in the case of sash windows, within the sash bars. One of the sheets of glass used is often an acoustic glass. There are many types of acoustic glass, available in various thicknesses (4.4mm to 12.8mm in terms of window glazing) and designed to control various levels and types of noise. Developed and tested by the larger glass manufacturers (e.g. Pilkington Glass) the results are often not as impressive in real life situations as they may be on paper. Noise travels in waves on varying frequencies. Sound insulating materials attempt to control noise by disrupting the flow of these waves. Every time the wave passes through a barrier it is diminished and the shape of the wave is altered. Acoustic (laminated) glass is comprised of 2 or more layers, laminated together with a special film separating the layers. As the sound wave passes through each layer it is diminished: the thicker the sheet the more effective in breaking down the sound.
Here comes the inevitable compromise: as the glass gets thicker it also becomes heavier and so the weights used to raise the traditional box sash window will have to be increased accordingly. More weights will result in less room to move within the box itself and the window will therefore become less functional: the weights will have nowhere to slide and one of the sashes will effectively become fixed.
The “art” of compromise is therefore based on understanding. Sound insulation is probably best achieved via well fitted windows with good draught strips, laminated safety glass 4.4mm or 6.4 mm thick may not be quite as acoustically efficient as the best specialist glass but, at a fraction of the price, it will dramatically assist in an overall noise reduction plan.

PAINT: not as easy as it sounds

Over the last decade paint has become the finish of choice for most designers. "Off-white" has become the password when it comes to decorating. The market has moulded itself around the increase in demand and every manufacturer has created extensive ranges of lightly saturated colours. As the collective preference for lighter colours developed so did the "designer paint" market. A three tier market seems to be the result. Purely based on price, paints seem to fall into three broad categories: standard, designer and specialist. Nothing strange there. What might be surprising is how difficult it can be to select an off-white, even an extremely white off white! That's where I find quality pays off. You can spend a fortune, both in money and time, going backwards and forwards collecting samples and applying them to the wall. You can spend even more time finding out that the colour may be exactly what you wanted but the texture and lasting qualities of the paint you purchased are not up to scratch. That's when you might discover that there is a place and price worth paying for good paint and, above all, expert advice. After searching high and low for an off-white which wouldn't err on the side of pink or yellow, I discovered the expert advice of Papers & Paints. If you live outside London I am sure there must be an "old-fashioned" advice based paint specialist near you. In shops such as these you may be paying extra per gallon but if you ask the right questions you’ll be given the answers you need. I am not sure what it is in the actual makeup of paint but the best manufacturers certainly seem to succeed in avoiding crude and cheap-looking colours. Even where the more vivid hues are concerned a certain elegance is present in most colours of most top-end of the market paint collections. Is it the raw materials? Is it the research behind the formulas? While many paint shops maintain they can "scan and mix" any colour by any manufacturer in their own paint (i.e. using the paint they sell) I wouldn't bank on it looking like the “original”. There will be exceptions but think of how the same concept works in the world of fashion… There is a place for the imitation and one for the original. My standard recommendations from Papers & Paints never disappoint (see samples and application - above).