How to do a contemporary Arts and Crafts interior

If it was originally a response to industrialisation, then perhaps its current resurgence is a reaction to digitisation and the pace of the modern world. ‘The ethos of the Arts and Crafts movement is very relevant to life today,’ says antique dealer and designer Christopher Howe. ‘There is a renewed interest in the way furniture is made, which values materials and the revival of craftsmanship.’

It heralded a new approach in which architecture, furniture and adornments were all intended to sit in harmony. Many of the period’s key players were architects, for example Edwin Lutyens, who was renowned for his imaginative adaptation of traditional building styles, and Philip Webb, who is best known for designing the Red House in Bexleyheath as a family home for Morris in 1859.

Designer Ben Pentreath, who decorated an Arts and Crafts house in Hampstead featured in the May 2018 issue of House & Garden, is an advocate of its contemporary appeal. ‘Is there anything more soothing than the idea of a generous, friendly bay-window seat, overlooking a herb garden; or a deep inglenook fireplace, with wide oak boards on the floor and a gentle ticking of a Charles Voysey clock on the mantel?’ he asks.

Despite their rejection of Victorian frivolity, the proponents of Arts and Crafts embraced ornament – as long as it was ‘secondary to the thing ornamented’. Wallpapers and carpets were acceptable, as long as their patterns were not ‘suggestive of anything but a level or plain’. Hence the rather flat, simplified style of Arts and Crafts patterns, which continue to capture our imaginations today.

The bathroom of Rebeka Russel’s Arts and Crafts house combines William Morris ‘Willow Bough’ wallpaper with woodwork painted in Little Greene’s ‘Olive Colour’. Hector Finch wall lamps sit on either side of an old family mirror, which, like the antique arts and crafts low, rush-woven chair, originally belonged to Rebeka’s grandparents.

Dean Hearne

Living pattern

William Morris created his first pattern, ‘Trellis’, in 1862. His designs, which featured British flora and fauna and naturalistic colours, gained popularity in the 1880s and 1890s, and a huge number are still available today through Morris & Co., who’s most popular collection, ‘Pure Morris’, launched in 2016 and features neutral coloured, pared-back designs. ‘This range has taken Morris’s designs to a new audience who found the original colour palette did not work in their homes,’ says Clare Vallis, Creative Director of Morris & Co. Morris & Co also has a collection in honour of May Morris, William’s youngest daughter, who was a very accomplished embroiderer and textile designer. ‘She was ahead of her time,’ says Clare Vallis, Creative Director of Morris & Co. It is called ‘Melsetter Wallpaper’ and incorporates May’s prominent embroidery skills.