Lovely blogpost by interiors writer Rachael. Read the original piece here
Clockwise from centre // Pleasure Gardens 1 by Jessica Zoob – from £69 | Botanical Cushion, Matalan – £8 |Butterfly Embroidered Cushion, Matalan – £10 | Plain Chenille Cushion, Matalan – £6 | Bamboo Solid Wood Flooring, Wickes | Vines Wool Rug, West Elm – from £109 | Boston Bedstead, John Lewis – £160 | Traditional Floor Lamp in Antique Brass, Ocean Lighting – £71.04 | Lazy Linen in Dusty Pink, Loaf – from £15
If you aren’t familiar with the beautiful work of Jessica Zoob, then quite frankly, where have you been? Her work is everywhere at the moment (as it should be), especially since her recent collaboration with Romo Black which has seen her stunning paintings translated onto a range of textiles, wall-coverings and cushions. I had the pleasure of seeing her work in person at the end of last year in a show at London’s Loughran Gallery, and can guarantee that it is even more spectacular in person.
So, for today’s post I wanted to draw on my love of art and talk about how I would style one of Jessica’s amazing paintings. For this post I have chosen one of my favourites – Pleasure Gardens 1. I love how it is so fresh and vibrant, yet full of intrigue and depth.
I think it is really important when choosing an art work for a space to match the feeling of a piece with the feeling you want to create in a room. Even if a piece works in terms and colour and dimensions, if it doesn’t complement the overall feel of a room you just won’t get the most out of it.
Personally I would hang this particular painting in a bedroom. With bedroom décor it is important to achieve the right balance between invigorating and relaxing (no easy task) as it is the first place you see when you wake up and the last when you go to sleep. The combination of pastel colours and spring-like flowers in the painting above fits the bill perfectly, as it is lively without being too in-your-face.
An art work is a great focal point upon which to base a design scheme. For Jessica’s painting above, I would keep the walls and floor very simple to avoid clashing with the various details and colours. However, to stop the room becoming bland and to liven up plain white walls I would highlight a few key colours in the painting through textiles and accessories. For example, here I have styled it with mis-matched green cushions and relaxed pale pink bed linen. I have also added a bed frame and lamp with brass detailing to really bring out the green tones in the painting.
The style of the painting is very loose, relaxed and expressive, so I would be sure to translate this throughout the rest of the interior in order to enhance rather than fight against the nature of the work. As such, mis-matched patterns, crumpled bed-linen and a variety of textures all work really well here as they contribute to the comfortable, playful feel of the painting.
Where would you place this painting?
