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Welcome to It’s time to rethink.., a new series where we’ll be bringing some of our favourite neglected (and at times mildly controversial) decorative elements back in to the spotlight. Get ready to pore over patchwork, sigh about stripes, and have a moral tussle about whether you’re ready for the return of tented ceilings.
In this installment we take a look at why you should be condidering a canopy for your bed…
HOW TO DO IT
1.
Kravet’s XU Garden linen in the orkid colourway has been used for the curtains in the main bedroom. The addition of a large basement extension to this Edwardian house freed up space on the upper floors for bright and capacious rooms, and a more fluid layout ideal for family living. Owners Dominic and Claire chose design duo Bunny Turner and Emma Pocock to decorate the home.
2.
The walls of this spare bedroom have been painted mauve to contrast with the elegant cream vanity. The pelmet box over the headboardoffers a canopy effect, creating the feeling of a four poster bed.
3.
This blue bedroom features a striped canopy over the bed. For a similar paint colour, try Fair Blue from Edward Bulmer Natural Paint (and read how to use natural paint).
4.
Edward Bulmer’s Azurite paint has been used on the walls of this blue bedroom, which stars a four-poster bed with a pink canopy from Soane. The design is part of The Scheme: Opposites Attract by Gabby Deeming.
5.
This canopy in Nicole Salvesen’s house is made from Wicker Linen by Fermoie.
6.
After visiting her friend Kathryn Ireland in France’s Tarn region, Anne Halsey bought a French farmhouse retreat there. The furniture in this bedroom was sourced from local antiques shops and markets. Raoul TextilesMahatmadesign was used for the curtains, with the armchair upholstered in Kathryn M Ireland’s Ikat Stripe and amps from Vaughan add another layer of pattern.
7.
This country-style bedroom features a pretty bed canopy in green and white, setting the colour scheme for the space. A pair of Sixties China table lamps and a collection of framed William Blake prints on the walls add character.
8.
Light green walls and a headboard in Colefax & Fowler’s Evesham give this bedroom designed by Caroline Harrowby a fresh, floral look. Its eclectic style is made elegant with pretty curtains and a painted dressing table from the owners previous home.
9.
In the bedroom of this old French chateau, the decadent canopy bed is footed by a coral Gustavian-style bench. Similar wallpaper can be found at Cole & Son and Colefax & Fowler.
10.
This curtain was created with two fabrics from Fermoie and edged with rufflette. The top of the canopy is covered with a simple frame edged with a scallop trim.
11.
Passing down through inheritance for nearly 400 years, Holker Hall has a rich history resulting in an interior that combines comfort with charm. In one of the guest rooms, a classic Colefax and Fowler fabric is used on the day bed, footboard and canopy.
12.
This bed in the bedroom of gilder Clare Mosley and husband Mark Bicknell was bought in Paris. Its journey hasn’t been smooth. During the eight months it took to make the house reasonably habitable, Clare and Mark camped in one room and the builders worked around them. However, even this safeguard did not protect them from a few of the traditional building disasters. Having gone away for two days, they returned to find that the bed had been cut up and thrown out of the window and into a waiting skip below. Thankfully, it was saved. It is now resplendent with matching quilt, half-tester and cushions in Mikado L2804 by Le Manach.
13.
Inspired by old document print fabrics in rich, floral motifs, Gabby Deeming and Ruth Sleightholme created a sumptuous room for the March 2015 issue’s decoration story. Metal half-tester, Laurel, 11 x 74 x 42cm, £89, at Oka. Bed curtain, Rayures Nantes (blue), by Clarence House, linencotton, £276.80 a metre, at Turnell & Gigon
14.
Stylist Alexander Breeze’s bedroom is painting in a very matt yet rich grey-green: ’Olive’ by Farrow & Ball. He bought an inexpensive bed and painted it himself. The striking plywood headboard was designed by Breeze and made with the help of bespoke laser cutting service Cut Laser Cut. This bedroom is an ode to antiquity with touches of the Neoclassical, Empire Style and Classical-inspired littered throughout the space, most of which was designed and made by Alexander himself – the headboard with colours of an Attic vase, for example.
15.
In a Chelsea family home, interior designer Sophie Ashby covered a wall and cushions in the daughter’s room in Schumacher Romeo wallpaper and fabric in the carrara colourway, from Turnell & Gigon. This bedroom is a pretty confection of marbled grey wallpaper and gauzy muslin drapes – an elegant scheme for someone nearing the end of her teens.
