If you love travel or tales of the East let you home tell a story of a love for exciting world travel, intriguing creative cultures and overseas adventure. We've styled two spaces: Indian Summer: Ethnic Interiors Chic, using two styles: 1. eastern antique furniture with colourful fabrics, contrasting textures and materials and 2. a classic colonial style with natural teak vintage furniture and pastel colours to create a more neutral classic travel look. Or fuse both styles for a well-travelled global nomad or eclectic style. By using world design influences to create depth and personality to rooms with colourful and spicy tones against neutral shades to create striking spaces you can make the look unique and your own.
We've used a fabulously decorative antique Rajasthani damchiya from north west India. Traditionally they are used as wedding chests and will keep clothes and fabrics. They are very recognisable from their highly decorative and carved fronts. Small handpainted glass panels depict Hindu mythology, usually stories of Hindu gods. The chest looks like a gallery wall of brightly painted pictures.On top of the damchiya we have styled a small red Indian temple with tiny Indian statutes and mini cati in terracotta pots, small painted cow toys and plants in old pots.
The room's centre features an iron edged antique military chest, antique oak reclining leather armchair as our main pieces in this living room. Then we've added a low level carved old merchant's chest with a dark old wooden bowl, old sari wall-hanging and lots of tropical plants to transport this room back 100 years. We specialise in old, antique and vintage chests, boxes and trunks with over 1,000 in stock at any time.
The
merchant's table has a lovely original timeworn faded pink, blue and cream finish. Over the years paint has worn away to reveal older colurful paint. Merchant's tablses and desks vary in size, style and colour. They can be used as side tables in living rooms, as bedside tables and larger ones as coffee tables. They always have drawers and lots of storage areas. We've used lots of greenery to add more colour and texture. Mix different shaped old pots with newer simple terrcotta pots. We love succulents, cacti and palms. and We've also mixed materials by adding darker carved stone and marble figures of Indian gods, an old glass ink bottle, an enamel painted team pot and carved wooden spice box. You can go further and add more personal items like old letters and vintage postcards. These can be kept togther in a small wooden box or compact chest of drawers.
The living room coffee table trunk was once an army officer's chest. They make fantastic tables that ooze character. This old chest was originally a dark green, which has worn away ovee time to reveal the thick teakwood. We've decorated it with old brass cups, old brass padlocks, an child's toy cow and a stone bowl with small brass temple lamp and of course even more plants.
In the second room we have styled them to look like an 19th century explorers home. So fewer vivid colours, but pastel shades giving the space a more formal feel. We have kept our main pieces of furniture in natural wood and add. A teak
vintage armoire with a stack of old sutcases give a lot of storage. Usually found in a bedroom for storing clothes an armoire can be used for books and other interesting curios. So if you have vintage, collectable and interesting items you love collecting don't hide them away in drawers and cardboard boxes. Get them out and show them off! We've receated a small vintage styled office with a foldaway table and chair. Of course vintage travel trunks, vintage suitcases and antique chests give a space a well-travelled feel. For additional storage use old suitcases either on top of a vintage cupboard or several under your bed.
Like original colonial styling we have kept the colours neutral. Light colours keep interiors cool in the tropical heat, so any colonial inspired space should use creams, whites, pale greens and blues, which when paired with darker colonial furniture gives a wonderful contrast. Create a statement in a home office or bedroom with an extra large vintage map or map mural and contrast with a with woven rugs over natural flooring.
British colonial style would not be complete without unusual curios collected from intrepid world travels. Try vintage maps, antique cameras, globes, travel bags, old postcards, books and china to create finishing touches.
Fabrics were inspired by botanical, animal, paisley and were made from readily available locally made cotton and linen. So long flowing light coloured cotton fabric will give a room soft filtered light. Mixing throw cushions and tropical printed bedcovers or traditional vintage covers will give an eclectic travel look.
Tropical plants such as palms and ferns in simple terracotta pots will transform spaces into dramatic pattern rich areas reminiscent of British colonial clubs.
Thick framed reclaimed wooden windows with shutters could be used as decorative mirror.
