Natural Decorating [antikvár]

THE NATURAL LOOKThe lure of nature has never been stronger. Authentic, robust, practical and revitalizing, natural decorating is not so much a style, more a way of life. Today, trends in decorating come and go at a confusing rate; a style that might once have defined a decade is now outmoded in a season. To have been a dedicated follower of interior fashion over the past ten years would have required considerable reserves of time and money, not to mention an unflagging appetite for change. This accelerated pace cannot help but encourage a superficial attitude to the interior, as one look after another is flung off in favour of the latest fad.Natural decorating, by contrast, takes a long view. Materials that age well and improve with the years, furnishings that bring comfort, simplicity and practicality to the forefront, timeless surfaces and finishes that are both easy on the eye and environmentally friendly provide an antidote to the pressures of life. There will always be room for novelty, but we are beginning to appreciate the value of rooms that serve as real backgrounds for living rather than as stage sets for conspicuous consumption.The strength of this approach lies in its versatility. Like clothing that allows the personality of the individual wearer to shine through, natural decorating works in many different contexts, enhancing basic qualities of light and space rather than imposing a grand fashion statement. In country settings, where homespun materials reinforce the link between indoors and out, the natural look makes perfect sense. Elegantly understated in traditional period rooms, fresh and positive in more contemporary surroundings, natural decorating transcends conventional distinctions between town and country, period and modern, exotic and vernacular.The matt, chalky colours of natural paints and rich earth or vegetable tones of natural dyes, the easy-going sympathy of wood, stone and terracotta, the refined simplicity of linen, calico, muslin, wicker and raffia are all elementsNatural cane matting is suspended on a metal frame to provide ati informal awning (above).Painted handzifoven baskets have a textured wanntli and make a Iteautifid disguise for everyday clutter (lki-t).Introduction 7