My latest interiors project is the re-design of a living/dining room, and hallway for Jim, who wanted a contemporary, minimalist style, with bright bold colours. He specifically wanted to incorporate orange in the colour scheme, wasn’t keen on patterns or florals, and didn’t like wallpaper. The solution was to bring pattern and colour into the scheme via artwork. Here are some before & after photos ( although it still needs a few finishing touches).

He wanted to make the living & dining area more open plan, get rid of the 70s fireplace & generally make the whole space look much more modern and streamlined. He also wanted to get away from the brown and magnolia combo, and inject lots of bold colour!

There was too much furniture in the room (2 2-seater sofas), which was making it appear small and cluttered.

View of the dining area, with dark furniture making everything look a bit old fashioned.

The whole space in the process of being gutted. I chose Farrow & Ball Cornforth White, which is actually a warm grey, as the main colour with feature walls F&B Charlottes Locks, a wonderfully bright orange.

Halfway through the design.

Instead of carpet there is engineered oak flooring, and a big wall-mounted TV has replaced the fireplace. The dated wall and ceiling lights were ditched in favour of dimmable downlights. Jim really wanted this large TV, (I must admit being worried that it would dominate the space), but I think the large artworks draw the eye away from it.

The glass dining table with oak legs reflect the light and grey leather chairs are comfy and chic.

As he is not keen on wallpaper, I suggested we use oversized artwork to provide pattern, colour and interest. To commission work is generally expensive and out of reach of most people, so I decided to call on a friend and artist, Patricia Nouard, for help. I love Pats work and have a few of her paintings in my home. She believes that art should be affordable and accessible so we work together in creating bespoke paintings, if a client wants to include something abstract in their interior project. She has been painting for many years as a hobby, but has recently decided to do so professionally (and so for the moment her prices are very reasonable!).  She lives in Brantome, deep in the French countryside. She is entirely self-taught and incredibly passionate about what she does. She loves to incorporate materials she finds on the beach or in the countryside into her art, which is always vibrant and bold.

Her oil paintings above, mixed with wax, have great texture, depth and movement.

Whereas this style, which is more delicate, combines outlines in a glossy dark material, inlaid with beads & glitter, with bright colours inside the shapes. The colours in this painting reflect the orange wall and also pick out colours in the rug.

The beauty of having something painted especially for a room is that you can choose the exact size and style (Jim wanted big and bold!) as well as the colours to co-ordinate (or contrast) with the rest of your scheme.

I hope to collaborate with Pat on a few more projects (Jim was so pleased with his living room that he has asked for some small paintings to be done for the hall & bedroom too!)

If you would like to know more about Pats paintings or my design service, you can email anthea@dressingroomsinteriors.co.uk. And why not check out my online store for different styles of prints!

http://www.antheashomestore.co.uk/collections/art-and-prints