As I have mentioned previously floral designs make up the largest grouping of wallpapers in the Cooper Hewitt collection. Many of the very earliest wallpapers in the collection are floral based and they never seem to go out of style. I was attracted to this design for its casual, relaxed nature, and its rather abstract look at botanicals. Each of the plant forms was drawn by Warner on a visit to Kew Gardens. The foliate forms are reduced to a mere outline, taking on a naiveté that is rather charming, while the placement and interweaving of the different elements is quite elegant. The background is printed in an all-over mottled brown color which adds to the depth of the design. And as I remember blue and brown were becoming quite the trendy combination at that time.

The Jocelyn Warner design studio was formed in East London in 1999. Feeling that wallpaper design needed a major boost in order to compliment more contemporary furnishings she began creating very bold and graphic wallpaper designs. All of her patterns are rendered with a delicate simplicity that add a beautiful note of pattern and color without overwhelming. Jocelyn Warner received her training in textile design so is well-versed in surface patterns. While most of her wallpaper designs are floral-inspired she does sometimes veer to the more geometric as seen in Step, another of her designs in the Cooper Hewitt collection.

One thought on ““Kew” Me In to Another Floral Wallpaper

Such an iconic ‘floral’ – strangely more contemporary, edgy 10 years on with the renewed ‘wallpaper’ literacy.

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