Paint effects: they’re back and this time they’re on a roll!

I am a child of the paint effect generation and my Mum’s passion for rag rolling and scumble glazing was what sparked my passion for interiors in the first place. So when photographer Clare Bosanquet dropped me an email about her traditional Romanian paint pattern rollers, I was intrigued.

Clare stumbled across these patterned rollers in a Romanian market, where they’ve been used as a traditional alternative to wallpapers for around 150 years. She’s updated the patterns to suit modern tastes and adapted the roller designs for use on fabric or walls.

I really love this design with its little deer family. Clare’s decorated her whole Welsh cottage using her product and it looks great – and at £15 for each roller design they’re a bargain compared to designer wallpaper… although like wallpapering I bet there’s a knack to getting it right!

Interesting, don’t you think? Pop over to The Painted House for more ideas and tips or if you’re ready to have a go yourself, visit Clare’s Etsy shop.

Stripped wood makes a comeback

{Amy Barkow via D*S / unknown via Pinterest}

When I was growing up in the late 1980s, stripped pine furniture was all the rage. I remember sitting in the car with my brother and giggling at name of  ‘Strip ‘n’ Dip’ where my parents regularly dropped off beautiful Victorian trunks and doors that previous owners had caked with gloss. The smell of Briwax still takes me right back to that first house I grew up in – I love it!

{via The Gifts of Life}

A few years later the ’90s arrived. Changing Rooms hit our screens, the term ‘shabby chic’ was coined and painted furniture (painted everything) was firmly back in. Mum went to a paint effects evening class and soon every available surface in our house was rag rolled, stippled and scumble glazed to within an inch of its life. And that was when I fell in love with decorating.

{Lisa Warninger}

Now, it seems we’ve come full circle and rustic bare wood in back in fashion once again. I’m not sure if it’s my changing tastes, nostalgia or something to do with the season, but I’m loving the warmth, texture and unpretentious beauty of stripped wood furniture and accessories. The more mismatched and battered the better.

{Countrystyle}

When I moved into my flat a couple of years I went for a lot of sleek white gloss furniture combined with soft grey for the walls and accessories. I still love grey, but in my next house I think I’ll be embracing natural materials a lot more. Partly because I hope my next move will be out of London and into the countryside so a more rustic look is generally a better a fit, but also because I think my tastes have softened too.

{via Vineet Kaur}

Have you noticed your tastes shifting away from painted furniture recently? How you think you’ll decorate your next home differently?