Decorating & Design
Trend Watch: This Year’s Must-Have Print Is A Throwback Floral
Published on January 15, 2020
The sweet mini florals that made Laura Ashley a decorating staple in the 1980s are starting to climb the walls — and furniture — again. Vintage-look floral wallpapers and fabrics are an antidote to the moody, hyper-real blooms we’ve been seeing for the past few years. In 2020, an updated color palette looks freshly picked, even when the scale and print remains nostalgic. Let’s take a look at some throwback prints that feel equally nostalgic and fresh.
Used on an accent wall, this modern thistle wallpaper motif is a delicate touch of color and whimsical pattern in a nursery.
This William Morris-inspired wallpaper’s eccentric English vibe is amped up by a moody sage paint color on the fireplace for a sense of heritage.
Romantic blue buds soften the stripes in this space, inspired by the charming home‘s maritime location. Tommy Smythe and Lindsay Mens Craig matched the drapery with the accent pillows: a classic decorator move.
The floral linen drapery fabric in the principal bedroom was used in reverse, to give it a faded, watercolor quality that looks gently sun bleached.
There’s a reason why Schumacher’s Pyne Hollyhock wallpaper looks so authentically old school: it was based on a vintage piece of English chintz discovered by interior designer Albert Hadley for socialite Nancy Pyne, and it’s become an instant classic since its release in 2010. The look is kept fresh by pairing it with geo upholstery and throw pillows.
Designer Sarah Richardson often works florals into her dreamy trademark palettes. In this Nashville home, she and Kate Stuart chose a pale leaf print in a diminutive scale for the accent pillow to quietly reference the Gracie-style chinoiserie wallpaper.
The original blue and white floral wallpaper in this Connecticut homestead was preserved, giving the stairway a breezy look.
The sweet cabbage rose upholstery on the sofas in artist Virginia Johnson’s home authentically conjures up a simpler time when tea parties were a thing: she stumbled on the chintz-covered sofas in a secondhand store.
This romantic wallpaper in designer Kate Thornley-Hall’s log cabin bedroom practically guarantees her daughter sweet dreams — we love the mix of scales with the print drapery. “The tradespeople were practically killing themselves laughing when I showed them this Ralph Lauren wallpaper,” she says. “That’s something my aunt had her basement in the ’60s!” No surprise it captured the vintage vibe she was searching for.
A floral throw pillow in a Langley, British Columbia, farmhouse stands out amid the white Bella Notte linens on a lushly propped iron bed, which accents its homespun charm.
A monochrome palette adds some edge to the floral wallpaper in this Edinburgh home and leavens the look of dark velvet upholstery.
In this Muskoka cottage, flower-strewn bedding is a breath of fresh air and has a bit of a stylized, Scandi vibe. A grouping of small floral-themed artwork and a vase of the real thing are pretty accompaniments to a rustic spool-leg table.
Wallpaper provides a hit of botanical cheer in this country home’s laundry room. Juicy hits of chartreuse perk up white cabinetry and inject a sense of whimsy into a hardworking space.