Inspiring wall coverings and gorgeous design at Decorex 2015

I woke up bright and breezy on the 20th September, picked up my friend and Interior Designer, Nicky Percival and off we zoomed to Syon Park for the Decorex show.

De Gournay stand at Decorex 2015

The sun was shining, non-stop chats in the car, excited and in much need of fresh design inspiration after a summer of letting my creativity slide (too much beer and sun in Greece!).  As we walked into the show I nearly squeaked with joy, the most beautiful stand for the most luxurious of wall coverings, De Gournay.  To be honest, I had never seen their papers in the flesh but lust after them online.  So to experience them up close and personal was a total joy.

There was an inspiring display of the how their papers are created, showing the progressions from gild layers to coloured and treated backgrounds.  Next the design is drawn on and finally the beautiful details are exquisitely hand painted on.  This was fascinating for me to see as I am a mural painter.  The papers are painted in China from an archive of designs, or created as bespoke commisions if required (£££)!  Best of all, they actually had one of their Chinese artists painting up a panel at the show, which was fascinating.  Some of their most ornate papers have gorgeous embroidered details.

As well as these vivid ranges, there are some delicate gold and silver papers with themes of birds and butterflies.  Simply stunning.

www.degournay.com

I met a lovely artist at the show, Chantal de Gaudio.

I felt really in tune with her work, and love her use of metallic paints and exotic floral motifs. The fact that she only uses Dulux paints totally rocks,  I use all types of household paints for my murals.  As well as paintings, she exhibited a richly painted black room screen.

www.chantaldegaudio.com

Another inspiring person I met was Juliet Travers who designs her own range of wall papers.

I was full of admiration for her wonderful stand, she said that she had launched her business at Decorex two years ago. I can only imagine how nerve-wracking that must have been, and I’m not brave enough to ask how much she paid for the show! “Nutcracker” was my favourite design, cute gold squirrels nestling on branches.

www.juliettravers.com

Here’s some more yummy images of stuff that caught my eye on the day.

Going to Decorex made me realise how vital it is to get out there and interact with trends, designers and to get off my butt and go to many many more exhibitions. Watch this space!