Timeless Terracotta.

This post has been on the mental ‘to do’ for such a long time now that by the time I get to the end of writing it, it's possible this ‘vibe’ could have fallen out of favour again! It’s stuck for a few centuries now though so it doesn’t look likely any time soon…

Lately we have been leaning towards lots of warm and calming hues and textiles in our designs for clients. Our latest project brief was Japanese/ Scandinavian living so very minimal, timeless and cool. We were thus understandably slightly alarmed when our client returned inspired from a mini break in Barcelona and asked us to tweak the brief and inject some Catalan influence into the project! 

Now we’ve all been there, enjoying a lovely holiday and bought a (insert holiday purchase here) and returned home only to find that it always looks and feels better in its place of origin, maybe not North London. My mum still proudly owns a Tunisian sisha as a fond holiday memory. I digress…

Up for a challenge, we set off exploring white-washed walls, cacti, and linens. All well and good in warmer climates, of course. When you think of Barcelona, you’re also reminded of Gaudi curves, bold patterns, colours and tiles and so somewhere along our journey we landed on Terracotta and got reacquainted with this gorgeous, GORGEOUS earthy clay. 

It’s giving us colour, texture, versatility! It was subtle, warming and it perfectly complimented the existing brief. Although the client felt it was too much of a commitment at the time, we sourced this lovely tile from Popham Design that we adored! The tones lent themselves to a natural home feel with a slightly rustic finish they admired on holiday. 

Visual renders by Consult by FD using the Popham Design Arch Terracotta Cream and Cole cement tile.

If you’re not already sold, we’ve pulled together some inspiration images to ‘get the look’ with terracotta whether this be the actual clay, colour or tone. We’ve found it such a restful and warm accent for our designs and wanted to share its qualities with you too. 

1. Axel Pot from Modern Garden, 2. Natural Cotto Tiles from New Terracotta, 3. Lick Home Paint Red 03 Matt, 4. Hand dyed and woven cotton fabric from Crose Fabrics on Etsy

In the end, we tried to instil this sensation of quirky, Barcelona aesthetic mostly through our choice of fabrics,  their colours and textures, especially paired with wood, which we used at any opportunity around the project. We’re so glad our clients got inspired, it elevated the results and inspired us too! 

Stay tuned for the results of our photoshoot later this summer!