In true Leo, feline form, I’ve managed multiple lives so far. My most serious and significant one was as an interior designer - a career which bridged my 20s and still inspires me today (being a trained designer = being a trained problem solver, an invaluable skill when it comes to being a writer too).
When I was fully in the throes of the design world I was constantly looking at other designer’s work. As I moved between various industry roles (my first as a design assistant for a textile house, my last running a boutique furniture brand) the aesthetics of my various bosses trickled down to me. Not only that but my finger was more on the pulse, and my research sessions (Caroline Simpson Library, anyone?) were essential to building my ever-expanding knowledge on what makes sexy interiors tick.
Have a think about interiors and design in general for a moment. What’s quite mind boggling is that every single thing around you was designed by someone. Even that hideous Ikea dining set your flatmate has forced you to endure, even that charming, antique chandelier your aunt somehow inherited from her ex-husband’s wealthy family. All things beautiful, ugly, cheap, luxurious, nonsensical, clever… started with someone putting pencil to paper (or mouse key to blank CAD drawing).
I believe we currently live in a world brimming with rubbish design. I also believe that it’s our fault. Our insatiable appetite for more, our impatience, our practical, patriarchal leaders deeming design as unimportant and secondary all contributes to the reason we are surrounded by furniture which usually arrives in a flat-pack.
Meanwhile the design media makes it seem the only way to have style is via a small fortune. Even though it’s inspiring and enlightening to witness a beautiful home captured amidst the pages of a design magazine, it can make the consumer feel that they can’t get started without a sizeable budget. That’s where the message is wrong, and why a key piece to decorating your home on a shoestring - beyond the obvious having a plan and scouring unexpected sources - is to find your inspiration outside of the box.
Having had this moment of realisation while I was still at design school, I began to look in other beautiful places for inspiration. I looked to my wardrobe, my collection of fashion history books, to the art world, at other kinds of design. Eventually my wires became so crossed I was bringing other design elements into my work in a very literal way, in fact for my final presentation at interior design collage I bombastically used a nipple tassel to represent a chandelier on a sample board!
In all of this looking elsewhere for inspiration, the decorator - yes, I said decorator - that struck me most was Henri Matisse. Specifically for the decor showcased in his series of of portraits and still lifes painted at his studio in Nice.
Beyond his brilliant way of casually capturing a scene, it’s his rich colour palettes, his lazily strewn, layered textiles, and his way of conveying both illusion and realism that gets me going. In my opinion, all of the above is exactly what good decorating should do to a space.
It’s also the way he brings the outside in. Even though his reference point is a balcony and a fabulous view (rather than an actual garden) you can sense the fresh air, the sparkly sea and the warming sunshine filling each of these rooms. Simply put, the rooms Matisse created still feel alive.
Take a moment to study the above four examples (all from the late 1910s - early 1920s). Yes, three of four of this paintings have at least one human subject, but that’s not what you’re eye is drawn too. Instead you feel a part of the space. You can practically touch the hear the rustle of the fabrics in the breeze, smell the fine scent of the flowers in each vase and run your fingers along the embroidery.
When decorating a space that’s the kind of sensual experience you want to create with your room - that’s beyond brilliant furniture placement and careful lighting. Good interiors are really about comfort, tangibility and the ability to engage all of your senses.
Continuing our case study, there’s then the environment itself - every fabulous space needs good bones. I love the way Matisse works with the architecture of his old world building and brings the essence of that in to his work. A smudgey cornice or iron clad balcony reminds the viewer of when each room was created, and where it’s at now.
Matisse didn’t just have a phase of painting rooms this way, for him it was a lifelong passion, even as his mediums changed, simplified and evolved. The below example is from the early 1950s. Even though the figure is more graphically outlined, and the frame a lot tighter, those timeless textiles still dominate the work. In fact the names of each artwork always refer to the interior contents rather than the half clad human.
Textiles were always integral to Matisse’s work. In 2005 The Royal Academy of London put on a show named ‘Matisse, His Art and His Textiles’. The curators quoted as saying that textiles were ‘…the key to (Matisse's) visual imagination.'
There’s an essence of joie de vivre amidst these fabrics, which makes utter sense. Picture this: You’re Henri Matisse. You’ve earned your stripes and survived a two wars. Resources are scarce but the sun always shines again. You work from a studio in sunny Nice. You seem to have a stream of beautiful models lining up to pose from you. Life is good. Why not throw another fabric in the mix?
I think that’s the thing. We all thought during the pandemic that once we were free life would become more beautiful and that we’d appreciate simple pleasures, but that hasn’t seemed to happen. Instead our endless news cycle ensures we’re always aware of the next bout of impending doom modern society has in store for us. Still trapped in fear and with our same insatiable appetites, we have rejoined society without having changed much (perhaps just with a little more trauma).
I don’t say this to make you feel even worse, but to remind you of that longing for beauty and freedom we all felt a few years ago. Simply indulging in a few more fabrics might be the thing that transforms your rooms from drab to fab. Just take it from Matisse.
Above all Matisse’s interiors are timeless. Most of the examples I’ve shared were created over 100 years ago yet still stand up; I would absolutely book an Airbnb, or stop scrolling to take in an interior on Instagram that looks any bit like his Nice studio.
They’re also accessible. I can assure you all you need to do is visit a local op shop, rummage through your granny’s linen cupboard or attend a sample sale to get your hands on some sumptuous textiles fit for your reimagined rooms. More than anything anyone can drape fabrics and open up the windows to let in the light.
Henri Matisse’s style serves as a remind that more is more, fabrics and texture are a one way tickets to warmth and that a colourful background makes everyone look better in the buff. Start viewing decorating through the eyes of a great painter and see what happens. Something tells me your home is about to get a lot more fabulous if you do so!
I knew we were soul mates! I adore Matisse's Odalisques series. I even wrote a couple of poems about them around 15 years ago. Sublime colours and yes – definite interior inspo!