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ALL THE TRIMMINGS
Followers of fashion know that accessories are a must-have for stylish dressers but theyre also vital in todays successful rooms. Annabel Lewis, founder of internationally famous VV Rouleaux, reveals her secrets and tips in new book, Ribbons & Trims.
Followers of fashion know tiny touches make an outfit - whether its buttons, bows or an unusual lining - but nowadays detail and decoration are also a winning combination on walls floors and furniture.
Gone are the days when neutrals and minimalism ruled - now its maximalism with colour, texture and personal interpretation giving the va va voom factor to homes.
No one understands that better than Annabel Lewis, owner and founder of VV Rouleaux haberdashery shops, who conjures magical effects with ordinary materials from ribbons, feathers, and beads through to humble string.
As she shows me round her largest shop, in Glasgow, she says: Furniture and household objects cant afford to become complacent - they need to reinvent themselves (with your help) to keep the love
affair fresh.
I love to give old things a fresh new use, so Im constantly bringing objects into the house and looking for ways to make them pretty as well as useful.
She uses ribbons and trims - 250 international suppliers make her collection a dazzling display of pattern and colour - to adorn chairs and door panels and make carpet edgings and wall decorations.
I want people to think of ribbons in a chic way, as something with style, and not just to use them for childrens hair. They can look fabulous used within interiors.
But thats just the tip of her decoration iceberg, for shells, glass beads, even glass pillaged from old chandeliers form part of her art and her stock.
Her secrets and tips are revealed in new book Ribbons & Trims, which would inspire even the most craft-phobic to try a project.
Dilapidated deck chairs, old cattle food bins and junk shop furniture are transformed by her imaginative effects and its small wonder top fashion and interior designers such as Paul Smith, Miuccia Prada and
Nina Campbell beat a regular path to her door.
Annabels creation of a glass curtain, used as a room divider, was so admired it was commissioned by Madonna.
The crystal curtain in my sitting room was crafted from fragments of chandelier threaded onto wire. It was made in 1933, when there were quite a lot of glass hangings made. We made a similar one for Madonnas bedroom, with plain-edged crystals.
Naturally Annabel believes that the best way to decorate a room is to begin with a beautiful trimming that appeals, and use it for inspiration.
Choosing one of her own design ribbons she demonstrates how she matches its colours to curtains, walls, and soft furnishings.
I want everyone to do it this way because it really works. Just think of the trimming first, start with one piece of beautiful ribbon and work outwards.
Her final tip for successful rooms: Dont overdose on colour if its not your style. Just have one bright, decorative piece like a ribbon-trimmed chair or a dazzling feathered lampshade to set off a neutral setting and give it instant personality.
Use Annabels ideas to give your rooms all the trimmings.
:: STRING AND CORD
Trims can be anything from string, cord or fringe to pretty floral tape or decorative braid with tassels, beads or glass drops.
Builders merchants have all kinds of string, ropes and cords in bold, bright colours. Ordinary string can be drafted into use and knotted, tufted, tasselled or plaited and used to edge seats and decorate
cushions.
I find all types of cord are a practical means of covering unsightly items and turning them into stylish interior pieces.
BE INSPIRED: Give garden furniture a new look with huge knots of cord, or nail colourful rope around an old wooden outdoor table. Decorate a plain curtain finial by wrapping it in coloured cord.
Bobble fringes, usually used to trim lampshades or to edge curtains or cushions, could be used to cover a cushion, a lampshade or even to trim a bedhead.
Wrap old chimney pots in cord to make holders for walking sticks and umbrellas.
:: BEADS AND SHELLS
Glass beads, crystal glass pieces from chandeliers or acrylic faux glass can make a room sparkle, and pair well with shells, which have been used since Victorian times for decoration.
Annabel says: I get endless ideas playing with crystal drops, beads and wire. I love old chandeliers, not only as exquisite hangings when intact, but - better still - in pieces.
Then I use the components - rounds, squares, oblongs, almonds or teardrops - for other decorative ideas, such as embellishing lights or creating glass curtains or wreaths.
Transform the surfaces of boxes, mirrors, picture frames and tabletops with shells.
BE INSPIRED: Thread glass beads onto lengths of wire and wrap them around a lamp base. Substitute glass studs for covered buttons on furniture with buttoned upholstery, and team it with satin fabric for
ultimate glamour.
Glue shells to the ends of flexible wire and then twist around table napkins, or add shell fringes and drape around headboards and over mantelpieces. Glue shells to the top of battered tables or mirror
frames.
:: FEATHERS
Feathers come in fringes or boas, and many feathers are turkey plumes dyed a rainbow of colours and cut to size.
Feathers are an embellishment of fantastic versatility and are surprisingly robust. You can sit on various sorts of ostrich plumes, for instance, without damaging them.
I love pale green ostrich as an edging on tablecloths, wall hangings or throws, or look for other feather fringes.
BE INSPIRED: Make a fringe of black turkey feathers to trim the base of a sofa. Use them on lampshades, or sew them around a throw or along the leading edge of a curtain, or on the bottom of a blind.
Make feather tassels or tie single feathers to a napkin - pheasant feathers will give a table setting an instant country look.
:: RIBBONS
Reinventing a piece of furniture with ribbons and trims is exciting. If a favourite heirloom or junk-shop find is looking tired and not quite trendy enough, the easiest way to give it a makeover is either to paint
it or - far more versatile, colourful and dramatic - to cover it with trims, ribbons and fabric.
Dont always choose safe colour combinations. Try clashing bold hues and patterns as well. For instance, I might use a tartan edging next to a floral design, followed by a stripe. I also like to mix textures together - velvet fabric, striped grosgrain ribbons and bright pink glass beads are one example.
BE INSPIRED: Trim or cover the surface of a chair, sofa, table or chest with ribbons, either by sewing, gluing or stapling it in place. (Or use double-sided tape so you can ring the changes when you fancy.)
Trim tired cushions with ribbon, and embellish with glass beads or buttons, or add brilliantly coloured ribbon to plain carpet.
Jazz up dingy deckchairs with lengths of ribbon on the canvas, or even make a windbreak with poles and thread ribbon through.
:: Ribbons & Trims, by Annabel Lewis, is published by Jacqui Small,
priced £20. Out now.
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