Oriental Interior Design 09 Range

So we've got another range for 2009, squeezed in at the end of 2008. This one is set to be hot for 2009, Oriental Sweetness is all about Eastern Inspired Art, Oriental themed decor & artwork. The full range of Oriental Art can seen here and also check out our Interior Design Trend that we produced earlier this year.

"Oriental Sweetness" is exactly what is says it is, Asian & Oriental influences, delicately combined to form a killer Eastern inspired Interior. Vintage floral Japanese textiles are key here, forming striking, yet subtle clean & simple shapes. The colour palette for Oriental Sweetness is all about strong vibrant colours like burgundy, deep reds and moody purples (see the striking Black Leaf Rose, left) which you can contrast with brighter tones for accents colours. Base colours can be made up from deep earthy colours. Remember, Bold is beautiful. As your colour base, we recommend off-whites to give a majority cover and some clean contrasting lines.

Oriental and Japanese floral designs have always been orientated around very minimal block colours and flat earthy tones to give a bold, simplistic image. In fact, Oriental art with it's minimal approach could be compared to Pop art, but centuries earlier. Simple shapes are the key focal point to a design, no detail is necessary with this simple yet very elegant & understated style. Stand out canvas art will also add a level of personal input. But think carefully about what you want.

Don't be shy here - accessorise with some really bold primary colours & try sourcing some interesting oriental side pieces. You might also consider some subtle metallic's. Chrome light switches and plug sockets highlight the subtle tones of whites and blacks. There are no limits to what you can do! If you want Oriental Decors, we recommend Recreated home furnishings made from Vintage Japanese Floral Textiles. You could also try certain Auction Sites for Oriental room accessories. For the ultimate, and if you fancy splashing out, we would recommend some reclaimed teak Chinese furniture. Vintage reclaimed Chinese furniture is big at the minute, watch it's emergence in 2009, we recon it's going to get bigger.

So, onto the art now.. Traditional Japanese colours are prevalent here. You are looking at stark primary colours - bold blues and brash reds - contrasted with earthy and textured backgrounds - Check the "Trad Japanese" Print (left) and Japanese Blossom (above) for the more authentic Oriental art.For more soft and delicate Oriental art, check the Oriental Sweetness beautiful brushed strokes and pastel tones, you might also want to check Eastern Stamens (right) for some classic floral art with vibrant almost citrus colours, with an Eastern twist.

Over the last 4 years at WHoArtNow we've really pushed Japanese Art in particular, seeing a niche market, but for 2009 we believe its only going to get more popular. Watch this space for more, 2009 is only around the corner now.. Feel free to subscribe to this news blog and as usual, hit us up if you would like any bespoke artwork or you have any briefs for us to work to.

New Interior Design 09 Art Range

"Timeless" 2009 Interior Design Canvas Art Range

Following the success of the bespoke range of art for the 2008 range Invidia, we have decided to do more range designs tailor made for our Interior Trends predictions.

Timeless is essentially a move on from the hugely successful Invidia 08. You always see it - in fashion and interiors, wherever there are seasons with very successfully trends, you can guarantee that next season will sport a 'move on' from last years top dog. Where Invidia was defined by it's Opulence and OTT nature, the Black on Black with hints of gold and metallics has been replaced by a more subtle Black on white with subtle highlight colours. Over the top Gold stately frames & mirrors have moved on to more discerning chromes, silvers & metallics. Timeless focuses on Baroque style motifs, which are similar to the simple Invidia Vintage Wallpaper designs, but can now be much more complex and focus on detail. The black and white makes a simple, bold statement, and is possibly more commercial in nature than its black on black predecessor.

Black and White is fantastic to work with, there are so many options open to you. I wouldn't say that you can't get it wrong, but Monochrome is somewhat easier to work with in the interior context. Colour-wise, it's not just black and whites here, you want to be looking at some very deep shades of blues or purples for subtle infused colour. Darker shades of grey, like dark slate greys also work well. In terms of accessories and highlights, you should be looking at some metallics. Chrome light switches, even candle stick holders ( Invidia 08 Style) and plug sockets act to highlight the subdued tones of black and whites. Remember, unlike Invidia, you are looking at silvers, not Golds.

To quote us as verbatim, "Timeless is the ultimate contrast both visually & metaphorically. A bold, brash & often bizarre clash of Baroque elegance & contemporary whites and blacks, Timeless is the ultimate bold statement. The intense combination of heavily contrasting colour works well in big rooms with high roofs & plenty of light -preferably natural sunlight to set off the natural wood flooring. "

"Timeless" will give you the chance to mix the weird and wonderful Kitsch & clash it with the ultra modern. (Think 20's Vintage wallpapers with Plasma screens) And why the hell not after all? The more modern and technologically advanced we get, the more eclectic I like to go. After all, you can't have everything modern in a room, or your living area will start to look like the control room on the Starship Enterprise. Mix and match is the way forward, be bold and daring, trust your instincts. You could get down the local car boot, get on the Internet on auction sites, or even better - go along to a local auction house where you will be presented the opportunity to walk away with some real, classic vintage accessories for your abode.

Then, you can mix and match some carefully selected and bespoke, canvas art. On the art route, you could opt for bold art to work with the contrasting background, or even art that actually is the background... Think sections of wallpaper, enlarged and printed on canvas.. The sky is the limit here.

That's about it, if you want more, you can check the full articles on Timeless '09 or have a nosey at our new Timeless bespoke art range. As usual, hit us up if you are interested in any bespoke work, and feel free to subscribe here for loads more news from WHoArtNow.

Interior Design Trends Launched on WHoArtNow.co.uk

We've been writing Interior Trends now for some time now & judging from the number of emails we get from people all over the world asking about our trends, they seem to be creating a bit of a stir. So following the success of the 2008 trends we wrote last year, we wrote the 2009 interior forecasts earlier this year & we have now decided to publish them on WHoArtNow.co.uk . After all, it would be rude not to share them with the world!

We aim to write around four trends a year, and keep it simple. Interior design trends are no way near as complex, future thinking and fickle as fashion design trends, so simplicity is almost paramount. To our surprise, we actually found that there is very little written on interior design. As fashion design is very seasonal, and current styles advocate this generation of "throw away" fashion, interior design is quite the opposite - it aims to stand the test of time. After all, you don't really want to be re-decorating your walls every year or season do you?

The initial concept of writing trends stemmed from our designers trying to design art for next years trends. Finding little or no information other than Dulux, C4 and a handful few other sites, we decided to write our own. The trends are based on what few sources we do have, and written to tie in any of our designs that might suit. As well as fitting existing designs into future trends, the big advantage for us is that we are able to create new artwork and designs to fit into these trends, as we did for the massive 2008 "Invidia" trend, that has to be found in almost every inner city bar and restaurant in one form or another that had a re-fit in the year or so. Following on from this, we will be launching a new trend in to tie in with one of the big trends of 2009 - "Interior Sweetness" Trend - think Japanese Florals, Art from the Asian & Orient, silk textile inspired prints... If you can't wait for the new range, get stuck into our Floral Art section for a pretty comprehensive selection of Japaneses Floral Prints. We've been producing Japanese florals for years now, it's great when the interior design trends finally catch up with the art that we really believe in that we have been pushing for years.

So watch this space, trends for 2010 will be following, around the start of 2009. Feel free to subscribe to our News pages for up to date News and Info from WHoArtNow. Interior designers: Feel free to contact us for bespoke artwork. We work very closely with interior designers and design firms & Taylor design to fit projects.. Contact us for more.

2009 Interior Trends: Oriental Sweetness

WhoArtNow: Interior Trends 2009

Oriental Sweetness:

After Woolmark has launched its new interior colour trends for 2009/10 at the start of the New Year, it looks like Japanese Inspired themes are going to be prevalent. It is still early days as far as interior predictions for 2009, but we are going to look into one of the trends that is looking hot for next year, Oriental Sweetness & produce a dedicated range of canvas art prints to compliment it.

It's all about the East: Asian & Oriental influences are key here. Look to vintage floral Japanese textiles for inspiration, simple and minimal shapes with striking colours.

The colour palettes for the 09 season features strong tones of red, purple and burgundy, contrasted with brighter shades or neutral tones in unlikely combinations. The base for all the colour palettes can be made up from Neutrals, white, brown and bark.

Japanese, Oriental florals are inherently simple in their form, one of the aspects that I love is the minimal block colour approach, it is like pop art, but pioneered hundreds of years early. If you look at Japanese & indeed a lot Asian art, it closely resembles what graphic design has now become in a CAD based world. Blocks of colour that would have been intricately painted with a watercolour brush is only now becoming a popular graphic design technique, thanks to Adobe Illustrator.

Simple, vector based shapes are the key focal point to a design, little or no tone is apparent or necessary.

To quote us from the inital 2009 trends forecast we did, "The use of floral images and light colours simplify things and help keep its grace. Look no further than our floral canvas art section, where Japanese & oriental florals have featured prominently for the last 4 years." And we mean it, we've been all over Japanese florals for years now, what better a time for it to come through than now, when we have tonnes of original artwork!

We are well and truly on the ball with this trend, already loving a Japanese inspired floral design makes it easy for us, as the passion for what we do is there.. So, we've currently designed a selection of brand new floral canvas art, you can see some of them featured on this news blog. The rest can be found on our floral art pages, check them out, feel free to hit us up if you need custom art producing.

Early Predictions for 2009 Interior Trends

We've just passed the half way point of 2008 and its time to start planning ahead. And for 2009 it looks like nature and the environment are going to play a key part.

Timeless Curves:
Timeless curve is a hybrid mix with some strange yet beautiful ideas. Baroque abstract motifs or artwork work well with whites and blacks. Going elegant and high tech may seem like a strange mix, yet with the slightly kitsch furniture and bold canvas art it can work, if you have the guts. Check out our retro section for a good selection of enlarged, vintage wallpapers & motifs, batik paisleys and all thing timeless and nostalgic.


Oriental Sweetness:
Oriental sweetness take flat or two tone colours with the soft delicate nature of the orient to create some stunning effects. The use of floral images and light colours simplify things and help keep its grace. Look no further than our floral art section, where Japanese & oriental florals have featured prominently for the last 4 years.


Lets Play:
Bold colours and classic folk design work well, add in some contemporary geometric shapes and your there. Can work well in studies/home offices to help keep you creative and relaxed. You can really add personality and humour with Let's Play and is meant to help stir the child in you.


Handmade:
Handmade is an in depth look at everything beautiful about nature. The rustic look works well with soft browns and off whites. Unique textiles to give a more unique touch and smell. Recycled goods are fantastic, and artwork can range from simple photos, all the way to the slightly abstract.

So that's it for the now, we will go into each trend in more detail later on in the year, and try and bring you appropriate art to fit into each trend. Watch this space, feel free to subscribe to this feed for updates when they happen.