This blog isn’t about being a gardener or a garden designer. It is a tribute to a great designer who loves gardening, plants & flowers so there is a link. Both she & her company Designers Guild has been a huge influence on me over many years.
I was originally trained as a textile designer – many years ago! I have a degree in printed textile design from Loughborough College of Art (now university) & practised as a textile designer for years from a studio in Birmingham that I shared with my friend & fellow graduate Debra Wenlock who is now a successful fine artist.
As far as I was concerned the wonderful Designers Guild was always up there with the very very best. Tricia Guild’s style was an inspiration to me as a student & to this day. Her fresh prints in painterly style often featured floral & botanical themes. That loose carefree style as though taken from sketchbooks really pushed the boundaries away from more traditional, established & perhaps stuffier print companies’ fare. She often commissioned contemporary artists such as Howard Hodgkin to design her ranges which were – are – just wonderful. This was cutting edge at the time.
Have you ever been in any of the Designers Guild shops? The first one on the Kings Road was my go to for years, that & the Conran shop. Then I started going to the small but lovely shop in Marylebone. They were so inspiring & I never left empty handed. When I was a textile designer I would frequently take my portfolio to London to sell my designs – to M&S, John Lewis, Conran (yes I did!) & Fortnum & Mason (yes them too) & between meetings I would always dash into the DG shop to treat myself.
Images from some of her books – I have most of them here in our French place
Yesterday I heard they had gone into receivership. What a terrible shame. I am so sad & slightly amazed that this could happen to this incredible vibrant company. How sad we can no longer visit her shops or buy her wares but I am so glad I was able to for all those years. I shall cherish my collection even more
Our house in England is a converted Cotswold barn. You may have seen & read some of my blogs about it? It is very earthy & natural in style with neutral colours, earth tones, natural materials & a calm vibe. see below – a small taste – I love it! However I always loved Tricia Guild’s style & use of colour – she particularly favours Mediterranean blues & lime greens – as do I. So, when we bought our beautiful French house here in Loches in the Loire Valley, I thought I would have a complete change & celebrate the light & climate here by furnishing it in a colourful manner & use her fabrics.
Our French House. I have just run around the house & taken some photos to show how I have incorporated the DG style into our French place. We’ve furnished with mostly vintage furniture & brocante finds & the contemporary florals look great together. There’s quite a lot! We have DG fabrics, rugs, crockery & towels etc etc…
We’ve put the house together over the last 10 years with finds from brocante fairs & antique markets. There are such bargains to be had & we’ve had to do it all on a budget. I have reupholstered everything myself, made curtains & cushions from Ebay remnant finds & had a lovely time doing it. We’ve not paid more than 180€ for any piece of furniture – most of which are solid oak or chestnut & totally hand made. The house feels relaxing & comfortable – not fussy & that is the vibe I always got from the DG range – whatever the season.
Although I am no longer a textile designer – I retrained many years ago & have been designing gardens for over twenty years, I am of course influenced by others. It’s inevitable. I believe the Designers Guild style has influenced my drawing. An important part of my job is illustrating plans & gardens so clients have a really good idea of what you are proposing. I love to draw & my sketches have become much freer over the years. I feel sure Ms Guild & her creative team are partly why.
As a garden designer you don’t work in isolation, you work with a team of people & create gardens to suit your clients. My gardens are designed to look good from indoors too. There is a strong relationship between indoor & outdoor – I have always believed in that. My garden designs reflect the architecture, my clients’ taste & style including colour. Tricia Guild & her team are highly influenced by nature, by gardens & in particular flowers & leaves so it makes sense that I would love their work. They bring the garden inside.
The end of an era but her influence is powerful & her style will go on. Thank you Tricia Guild for creating something wonderful.
Til next time
Update! good news! No shops but Sanderson have licensed their fabrics for 10 years 🙂