Photography Red Cover/Di Lewis.
Country Homes &
/nter/ors/IPC+ Syndication,
Ideal Home
/IPC + Syndication
Team your
pale jade walls
and floor with
soft furnishings
in shades of
pomegranate, for
a bright, feminine
feel. When adding
furniture, you are
best to go with
strong, linear
dark-wood pieces
to set the oriental
theme in place.
Think head first
and create padded
headboards with a
blossom motif. Don't
be too concerned
if you can't find
coordinating bedding.
Plain colours work
well as long as they
appear in the panel’s
fabric. If you can, use
scraps of the vibrant
panel fabric in your
scatter cushions.
Reinforce your
Eastern theme
with charming
oriental-style
folding fans, from
the lovely silk and
paper variety to
exquisite, intricately
carved, wood, ivory
and mother-of-
pearl designs.
■ ■ ■
■■i
Far more than just a
way of keeping cool,
folding fans were
used in 18th-century
Europe as a way for
lovers to communicate
secretly. For example,
if a woman hid her eyes
behind an open fan she
meant, ‘I love you.’ And
if she twirled her fan in
her left hand she meant,
‘We are being watched.’
