When I wake up in the morning, I want to start the day smiling, with an upbeat feeling. Not always possible once you’ve opened the curtains in the UK, I know, but perhaps if my wallpaper was more fun I wouldn’t have to open the curtains?
If I had the ‘Alice’ wallpaper from Mini Moderns I would definitely be in an upbeat mood from the moment I opened my eyes. The modern floral, created by Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire, for their friend Alice, has a definite 70s vibe about it (you have to say “vibe” when writing about the 70s). It reminds me of some orange bed sheets we had as children. So it might take me back to my childhood.
If I wanted to go back to childhood, I could go for the carousel horses of the ‘Fayre’s Fair’ range. But then again, as I have a passion for mid-century furniture, the ‘Sitting Comfortably?’ range might be more up my street or the ‘Festival’ wallpaper, produced to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain. Or perhaps the ‘Hold Tight’ range with its prints of old London Transport tickets would hit the nostalgia spot?
Ah, so much choice, so few walls!
Mini Moderns started designing wallpaper after they were given a commission in 2002. That design was nominated for awards and on the back of its success they decided to design more home decor ranges. The huge range of prints now feature on so much more than just wallpaper. There are cushions, rugs, tote bags, mugs, tea sets, tea towels, notebooks, even rainhoods! Now that truly is retro! So if I can’t redecorate the entire flat, I could always drink your morning tea from a Mini Moderns mug. “Our range has expanded as we found great manufacturers,” says Keith.
All Mini Moderns products are manufactured in the UK. “There are two reasons,” says Mark, “One is to support British manufacturing. Whenever we find great little factories surviving and which are competitively priced we want to work with them. There is also an eco benefit. We do a lot of exporting so it’s good not to import as well. And when they work with a factory it can also be to the manufacturer’s benefit. “We found a supplier of screen-printed bags and tea towels and we suggested that they make cushions for us as well.”
It was this UK manufacturing which inspired this season’s ‘Day-Tripper’ collection. “We were talking about the manufacturing and we thought a really good story would be day-tripper – holidays at home,’ says Keith. They went home to where they grew up in Yorkshire and the idea for the ‘Whitby’ range in the ‘Day-Tripper’ collection was born. With a few simple lines, it recreates the British coast of rough seas, fishing boats, seagulls and lighthouses.
“We could go anywhere with next year’s collection. Travel and our personal interests all feeds into our collections.”
Keith had been collecting Festival of Britain memorabilia for 20 years and the festival had been influencing their designs for a while before they had the idea to design a range around it. “When we conceived the idea, we approached the South Bank Centre and checked with their Intellectual Property division to see if we could use something of the original designs. At the same time the South Bank Centre said they loved it and we could count on them as stockists, which was great,” says Keith. “They and Heals have stocked it exclusively but it will be available to everyone from this month.”
Keith and Mark do not try to follow trends. The fact that some of their collections reflect a mid-century influence which is fashionable at the moment is “just a happy coincidence” they say. They share the creative process. “Things just come to us. If we both agree on it then it might work. Our aesthetic is really close,” says Keith. “We try to have as much fun as we can when we are designing our prints,” he says. “The end product reflects how much we enjoy it. People love what we do. Our creative love comes through in our product; a warmth comes off of it.”
Mini Moderns wallpapers are sold in Heals. All products can be bought through the website:
