The legacy of William Morris
William Morris (1834–1896) was the textile artist who refused to choose between beauty and function. As a driving force in the Arts & Crafts movement, he reacted against the mass-produced goods of industrialism and revived craftsmanship: hand printing, natural dyes and patterns drawn directly from nature. His rule for the home has become a classic.
Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
That is why his fabrics still feel relevant more than 130 years later. Every winding branch, every bird and every leaf is studied from life, often in the garden of his own country house, Kelmscott Manor. The patterns belong to no particular era. They are about nature, rhythm and balance, and they work just as well in a newly built apartment in Stockholm as in a turn-of-the-century house.
Today the legacy is carried on by Morris & Co, part of the Sanderson group, which continues to produce the fabrics from the original drawings. The quality is exactly what the philosophy demands: cotton and linen with a dense, fine weave that stands up to upholstery, drapes beautifully as curtains and ages with character instead of losing its lustre.
Four patterns, four rooms
The living room. Strawberry Thief
Morris's best-loved pattern, designed in 1883 after the thrushes that stole strawberries from the kitchen garden at Kelmscott Manor. The birds, the berries and the winding floral tendrils make Strawberry Thief a fabric with a story, and that is precisely why it belongs in the living room.
Let it take its place where it will be seen: a reupholstered armchair, generous curtains or a row of cushions on the sofa. Strawberry Thief is happy to carry the room on its own. Keep the rest of the textiles plain and the lines of the furniture clean, and the pattern becomes the focal point the room needs.
The bedroom. Willow Boughs
Softly swaying willow leaves in a calming rhythm. Willow Boughs is Morris's most tranquil pattern, and in the modern Pure interpretation it comes in light, neutral tones that make it a natural choice for the bedroom.
Here you want textiles that envelop without demanding attention. Have curtains or a headboard made in Willow Boughs, keep the bed linen in natural-coloured linen and the light subdued. The repetition of the leaves creates an almost meditative feel, exactly the foundation that sleep needs.
The study. Acorn
Acorns and leaves in a dense, almost graphic pattern. Acorn is Morris in his most concentrated form: natural yet structured, with an order that suits rooms where thoughts need to work in peace.
In the study, Acorn is most effective as curtains or as upholstery on a reading chair. Combine it with dark wood, brass and a simple desk lamp. The pattern gives the room weight without becoming stiff, and the green tones rest the eyes between hours at the screen.
The dining room. Pimpernel
Magnificent flowers in deep, saturated tones. Pimpernel was drawn in 1876, and Morris himself liked the pattern so much that he chose it for the dining room of his home, Kelmscott House in London. That says something about where it looks its best.
The dining room is the room for visual richness, a room where you linger. Pimpernel as curtains or chair upholstery gives dinners a setting with depth and character. Dark wooden furniture and candlelight heighten the mood, and the fabric needs nothing more around it.
More patterns to discover
The range holds far more than the classics above. Three favourites from the collection that deserve a closer look:
The colours Morris loved
Morris detested the new synthetic dyes of his day, which he found garish and lifeless. Instead he spent years reviving the old vegetable dyes, and at the workshop in Merton Abbey he stood at the dye vats himself. The story goes that he received visitors with his arms blue right up to the elbows.
The blue was no accident. Indigo was his great love: a deep, almost blue-black tone that lies at the base of many of his patterns. Around it he built a small, faithful palette. Madder red, a warm, earthy red from the root of the madder plant. Weld yellow, which together with indigo gave his characteristic forest and olive greens. And as the foundation: unbleached natural white, the very colour of linen and cotton.
That is why a Morris palette never shouts. All the colours come from the same garden, so they harmonise with one another of their own accord, however you combine them.
Decorating the way Morris thought
If you want to go further than a single fabric, you can easily borrow his whole way of thinking. Three principles go a long way:
Fewer things, chosen with care. Morris's rule about the useful and the beautiful is in practice an invitation to choose slowly. One truly good fabric on a piece of furniture you love beats ten impulse buys.
Honest materials. Wood, linen, wool, stone and earthenware. Morris wanted things to look like what they are made of. Let the materials show and age, and avoid the glossy and the fake.
One pattern in the lead role, nature as the palette. Give each room a Morris pattern that is allowed to carry the space, and draw the rest of the colours from the pattern itself: an indigo-blue armchair, madder-red cushions, walls in a soft natural white. If you want to take the idea all the way, many of the patterns are also available as wallpaper in the Morris & Co wallpaper collection.
How to use William Morris fabric at home
Morris fabrics are printed and woven to be used, not just admired. The most common ways to work with them are upholstery on armchairs and dining chairs, curtains allowed to fall in generous lengths, and cushions and throws as a simple first step into the world of pattern.
Unsure how a pattern will look in your home? Try it digitally with our visualiser, or come and see us on Sturegatan 20 and see the fabrics in real life.
Three mistakes to avoid
- Matching too much. The same pattern on curtains, cushions and armchair kills the magic. Choose one Morris pattern for the lead role and keep the rest plain in the same colour family.
- Mixing with other strong patterns. Morris fabrics have so much character of their own that they need room to breathe. Calm colours, natural materials and simple lines all around.
- Choosing too cautiously. A patterned fabric in the smallest possible dose rarely makes anyone happy. Dare to give the fabric a real place in the room; that is how it comes into its own.
Explore our full range of Morris & Co fabrics or visit us on Sturegatan 20.
