The Glamour of White

Our Kings Road showroom is home to some amazing Modern Art.  And our regular customers will know that this is part of our ongoing collaboration with Tag Fine Arts, the contemporary arts specialists.  One particular piece has really captured imagination. It’s called ‘Balloon’ by Dede Johnston  and it shows the beautiful ethereal quality of snow – and the glamour of white.

Balloon stands at over a meter wide and is one of five signed editions.  It’s from a series entitled ‘The New Wilderness’, a C-type print of a snow scene from Courcheval, France.  Look carefully.  A tiny hot air balloon floats above the clouds, highlighting the scale and beauty of our natural world.

The glamour of white is not just the powdery stuff of ski slopes.  It’s also something we love with our white furniture. And its always popular with our customers who appreciate the ‘glamour of white’ too.

White furniture

It’s a colour that not only provides glamour but a sense of calm.  It’s also wonderfully versatile in furniture. Scandi interiors use it a lot, alongside natural woods and neutral shades for a stylish, laid back look.  It’s perfect for that minimalist, contemporary look.

We’ve chosen, therefore, a few pieces that are all about glamour and white.  Look out for acid-etched white glass, cosy bio-ethanol fires, glamorous over-sized mirrors and white light.

Octa dining table

Bonaldo’s award-winning Octa extending dining table for example is a magnificent piece of white design by Bartoli Design.

The Octa table features a beautiful acid-treated white glass tabletop.  Above all though it’s a great piece of design. In addition, the steel legs, like the game ‘pick up sticks’ look incredibly light but, of course, are very stable. Here they’re lacquered in white but a wide choice of colours includes anthracite, bordeaux, chromed or black nickel.

Likewise, the stylist has used Bonaldo’s My Time dining chairs in a white Skay ecoleather, a high-quality faux leather. It ticks all our winter wonderland boxes.  The glamour of white furniture, pale greys and those magnificent over-sized white lampshades.

Bio-ethanol fires

However, winter also brings colder, darker days and finally turning the heating on.  Real fires can’t be beaten but we think our bioethanol fires come pretty close to the real thing.  Without all of the hard work.  Why? Because they spring to life at the touch of a button.

The big plus too is that bio-ethanol fires are very eco-friendly.  Ours use high grade liquid bio-ethanol, a green fuel, which doesn’t generate any harmful gases, sparks or soot.  They’re also simple to install. There’s no need for a chimney, flue or gas supply, and they have a superb heat output.  Long burning times of up to eight hours will keep you toasty all evening.

Bio-ethanol – choose wisely

It’s important to choose wisely with bio-ethanol fires.  That’s why we sell a wide range of designs from two excellent European companies, Decoflame and Cocoon.  And as the temperatures tumble we use them in our Kings Road showroom.  We have one in the window, suspended from the ceiling, and another down in the office that keeps everyone cosy.

An example of a really versatile and popular fire is the  Ascot Lux bioethanol fire (above).  It’s fully portable, freestanding and designed to sit in an existing fireplace. Choose from three sizes and three different burners.  Different burners mean  you can adjust the amount of heat that’s given out. The burn time for this one is around six hours. The Ascot design also includes toughened glass screens to shield the front or back of the fire.

White sideboards

As we’ve mentioned, white furniture adds glamour and luxury. The Minforms  Soko sideboard (above) is, for us, glamour on legs.   This is the white lacquered version but you can choose Veronese green, Intense blue, or Masala red.  The Soko doors feature laser cut patterns which add an extra layer of interest.

Mirrored white

Bring in the light over winter. Over-size mirrors are used by interior designers as a great way of introducing extra light into dark winter rooms.

The new City Life  mirror from Tonelli Design, the Italian glass specialists, works beautifully for this.  Designed by Francesca Arrighi it’s made in two sizes:  120cm or 180cm in diameter.  It’s a fantastic statement piece, but its scale is hard to comprehend from the image alone.  Check out the corner left of the image. Part of an armchair is just visible showing just how how large this mirror is.  The edge and the centre of the mirror also have beautifully intricate rhombus crowns.  Tonelli have created these using a sophisticated water-cutting process.  We’ve shown the smoked version here but it’s also available in very striking bronze and gold.

 The white storage

Winter often means spending more time indoors.  Which in turn increases the feeling of needing more space and wanting to improve on storage.  Which is why the Sotto design (above) is our idea of how to create more space and keep it stylish.  It’s shown here in white and styled beautifully with a pale grey floor.  The Sotto is also a design that’s perfect for awkward spaces with doors tailored to fit sloping eaves or under-stairs space.  Our installers built something similar in the Go Modern office (great for paperwork) and it looks very smart!

It’s also not just a wardrobe.  To the side of the design are a series of built-in shelves.  These are offered in  various shapes, heights and sizes.  In short, it’s all incredibly practical, with lots of internal accessories and very easy to keep organised.  The Sotto collection can be installed as a built-in design or made totally free standing.  Our in-house designers can measure your space and our installers will then fit everything perfectly.

Winter white gardens

Is your garden now off limits because of the longer nights and the winter chill?  Well it doesn’t have to be out of bounds.  Our amazing range of high tech outdoor furniture is designed for use all year round.  Many pieces can be left out whatever the weather. That’s because they’re specially made to withstand the harsh winters of our northern climate. And we have some great outdoor lighting too.  Which brings us to…

Contardi for white light

Contardi is a brand we have long admired.  Their lighting ranges are very impressive.  The company can supply schemes for whole rooms through to small accessories.  Look out for their great designs for the garden too – guaranteed to lift the winter gloom.

This is Contardi’spretty Muse outdoor lamp  which looks fabulous anywhere.  Designed by Tristan Auer there are versions in white pearl or matt black.  Both have a satin acrylic or bronze shades in a smoked plexi-glass. A plaited leather, waterproof handle, makes it easy to move around.

So choose stylish designs that will add a little glamour and carry you through the dark days of winter and beyond.