Home Shopping: Charming hand-printed textiles at The Colourhouse

This independent company's debut collection of wallpapers and fabrics combines folk art, graphic shapes and simple elegance for a fun, contemporary effect.

Be Lucky cushions. Courtesy of The Colourhouse

It's always exciting when an independent hand-printed wallpaper and textile company appears on the scene. The Colourhouse studio has just opened its doors for business, and it's definitely one to watch.

The interior designer Marian Lynch and the costume maker Jo Dawn have pooled their skills to put together a small but beautiful collection of papers and fabrics. Jo uses linocut and monoprint images, heavily influenced by folk art and nostalgia, while Marian favours elegant simplicity: graphic shapes with painterly elements. The two looks combine to create a fun and contemporary debut collection.

You'll find fabulous 1950s-inspired wallpapers in fresh colour combinations; this is vintage with a twist. I like the Big Berry design best, particularly the mustard yellow, slate grey and black versions. The Bushes and Briars pattern is equally lovely, all plump blackberries and trailing leaves. You wouldn't need much to make a statement - it would be perfect hung as a single panel on a plain white wall.

The Colourhouse's Be Lucky fabric has a Formica-effect pattern, with cute illustrations of traditionally lucky symbols: a horseshoe, the number seven, a magpie, a shooting star and a four-leaf clover. The colour palette is pleasingly retro. Buy the fabric by the metre for your own projects - it would make cute curtains for a children's bedroom - or go for the premade and reasonably priced cushions, which start at £16 (Dh92) each. There are also up-cycled vintage chairs upholstered in the Be Lucky fabric.

Before you log off, have a peek at the stunning Take Five silk lampshades. Hand-stitched and dye-printed with coral and mustard vintage-style patterns. They're the epitome of 1950s-chic but come in unusual shapes that remind me of prom dresses. I'm already looking forward to the duo's second collection.

For shipping rates to the UAE visit www.thecolourhouse.org