…is what Ben Brougham calles his style. With the reservation ”I’m still not sure if that exactly defines it”. Whatever the definition – it surely is difficult to label personal style – this is an interesting style! As featured in the superb e-magazine Lonny. Seeing that Mr Brougham also contributed with some interesting comments and advice we pick up this track with some hightlights.
The wall in this room is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Surf Blue. This strong teal colour could have been overwhelming, but the collection of pictures and heirlooms break up the colour and prevents that. A very clever – and inspirational – move is that he left the opposite wall white and hanged some mid-century vintage mirrors (collected from car-boot sales) on it. This makes the mirrors pick up the teal and the collection from the wall opposite.
As for collections, Ben’s advice is to only collect things you love. Base a collection on a common theme – this can be anything from colour to material to subject matter. Play with scale; group objects of varying size and scale. His choice collections includes e.g. portraiture: old pictures of people, old family objects, and he also has a passion for vintage photographs of sailors.
Full story of An Eclectic Collection can be read here, at Lonny mag. To close this, let’s hear Ben Brougham’s advice on mixing patterns: be brave. People worry about things matching too much, but design never advances if it’s not pushed. This is entirely consistent with my decor philosophy. Don’t worry, push it if you are a push-it-person, and always surround yourself with things you love and feel at home and happy with. And of course this last inspirational advice:
