Homegirl London pays homage to Rebecca Collingridge. This designer offers a unique interior proposition for private and commercial properties. She brings the outside inside by creating stunning bespoke wall art murals which are often inspired by the client’s own garden. You can also buy a selection of her dreamy designs on wallpaper, upholstery fabric or soft furnishing fabric to make your own cushions or curtains. Rebecca’s passion for aiding well-being through her work is as admirable as it is beautiful. The painted repeat patterns feature flora and fauna along with birds and insects for a peaceful and calming effect. If you want a relaxing interior which captures nature at its best, this is the designer for you. I caught up with Rebecca Collingridge to find out more.
Rebecca Hand Painting Fresh Flowers
Meet Rebecca Collingridge
Rebecca studied at Bath School of Art and Design where she specialised in Textile Design for Interiors. She graduated in 2013 with First Class Honours. While studying, Rebecca was lucky to undertake some valuable work experience, she tells me – “I did a fantastic placement with Michael Angove who is a unique and truly original designer. He taught me about working in the print industry, especially the high-end market and also how to create repeat patterns. He really did open my eyes to the vast range of opportunities available and I am hugely grateful for all the wisdom he imparted to me.”
Rebecca
Before graduation, Rebecca was approached to create a digitally printed mural for Southmead Hospital in Bristol. She reveals – “It was an unexpected but a wonderful opportunity which allowed me to put everything I’d learnt straight into practice. The design was themed ‘Garden Kitchen’ and depicted herbs, insects and gardening tips. The aim was to produce something visually interesting and engaging to service users. It is fantastic to visit the ward and observe people reading the text and trying to name the herbs, a small distraction from their suffering and trauma. So you could say that this was the starting point for me in wanting to create spaces with a natural, organic feel which would have a benefit on health and well-being. It broke any barriers in needing to work small and pushed me to consider space and how I could fill it with lush imagery and colour.”
Garden Kitchen Mural at Southmead Hospital
While studying, Rebecca’s head was brimming with business opportunities. She elaborates – “I felt incredibly encouraged by various tutors and people in my life which spurred me on. I started thinking about how I could make and sell products and as time went on and I got into the swing of designing for different outcomes. I felt like it was a no brainer to make a business of my talent. I absolutely love painting and designing and I’m quietly very ambitious and driven. I developed my concept carefully, thinking about how I could make it commercial and got some help from an enterprise scheme. I wanted to work directly with people and see how I could improve their living or working space with fresh and uplifting designs.”
Tree Mural in Bedroom
Rebecca officially started her business in September 2014. She tells me – “Having spent a year freelancing for fashion print studios and completing a commission for Southmead Hospital, I was ready for my adventure to begin. In between doing these jobs, I had time to develop my portfolio and ideas. I’m lucky that I can run my company without any staff and from my home which is in rural Northamptonshire. It’s wonderful being able to step outside and feel the health benefits of nature every day.”
Rebecca Collingridge Artwork
Nature is Rebecca’s biggest influence – “My work is all about bringing peace and serenity into living space, through clever colour combinations and exquisite painting. For me, the best bit of the design process is getting outdoors and collecting leaves, flowers, stems and branches. I like to arrange sweet little bunches in jam jars and see what colour combinations work well. If I’ve got any long, elegant plants or branches, I tape them to the wall and imagine they’re 3D wallpaper. This helps me to curate the placement before I begin painting. It’s such a joy being surrounded by lovely plants all the time. I still find the variation of shape and colour within nature fascinating.” Aside from nature, here inspirations range from traditional Chinoiserie (fanciful and ancient Chinese imagery), vintage prints, Beatrix Potter paintings and luxury brands like Designers Guild, Harlequin, De Gournay and Fromental wallpapers.
Jumbo Bloom Designs
Rebecca’s business is two-fold, consisting of her bespoke commissions and selling her designs online. She tells me more about the private projects – “These work well when the client has a beautiful garden. It’s really important to me to get to know a client and I draw their own plants for the design which could be made into wallpaper or painted onto the wall. This is really special because I can turn something which is fleeting and temporary into something that will last for many years. The key to my work is hand-painted flora and fauna which is repeated. Perfection in the detail is hugely important to me, as well as the overall structure of the piece.”
Woodland Mural
The bespoke designs are made with the client’s likes and needs in mind, and considering the space and the atmosphere they want to create. Rebecca tells me – “I’m obsessed with mood and atmosphere. My aim is to create a certain feel within an interior space, whether it is fresh and uplifting, or calming and serene. Colour is important for this to be successful and I like to try different combinations to get the desired effect. I believe that environment is a huge factor in our well-being. It is scientifically proven that engaging in nature has a positive impact on health and productivity. In a society saturated by negative imagery and where we are endlessly looking at screens, I want to find a way to bring the outdoors indoors. I want to make people feel good, healthy and energised, as well as give them something stunning to look at.”
Botanical Designs
You can also buy Rebecca’s designs on a collection of digitally printed high-quality wallpapers and fabrics (cotton drill and linen) using environmentally friendly inks and made in the UK. She tells me – “With my debut collection, I saw the designs in a holistic way, making connections with colours and allowing the designs to be used together. Colour is a very powerful tool, so I’ve put together three different themes which allow people to understand and explore how the designs might make them feel and what mood they create. The imagery I’ve created includes a range of florals, textures and patterns which vary in style but are all based on natural structures. Style-wise, they have a contemporary feel, namely because of the brave colours I use but also for the layout of the pattern.”
Relax and Dream Fabrics
The collection follows three main themes: Invigorate and Stimulate, Relax and Dream and Classic Warmth. The collection includes only six designs, but each has been translated into different colourways to fit into the mood palette. Designs can be mixed and matched within a group or across the board to create the desired look. Rebecca gives me a synopsis of her designs.
Relax and Dream Wallpapers
Cluster: “This is about creating order from wild chaos. The structure of the design creates a horizontal stripe, something rarely used in the interior pattern. It has a slightly oriental feel, and there is a dramatic contrast between colours.”
Gentle Stalks: “This is the most minimal design in the collection. The aim was to create something elegant, tasteful and timeless. The floating stems create a feeling of light and space.”
Dappled Light: “Inspired by the layering of petals and leaves in a flower bed, where you get an array of tones and textures. This design is a great base for which to layer some of the more bold designs.”
Invigorate and Stimulate Wallpaper Designs
Olive: “One of the more traditional designs is based on a celebratory bouquet. It’s about the detail and colour combinations within the imagery. It has a joyful yet calming simplicity.”
Wild Garden: “This is about the way in which flora naturally grows and bends and the combination of different plants you might find together.”
Jumbo Bloom: “My greatest triumph and the last addition to the collection. It contains exquisite detail and texture, flow and movement. The structure is fairly traditional, but the colours are brave and contemporary.”
Buy Rebecca Collingridge Products and Services
To find out more go to the Facebook Page: Rebecca Collingridge Design. The bespoke service includes creating designs for both wall coverings and fabrics plus advice on how to use colour and texture in a room to coordinate with the design. To give you an idea about price points, wallpaper is £195 for a 10m roll and the fabric is £60-£70 for fabric. Wallpaper and fabrics can be shipped overseas. Colour matching service at an additional fee of £90 (includes a sample).
Author: Homegirl London. Photographs: RC. Thanks: Rebecca.
