KEEPING up to speed with all that is hip and happening in the world of interior design is infinitely more complex, and more expensive, than with fashion. Lashing out more than is wise on a new skirt and finding that it does not cut the mustard is a far less disturbing matter than getting the kitchen surfaces wrong or finding that somehow the new sofa has lost its charm. This is why new trends in the world of interiors tend to evolve in subtle r ways than in the world of fashion, but evolve they do. Just the other day it seemed you could not go wrong with lashings of white and cream and a single dark but impressive antique, preferably exotic. These days it is all change on the interiors front.

It is not that white and cream went out with a bang — more that slowly, slowly bits of colour and pattern began to be introduced (a chintz-covered cushion here, a paisley throw there, a colourful blind at the window) until we have arrived at the point where strong pattern is beginning to define the new-look interior.

Think back to David Hicks (if you are old enough; otherwise get his wonderful interior design books out of the library) and all those geometric patterns (geo-florals they came to be dubbed). Well, surprise, surprise, the cutting-edge interior is about to sport them. It is a look that has been tagged “decorator modern” and it is a new take on the boho look that we have come to know so well. It is more glamorous and sleeker . It, too, depends upon clever juxtapositioning — on putting, as the late Mr Hicks used to do so stunningly, a Lucite chair next to a Knoll sofa, or a re-upholstered Louis XVI chair next to a slick piece of 1960s Italian design.

Brilliant shafts of colour — orange the colour of the setting sun, lipstick red, shocking pink — are all to be seen in the new interior. Whereas even the aesthetically challenged could handle white and cream, this is not an easy look to put together. Pattern on pattern never is. So study the pictures of the original interiors and note just how it is done. Those who do not want to go the whole designer distance can do a lot by just slapping some wallpaper on those pale walls. Wallpaper is à la mode and the best companies have gone big on pattern. Add one of Cole & Son’s brilliant black on black papers and you could change the look of a room in a trice. If that is too dramatic, then turn to Osborne & Little for one of its metallic designs or even for a bit of flocking — no, not the curry-house version of old but one of the new, brighter, bolder styles, all bright green with black or turquoise with orange (yes, really).

Easier to manage is the look that Helen Green, the interior designer known for her sophisticated international style, calls “Californian chic”. It is very cool, very clean, very elegant and it is a more classical look, which means it makes less of a sock-it-to-you visual impact but probably has a longer life. The trouble with being too “now” is that “now” all too soon becomes “then”. The “sharp Italian” look, for instance, she thinks looked wonderful in urban loft apartments but is already beginning to seem dated. The new “sophisticated Californian” look depends for its charm on high-quality materials but it requires a few seriously beautiful cutting-edge pieces, preferably bespoke, to give it focus. Glamour is very much in demand and it comes in the shape of mirrored or lacquered furniture, crystal and nickel lights (from Hector Finch), and chandeliers (J. Robert Scott in Chelsea Harbour leads the way with chandeliers made from antique glass drops, modern crystal and highly polished nickel). Curtains are back, but they come in pale pistachio or eau-de-nil wool sateen rather than the neutral colours so beloved of the 1990s. They are hung on small elegant poles, with crystal or nickel finials. Wall-to-wall carpets are coming back, but good wooden floors strewn with gorgeous rugs by, say, Sacco Hesslein, work too.

Then there are the details — Perspex light switches, Perspex balustrades, bevelled mirrors on dressing-room doors, beautiful handles for doors and cupboards, crystal knobs for a classical house (Baccarat does a beautiful crystal handle) or a swirly nickel door handle from Charles Edwards for something more modern.

Lots of money is spent these days on the bathroom: white Thasos marble, for example, is co-ordinated with highly polished wooden cabinetry. Two basins (the glass basin sitting on the counter has, says Helen Green, been done to death — she is using beautiful shallow rectangular basins, undermounted) are de rigueur. And pay attention to the taps. Kohler from the US or Dornbracht (particularly its Tara range) and Vola offer some of the best taps. The good thing about sticking to an elegant, classic look is that it provides a smart canvas on to which you can add your own individual touch.

Buy a quirky antique, find a strangely wonderful light, track down an old rug or a thought-provoking piece of modern furniture by Ron Arad, Mark Newson or the Campana Brothers. The interior that looks as if it had been ordered straight from a catalogue is never a good look. Better to have it less than perfect but make sure it is yours. That way, it is at least unique.

www.helengreendesign.com

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