I have been an admirer of Emma’s wonderfully colourful, whimsical and nature inspired prints for a while now. I was first introduced to Emma’s work when I was gifted an amazing Kruger fabric chair in pink which sits proudly in my office and always receives a lot of compliments. The attention to detail in Emma’s hand drawn prints is breath-taking (you can view Emma’s Sketchbook on her website) and the new Wilderie Collection is simply stunning! Emma’s prints are really brought to life with the vibrant shades of colours that she uses within her designs.
So, who is Emma J Shipley?
Emma is a graphic artist who graduated from the Royal College of Art and has won numerous awards for her astonishing designs. She painstakingly draws each design by hand in pencil taking her inspiration from her travels, the beauty of nature, myths and legends.
These are then turned into fabrics, wallpapers, cushions, throws and accessories, so I was extremely excited when Emma and Clarke & Clarke invited me to the Chelsea Harbour Design Centre to celebrate the launch of her new Wilderie collection.
Myself and 3 other Instagrammers were asked to become Style Talents for the day and create our own little booths with Emma’s designs.
Some of Emma’s hand drawn sketches including Fable, Phoenix, Heroes and Aesop which appear in the Wilderie Collection
Each of us were given a booth which was decorated with wallpaper and half a sofa covered in fabric from the Wilderie collection. I was given the Caspian Wallpaper in grey and the Creatura Linen fabric which would cover the sofa.
We were tasked to create our own little corner, bringing our own interior style to the booths and were asked to choose lampshades, cushions, footstools and fabric throws from the collection to add to our booth.
Considering my booth was mainly monochrome, I decided I needed to add bright and vibrant colours to bring it to life, so set about creating a mood board to make sure that my vision worked.
I decided to go with a Zambezi Velvet lampshade with the colour of Cardinal as tassels to add contrast, an Audubon cushion with a cardinal back, a Jungle Palm velvet bolster cushion, a Caspian Linen Fabric in nude cushion with Money fabric on the back so I could add a pop of dark green to the set if needed and a footstool in Cardinal fabric with the same colour tassels.
When I put all these items together on a mood board, I knew they would look fabulous together!
Props and Accessories, a girls dream list! 🙂
We were also asked to choose some more accessories from Emma’s range and any other items that were needed to complete the booth. I wanted to create a little glamorous and colourful cocktail corner, something that you could imagine going to with friends to enjoy a few cocktails surrounded by stunning and stylish maximalist décor and complimented the Wilderie Collection perfectly.
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Gold shoes – Models Own 🙂
And now, to style!
We turned up on Tuesday morning with our booths wallpapered and half a sofa upholstered to create our sets. Thankfully, all my props were ready to go so I set about creating my little corner. As the booth was only 1.1m x 1.1m you can imagine it didn’t take long to organise. I wasn’t able to use all the cushions and the flowers blocked the view of the sofa a little, but the booth turned out just how I imagined!
My booth with the Caspian Wallpaper in Grey and the Creatura Linen fabric
Slowly building up my set by adding the palm and the beautiful Kruger throw
Adding the finishing touches
What about the other 3 booths?
Once I was happy with my little corner, I went and had a look at all the other booths. We were all given completely different wallpapers and fabrics so I was interested to see the other Style Talents take on their set.
Sandra Baker – @the_idle_hands
My booth partner in crime chose the Silverback Wallpaper with the Lost World Velvet fabric covering her sofa. She paired this with a Silverback linen lamp shade, Silverback cushion, Jungle Palms cushion, a teal footstool with tassels, a monstera plant, a Jungle Palm Velvet bolster cushion, a gold tray with crystal decanter and glass and my favourite accessory, a palm wall hanging light.
I am not a huge fan of lime in décor, but this set really worked. The sofa stood out wonderfully against the dark backdrop of the set and managed to highlight the lime in the wallpaper beautifully.
A simply stunning set up! Silverback Wallpaper with Lost World Velvet Fabric .
Sandra’s set is like the Ying to my Yang
Sofie Hepworth – @threeboysandapinkbath
I really love the use of pink and mustard on Sofie’s Instagram page so I think the set that Sofie chose complimented her style perfectly. Sofie decided to break up the Wilderie Collection pattern by adding a terracotta wall and floor with dado rail half way up and used the Frontier Wallpaper in Gold and yellow to finish the booth. Her sofa was covered in Caspian Velvet Fabric in orange which complimented the terracotta wall perfectly.
Sofie accessorised her set with a matching fabric cushion and throw, plants and books, a magenta footstool with orange tassels and a tray with decanter and green glasses. Her finishing touch on the wall were two gold beetles from Luxeology.
The perfect set up, Caspian Velvet Fabric in Orange with Frontier Wallpaper
Jess Hurrell – @gold_is_a_neutral
Last, but not least, probably my favourite mix of wallpaper and fabric (it’s always about the pink and green for me!) Jess’s booth looked stunning before she added any accessories. Her booth was decorated in my favourite design, Lynx wallpaper in pink and her sofa was covered in Zambezi Velvet Fabric in teal.
Jess went for the same lampshade as myself with matching Zambezi Velvet fabric and a bright pink fringe, a foot stool in the Lynx fabric with green tassels and pulled the whole scheme in together with Lynx cushions. She accessorised with a huge green velvet “selfie” mirror and some bright pink pampas grass, styled in an on-trend rattan vase.
The Lynx Wallpaper in pink had to be my favourite design. It is paired with Zambezi velvet fabric .
Jess’s beautifully styled booth!
Now the fun begins!
At 2pm, the doors were opened for a gathering of interior enthusiasts, bloggers and Instagrammers and we were able to chat to people about our interior decisions whilst Emma was on hand to answer any questions. They had created a larger display of Emma’s collection at the back of the shop which included my favourite piece, the sofa in pink Lynx fabric.
You were able to get a feel for Emma’s designs as a whole which is pure maximalist heaven, but you don’t have to be a maximalist or even a huge fan of colour to appreciate and love Emma’s work.
I think these designs can work in all homes by choosing cushions to compliment your sofa or a throw to brighten up a dull living room corner. Wilderie Collection is a fantastical print assortment which incorporates Emma’s travels from Africa to America. It cleverly mixes nature with fantasy and fairytales and I really believe there is something for everyone in this collection.
Emma sitting resplendently amongst her creations.
Time to tuck in 🙂 Emma talking us through her hand drawn sketches and creations
So much fun was had by all!
Our four mini booths and the Wilderie collection by Emma J Shipley will be on display at the Chelsea Harbour Design Studio all next week for London Design Week. To find out more about her fantastic collections and beautiful products, visit www.emmajshipley.com and www.clarke-clarke.com
Attending the event and styling were a paid promotion. However, I was not paid for this blog post and all views are my own.
