Create a Classic Look With Beautiful Blue and White
These techniques and patterns from around the world never go out of style
Becky Harris
March 20, 2016
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia.
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe... More
Textiles from the Middle East, hand-painted storage jars from China, pastoral scenes from France — these are just a few of the ways home decor around the world has incorporated blue and white for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years. Techniques include weaving textiles from resist-dyed yarns, pouring different colors of cement into tile molds and even mass-producing historic and rural scenes on dinnerware. In fact, some of these techniques are so ancient that no one is sure exactly which part of the world they originally hailed from — all we know is that they are still going strong.
1. Asian ginger jars and urns. Originally made in the Far East for storing herbs, these beautiful pieces have a wide variety of designs and shapes. Grouped, they make a lovely blue and white composition.
2. Transferware. A process developed in England involving copper plates and tissue paper made mass production of these prints possible. This meant the elegant pieces were widely available to the average household. It also meant that a dinner service could have different prints on every plate and platter. This is great news for today’s collectors — displaying the pieces shows all sorts of interesting scenes that offer glimpses of history.
3. Ticking. This once strictly utilitarian, usually striped, linen has made its way off the mattress and onto the top of the bed. It lends a classic simple look to a bedroom.
Ticking also has made its way out of the bedroom and into other rooms of the house. You can use throw pillows and bedding in a wide variety of colors and prints to go with it.
4. Delftware. This pottery, also known as blue delft and delft pottery, was named after the city of Delft in the Netherlands, where it was originally made. This classic has serious staying power; the painted pottery has been around since the 16th century. The vast trading activity by the Dutch East India Co. added Far Eastern influences to the techniques in the 17th century. Cobalt and white is the most prevalent color combination in delft tiles.
Delft tiles: Via Country Floors in Greenwich, Connecticut
Delft tiles: Via Country Floors in Greenwich, Connecticut
Whether you use delftware painted with windmills and made in Delft or with florals or birds and made in England, delftware will give your room a classic Dutch look.
5. Ikat. The recent popularity of this textile has made ikat a household word. True ikat cloth is woven from threads that have undergone a resist-dying process, but due to its popularity, ikat patterns are now available printed on all different kinds of textiles. Using these patterns adds a worldly touch.
6. Batik. The method of creating batik fabrics dates back thousands of years. This is another type of resist dying; patterns are applied with wax and when the rest of the fabric is dyed, the wax-covered parts remain the original color of the cloth. The popularity of these patterns, particularly in blue and white, has exploded in the past few years. Blue batik textiles lend a classic-meets-bohemian look that is the epitome of California cool.
7. Encaustic tile. Though made in several places in Europe since the 1850s, Spain is the best-known source for these cement tiles. They get their patterns not from paint but rather from different colors of cement poured into a mold. These floors have been a constant favorite in Mediterranean and Spanish Colonial homes, but the dynamic patterns have gained popularity in all sorts of styles of homes lately.
8. Toile. These lovely pastoral scenes emerged in France in the 1700s and have been a home decor staple ever since. Sure they’ve been given twists over the years (one standout is the clever Harlem Toile de Jouy by Sheila Bridges), but the look is always distinctive.
Tell us: Do you have a favorite way to bring in blue and white? Please let us know in the Comments.
More: 9 Fresh Ways to Use Classic Blue and White Ceramics
Tell us: Do you have a favorite way to bring in blue and white? Please let us know in the Comments.
More: 9 Fresh Ways to Use Classic Blue and White Ceramics
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White & Blue and Weathered wood make for a beautiful combination! Mandi @ Dura
See details at:https://www.instagram.com/p/BCbUbK3wwDg/?taken-by=durasupreme
LOVE
For as long as I have been weaving rugs, blue and white
still stays at the top of the list of client requests. Here is one of our rugs
accenting this blue and white room. I’ve also hung some of our blue and white
transferware in our new home in the mountains of western North Carolina. www.loominaries.com