Decoupage Design- Inspiration from a Postcard

Glade Bar – The Sketch London – Source sketch.co.uk

Taking inspiration from an early 20th century communion card which depicted an image of a “Glade like scene”, London Based Carolyn Quartermaine and Belgian Didier Mahieu have taken the art of “decoupage” to a new level, using their internationally renowned skills in the world of illustration and installation to transform The Glade at Sketch in the heart of London into a hand crafted enchanted fairy tale forest.

Taking the image from the card, which belonged to Mahieu’s grandmother, the artists repainted, reversed and enlarged the image before printing the image onto hundreds of metres of paper. Each piece of paper was then handcut and decoupaged to the walls by a team of artists, designers and sketch staff, creating one of the first rooms of this kind in London.

The Glade is part of a dream of launching a destination, for food, art and music.  The concept being realised by Mourad “Momo” Mazouz and his team of chefs and designers over two expansive floors of a converted 18th century building in Conduit Street, Mayfair, London – once the head quarters of Dior.

The Glade room is the latest transformation at Sketch, a venue which has a mantra to remain a place that is always changing and evolving, ensuring that nothing is stagnant and remains the same. (although given the time that the Glade would have taken to create I hope it remains for a while – perhaps just change a chair or something!)

The fairy tale design does not just stop at the decoupage.  Given the detail of the walls it is a hard balance to ensure that the accompanying fabrics and furniture compliment and enhance the details of the walls.  This has been achieved using an eclectic mix of rattan furniture, flamboyant peacock chairs with a 1950’s feel. All of the furniture has been sourced from Italy (Sardinia and Portofino) and the South of France.

Quartermine also has a background in Fabric design and Interior design, as such many of the curtains and cushions display Quartermine’s screen printing techniques to create a continuum of layers from the walls through to the fabrics and curtains.

“As the eye tries to form a picture through all these layers, it’s really down to what your imagination tells you that forms the final story for each person who visits,” says Quartermaine.

Afternoon tea is served from 12pm to 5.30pm, and they also have a fab champagne afternoon tea with a selection of champagnes to allow you to tailor your celebration to any budget.

If cocktails are more your scene then The Glade becomes a cocktail bar with classics and a few Glade specials with quirky names.

On with the colourful journey………………………

#TheGlade #London #Illustration #DidierMahieu #CarolynQuartermaine #BoutiqueHotelDesign #UKdesigners #architecture #decoupage #Colourdesign #Mayfair #UK #travelblog #SketchBar #Travel #highteas #InteriorDesign #trends