HAVING watched Chris Hoy and our other Olympic heroes arrive back on British soil swathed in red, white and blue, there's no better time to fly the flag.
Union Flag accessories are considered the height of retro chic and tap into our desire for all things nostalgic and cool Britannia, but aim for stylish, not kitsch. Avoid garish bunting – instead, look for the design on mugs, cushions, throws, rugs o
r even plates.
BEST OF BRITISH• Making sure you're first past the post with this style is easy thanks to The London Cushion Company. Its large Union Jack throw, £200, is a stunner and could be a brilliant way to give an affordable update to a past-its-best sofa, or content yourself with scattering a few Union Jack cushions. They start from £60, or a handmade, silk Union Jack cushion with military buttons is £67.50.
You can stick to your eco principles and opt for an organic cotton version, £50. You can literally fly the flag with its needlepoint Jonathan Adler British Flag, available from September, for £70.
• Designer Vivienne Westwood has interpreted the flag in her own inimitable style and given it a distressed look on both a cushion and a rug, giving the appearance of a family heirloom. Appropriately tagged the VW Flag collection, a cushion is £325, while rugs start from £875. A framed version retails at £1095. Her pieces are available from The Rug Company, who's own orthodox version of the flag on a rug, Union, starts from £1195.
Interior designer Tara Bernerd has her own witty take on the flag and has used it on Miss Shady cushions, which start from £175 and are also available at The Rug Company. The design incorporates the flag into the lenses of sunglasses as a focal point on cushions with a background colour choice of white, chocolate, pink or blue.
• Transform even a simple meal into a celebration with fly the flag china. Emma Bridgewater's half-pint Union Jack mug is one of her best sellers and is £14.95. A smaller Baby mug is £11.95. Andrew Martin's signature elephant emblem is given the patriotic treatment with a union flag background and silver glazed edge on his Union Jumbo Salad platter. It's £10 from John Lewis. Turn on to red, white and blue with B&Q's lamp, £9.98, in stores while stocks last, which replicates the one its supplied for the athletes' accommodation in Beijing.
RAZZLE DAZZLE USA
If you want to look further afield than the home front, how about the USA's iconic Stars & Stripes flag?
• Andrew Martin has used it to turn a sofa into a talking point – the flag is imprinted on the leather Chesterfield style Rebel Sofa, £3995, and on the more contemporary Armstrong Sofa, £3495.
• Straightforward stripes are poised to make their mark on walls and will banish bland rooms. Using them horizontally for a feature wall is just as effective as the traditional vertical stripe, although the latter can give to the illusion of a higher ceiling.
• A two-colour combination is probably the safest bet for first timers in the stripe stakes. Pick shades (reds and blues will figure prominently this year) from your favourite paint company. If you want to source from "green" range there's a good selection at The Little Greene paint company. Its emulsion is £23 for 2.5 litres.
• Most of the high street stores, such as Laura Ashley, Next and Marks & Spencer, feature stripes in their new autumn collections whether in furnishings, fabrics or wallpapers. Let stripes star on a sofa. Multiyork's large Naomi Sofa in Promenade Stripe has an attractive seaside cottage look and costs £1699.
For a more formal interpretation, an Aspen chair in Buck Palm Ruby Stripe, £499, could be a good choice, while Graham & Green is one of the hot sources for trendy homeware and a favoured destination for interior designers and stylists. Its Jamie Dream sofa and armchair can be upholstered in a stunning pink stripe velvet. The chair costs from £1125.
&149 Alfresco meals or indoor feasts deserve stunning tableware. Italian company Guzzini never disappoints and has a well-earned reputation for smart homeware, so stripes figure in a big way. Its Striped Millerighe collection is irresistible; a porcelain two-place setting of bowls and platter is £44.95.
STYLISH SOURCES
B&Q: 0845 850 0175/www.diy.com
Emma Bridgewater: 020 7371 5489/www.emmabridgewater.co.uk
John Lewis: 0845 6049 049/www.johnlewis.com
The Little Greene paint company: 0845 880 5855/www.thelittlegreene.com
Graham & Green: 0845 130 6622/www.grahamandgreen.co.uk/
Guzzini: www.formahouse.co.uk
The London Cushion Company: 0208 675 7711/0845 643 1571/ www.thelondoncushion company.com
Andrew Martin: 0207 225 5100/www.andrewmartin.co.uk
Multiyork: 0800 040 7171/www.multiyork.co.uk
The Rug Company: 020 7243 7349/www.therugcompany.info
The full article contains 828 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
