Clash of the design titans: Maximalism meets heritage

Dress it up for made-to-measure interiors drama

Rachel Khoo @rachelkhooks, food writer, bestselling cookbook author, and broadcaster across TV and podcasts, has a home as delicious as her culinary creations. Simple and clean, Rachel’s home allows her personal style to really sing, her love of a red lip highly distinguishable on her vibrant yet crisp Instagram aesthetic.

When Rachel started to pull together designs for her home interior, it was our enigmatic, retro reimagined prints that called out to her, sparking moments of maximalism in her home, with made-to-measure blinds and curtains packing some punchy flavours, much like her food.

Here, Rachel shares the myriad of ways she has incorporated maximalist Archive moments into her home, bringing bold twists and design drama to the fore.

How would you encapsulate your home aesthetic?

Functional cosiness.

You’ve used a smorgasbord of our prints across the various rooms of your house, can you share with us what spoke to you about our prints and colourways?

We live in an “engelska radhus” (Swedish translation - English terrace house) and the architect was inspired by the terrace houses in the UK at the turn of the 20^th century, so I wanted to retain some of the English heritage style within the interiors. The patterns and colourways from Archive really helped to bring this aspect alive.

Which room did you begin with, and did they all have a clear style agenda from the outset?

It was a tiny box room which was previously used to dump various boxes in. When my husband and I started to work from home I had to find another space in the house to convert into an office. I’m no stranger to small spaces so a box room felt like a cosy fit for my office. I had a custom bookcase built (I did have to cull my 500+ cookbook collection to a third) and used a height-adjustable moveable table as a desk and a velvet box seat as chair. The Hyacinth curtains in Bold Pink really gave it the finishing and also practical touch, adding some warmth and bringing the room alive with the pattern which works perfectly with the green walls.

Tell us about the master bedroom and walk-in wardrobe – how did you come to utilise Daisy and Golden Lily in this room in such different ways?

I wanted to add a dramatic look to the walk-in wardrobe with floor to ceiling Golden Lily curtains in Galactic Ink. I loved the pattern but also the heaviness of the fabric. It was also a very practical way to make sure all the messiness of the wardrobe is hidden away. You only see the drama if you’re in the walk-in wardrobe, from the other side of the wall in the master bedroom you get glimpses of the curtain.

In the master bedroom I wanted to retain a lightness as the wall colour is a very dark blue. Hence me choosing the Daisy fabric in Strawberry Fields as a blind.

Did the master bathroom follow a similar vibe or has Daisy been incorporated in a completely different way?

The master bathroom has pink walls and I loved how the Daisy pattern picked up on the pink but also tied in with the design of the master bedroom. I also think using fabric blinds in the bathroom is a great way to soften all the hard surfaces (marble, tiles, bare walls etc.).

How did the kids react to Elixir of Life in Sherbet in their room?

My kids love the unicorns. It was important for me to pick a design that both kids and adults would love (I love the pattern too) as the room sometimes acts as a guest room for Grandma when she visits.

In which room did you feel the most emboldened with the design?

It’s impossible to pick one! I love all the rooms. It’s wonderful to be able to start and finish my day looking at the beautiful Daisy blinds, get dressed surrounded by drama with Golden Lily and then go to work in my Hyacinth office and feel energised.

MORE FROM ARCHIVE

Shop our made to measure curtains and blinds and for more design inspiration from Archive go behind the curtain

PHOTO CREDITS:

Elin Sylwan https://elinsylwan.com
INSTAGRAM @elinsylwanphotographer

Rachel Khoo https://rachelkhoo.com
INSTAGRAM @rachelkhooks