By Sara Costi
Sophisticated and classy, with a timeless elegance for a charming look throughout the home. Interior design offers a variety of takes on English style, which is right back in fashion.
English style homes have a distinctive architecture: simple and linear, with a brick finish and large, low windows. Pitched roofs are a common feature, along with small terraces and gardens.
English style interiors feature white ceilings, with borders or stucco work, or open beams. The furnishings and accessories boast elaborate inlay work and graceful, curved legs. Classic materials include wrought iron, copper or bronze, as well as fine woods, ceramics and velvet and silk fabrics. Essential elements solid wood furnishings, display cabinets for china, wallpaper with country patterns or broad vertical stripes, patterned fabrics and antiques.
Other hallmark elements of English style include velvet curtains, wood panelling, elaborate lamps, decorative cushions and hand-embroidered tablecloths. English homes often feature a reading room, with a large window, shelves and bookcases brimming with books, soft leather armchairs and a fireplace.
Neutral colour schemes team beige, cream, dove grey and pastels with vibrant silver and gold tones, or with deep purple, bordeaux and shades of green.
From country cottages to luxury historical residences, English style can be either classic - with large leather armchairs, the typical floral wallpaper and fireplaces and lots of furniture - or modern, featuring just a few striking elements. The country chic look shapes warm, relaxing settings.
One of the best choices for giving floors and walls a warm, inviting English style are wood-effect porcelain stoneware tiles. Rare, fine-quality varieties from all over the world team the supremely natural appearance of wood, with its gnarls and warm colours, with the resistance typical of porcelain stoneware.
Elegant and sophisticated, with decorations that add a particular charm, geometric tiles, especially in black and white, are often used to create an English décor style, especially on the floors of the entrance, kitchen or bathroom.
Beautiful and durable, marble-effect porcelain stoneware tiles are an elegant, sophisticated choice to create an English-style look throughout the home. With streaks in different colours and shimmering reflections, Casalgrande Padana’s marble-effect porcelain stoneware has all the timeless charm of nature’s finest marble.
Casalgrande Padana porcelain stoneware is safe, because it contains no chemical waterproofing agents, varnishes or resins. It is eco-friendly, completely recyclable, non-absorbent and fire-resistant. In the event of fire, it does not emit toxic substances; it is non-allergenic, antibacterial (thanks to the exclusive Bios Antibacterial® treatment that can be applied on request), easy to lay and to clean.