Last week I was in Portugal where I was taken as a guest of Colour Flooring Company to see the cork harvest. I will tell you more about that next week, but first a moment for the stunning hotel we stayed in in Porto. The Cocorico is a converted townhouse with 10 bedrooms and it’s honestly one of the most fabulous hotels I have ever visited. It also sparked a theme for this week’s post: rattan.
Now if you were paying attention a couple of weeks ago you may have noticed I wrote about the difference between trendY and trendING. The former being something that many of us are afraid of when it comes to interiors as fashions change and it’s expensive and wasteful to keep shopping. There is a difference, however, between that and trending which is when materials, colours and textures circle in and out of fashion but remain, at the heart of it a fairly classic material. Brass is one such example – brass taps are trending but when they move round they will still be a classic. Rattan is another.
Those of you on instagram may have noticed brands like Folie Chambre, Anemone Interiors and, in the US, Circa Who, selling vintage rattan, often from Italy. Much of it is gorgeous although it can reach investment prices (which is a way of saying that it ain’t cheap).
At the same time there’s lots of rattan on the high street so one way or another you can probably find a piece to suit your budget. After all, if you hang on to it long enough even the affordable high street piece will become vintage (20 years is the official count).
Here are some examples of rattan from my cameral roll over the years as well as clocked on instagram this week. One is a styling job I did for La Redoute back in 2019, one is a shot of a chair that was found in a charity shop as well as the aforementioned Cocorico Hotel and the Hoxton in Paris, where I stayed in 2018 – and that courtyard is still one of the most photographed.
Then there is the Ikea chair, which was restocked several times and is still sought after on vintage sites. The current version Buskbo is £179 but aficionados like it less. If anyone knows the name of the original the key is to set up a google alert for any that come up for sale.
So where do you stand on trendy v trending? Does rattan do it for you? In addition to the vintage sites mentioned above do check out La Redoute as well as Cox & Cox and Rockett St George.
For flooring in cork, rubber, vinyl and wood visit the Colour Flooring Company.
Love that see-through roof idea. Perfect for sun bathing, watching the rain or even gazing at the stars. Especially in that Portugal weather/climate! What a dream
I believe the ikea rattan chair is called a Stockholm 2017 armchair. I currently have a pair of them with white cushions and nowhere to put them. Do I sell or hang on to them?
Well that’s the question isn’t it. I have come across various people recently who want them so I guess you’d sell them easily but if you love them you should keep them.