How to Build a Room Around William Morris’s Windrush Print

The little ochre flowers are easy to miss in William Morris’s Windrush. From across the room, I see olive first, then the cream leaves that curl through it. But it’s those little warm centers I’d carry to a side table. The olive can take the sofa if you’re choosing one. The cream can go on the curtain. The ochre only needs a bowl.

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This palette comes from the framed print shown here. You can start with the same three colors and end up with quite different rooms, depending on what you already own. If your sofa is cream, it can stay cream. The green gets a smaller job.

What you’re looking at in the Windrush print

The print reproduces a design Morris made for textiles in 1883. The Art Institute of Chicago documents a block-printed cotton panel of Windrush produced by Morris & Co. at Merton Abbey between 1917 and 1925. That later date belongs to the museum’s piece of cloth. The date printed beneath the design refers to the earlier design. The piece on this page is a contemporary framed reproduction. Art Institute of Chicago, British Art: Recent Acquisitions and Discoveries, figure 2.

That distinction matters for color, too. A Morris & Co. printed cotton sample book held by the William Morris Gallery lists six Windrush samples among its colorways. If you’re decorating from this particular framed print, take your cues from the olive, cream and ochre you can see here. A different reproduction or a historical sample may lead you somewhere else. William Morris Gallery, Morris & Co. Printed Cotton Sample Book.

Give the olive some room

Olive is the color between the leaves. In the print it connects one bit of the pattern to the next. Across a solid sofa it gets to sit still, and that’s a lovely thing to put under a picture with this much movement. If you’re comparing upholstery, try a green that looks a little softer from the doorway than it does on the swatch.

If you already have a cream or tan sofa, try olive on one chair, a throw or a cushion first. Step back far enough to see the art and the seating together. If you can pick out the connection from there, you don’t need another green object on the other side of the room. Starting with the colors and finishes you’re keeping is also where Sherwin-Williams begins its palette guide. Sherwin-Williams, How to Build a Color Palette.

Try the cream beside the mat

There’s a difference between the pale foliage inside the picture and the white space that surrounds it. I’d hold a warm cream fabric next to the mat before deciding how close I want them to be. An oatmeal curtain can pick up the softer tone inside the print. A pale wall gives the gold-colored frame an edge you can still see from the hall.

Look at the sample by the window and under the lamp you actually use at night. A cream that feels gentle in daylight may look yellower beside the mat after dark. Use a movable board or a piece of fabric large enough to judge against the real print. Benjamin Moore’s paint sample guide.

Let the ochre show up once

Find the small flower centers in the print again. They warm the picture without taking up much of it. A glazed ochre bowl can do that on a dark wood table. On a cream chair I’d try the same color in a cushion, especially if there’s nothing warm on that side of the room yet. I’d try one before buying both. With the gold-colored frame already in the room, the bowl might be all the warmth you want.

Give the pattern something quiet to sit beside

Follow one of the broad cream stems in the print. There’s a lot happening in the spaces it leaves behind. If the rug is already floral, leave the sofa fabric plain for a day and look at the room with the art up. You may find that the rug and print have plenty to say to each other. If the sofa needs another pillow, try a wide stripe or a solid instead of another tight repeat.

For another look at how Morris arranged plants across a surface, see the Journal’s guide to William Morris’s botanical patterns. If you’re starting with a different picture, the same exercise works with other pieces in Art & Wall Decor.

Questions about decorating with Windrush

Was Windrush originally a wallpaper?

The design discussed here began as a furnishing textile. The framed print reproduces that design on paper for display. Art Gallery of South Australia, Windrush [furnishing fabric].

What wall color goes with the olive Windrush print?

Warm cream is a starting point. Hold a sample beside the mat and frame, then check it in daylight and lamplight. If you want a darker room, try a muted olive with enough difference in lightness that you can still see where the frame ends and the wall begins.

Can I hang it in a room with a patterned rug?

Yes. Look at both from the doorway. If the two patterns feel equally busy, give them something plain between them, such as solid upholstery. A color shared by the rug and print can do more for the room than another floral cushion.

Which size of the Windrush framed print should I choose?

The listing offers 22 × 26 and 34 × 42 inches. Mark both outlines with painter’s tape and look from the doorway and your usual seat. The smaller outline can work above a narrow chest or among other frames. The larger one gives the dense pattern more room to read by itself. Check the listing for the option you want before planning the wall.