Arent and Pyke: Interiors Beyond the Primary Palette

Australian interior designers Arent and Pyke debut with a vibrant coffee-table book exploring the “transportive and immersive roles of colour” in their style. They emphasize their desire to capture a client’s character through the inclusion of “cherished family pieces” or “a favourite artwork,” while sparking joy through the interplay of color, architecture, and furnishings. Generous photographs of homes Arent and Pyke have decorated illustrate what these principles look like in practice. Taking a playful approach in a Victorian neo-gothic house, the authors show how they installed in the living room a “modular sofa... upholstered in lilac chenille” (“an unexpected choice that is full of charisma”) and an “anthropomorphic wicker chair” whose left “arm” resembles a human’s, with a hand raised “as if in greeting.” Color’s ability to affect mood makes it the authors’ favorite tool. For example, they explain how they paired pink linen curtains with “rich yellow walls” to create “a gorgeous glow” in the sitting room of a Federation bungalow, and painted the main bedroom of an 1880 row house a “deep, stormy blue... to make the room feel more intimate and cocooning.” The prose is sometimes a bit nebulous, as when the authors suggest a window nook “presents a beautiful moment of stillness in the rhythm of the house.” Still, the appealing interiors are worth the price of admission. (Feb.)