26th July 2017
“Ars Longa Vita Brevis” translates to “Life is short, but art endures” and is the latin motto inscribed above the fire place in the drawing room at Red House.
Red House is not only an incredibly beautiful property, but also one that shaped Morris’ life. Visiting, there’s hints throughout about his ideas about art and life. It was the first and only house Morris ever built and the first independent architectural work of his good friend Philip Webb. It was furnishing this house that inspired Morris to found his company, to give him the textiles and wallpaper with a level of skill and intricacy that he himself looked for. It was the plants and flowers in the garden that in turn shaped the first of his wall paper designs.
Remembered by many of his friends and colleagues as an incredibly happy place, a ‘dream house’ as described by The National Trust due to the fact the years he spent here with his young family were the happiest of his life. The Trust have done an incredible job of preserving ‘the beautifullest place on earth’ as described by Burne-Jones and though the rural setting is gone and many of his original furnishings scattered due to the time that has passed, the building itself is relatively untouched.
It was in the Autumn of 1858, choosing a spot above the Cray valley (at this point, still in open countryside) in Kent, in an area reminding him of his home, Kent. It was whilst in holiday in France with Philip Webb that the idea of Red House was born, and whilst they travelled down the Seine Valley, they sketched the medieval buildings they drew upon for inspiration. After Jane and Morris were married in 1859, the detailed designs for Red House were completed – at this point, it was then on to the build, which took a year and was at all times supervised by both Morris and Webb as the architect. It’s unbelievable to think the total cost of the build was £4,000.
Moving into the home in June of 1860, the decorating process could now begin!
Textile wise, at the time the floors were probably covered in Persian carpets, but all the other textiles Morris designed himself. To decorate, Morris, true to form of his aim of keeping arts and crafts alive, rediscovered forgotten arts of medieval embroidery. Jane spoke of this time decorating, “He taught me the first principles of laying stitches closely so as to cover the ground smoothly and radiating them properly. Afterwards we studied old pieces and by unpicking etc. we learnt very much but it was very uphill work but only carried through by his excessive energy and perseverance.”
Due to the fact Morris found issues in finding furnishings he felt was suitable to decorate his home, it led to the formation of is own business, ‘Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.’ and allowed us to all benefit from their beautiful designs!
The house has always been told through anecdotes as an incredibly happy home, with a constant stream of friends visiting, full of dinners and drinks, with songs sung around the piano – one apple fight in the Drawing Room left Morris with a black eye! Georgiana said, ‘the time we spent together there was one to swear by, if human happiness were doubted.’
Quoted by the National Trust, “By 1864 the Morris firm had outgrown its first premises in Red Lion Square, and, Morris, weary of the daily commute into London, considered moving the whole business out to Bexleyheath. He also tried to get the Burne-Joneses to join him at Red House, commissioning Webb to design a matching range of buildings to enclose the central courtyard for his friends. But late in 1864 Burne-Jones’s young son Philip caught scarlet fever, which he passed on to the heavily pregnant Georgiana. The baby was born prematurely and died after only three weeks. Shattered by this tragedy and worried about money, Borne-Jones decided to pull out of the scheme. Morris and Janey were also both unwell, and their marriage was growing increasingly strained. In 1865 Morris abandoned Red House and, with it, his dream.”
If you ever get the chance to visit Red House, it’s an incredible house to see as any Morris fan, as the hub of many lovely anecdotes and inspirations for Morris, its fabulous to see it in real life! We’ve used the ‘Red House’ booklet from the National Trust for reference and quotes throughout this blog – if you’d like to know more about the house and the individual rooms, make sure you check it out!
Posted in William Morris by Laura
Last week creating my beautiful bridal bouquet with my mum whilst wearing my little quilted jacket made from our Jean quilting design 🌿 We will have to show you all our wedding tables, we re-printed Jean in a sage green especially for the wedding (the small low key wedding escalated a little..) and created our own napkins for each guest, plus a tablecloth for the cake table! 👰🏽♀️ Having it all tied together with the same design was so special, especially as I’d named the design after my lovely Nanny Jean - who was absolutely always wearing green 🌿 Now I can wear my little jacket and always think of my wedding! 🤍 It’s a gorgeous quilting design and fabric, let us know if you’d like an in depth quilted jacket tutorial 🪡🧵
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#Wedding #bridalbouquet #bridalbouquets #brideflowers #weddingflowers #weddingfloristry #weddingflorists #weddingplanners #beautifulblooms #quiltedjacket #sewingpattern #quiltingfabric #quiltersgonnaquilt
Beautiful floral magic by William Morris, why do you think his designs are so timeless? 🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #heavyweight #heavyweightfabric #upholsteryfabric #teatowels #floraldesign
Gorgeous William Morris Golden Lily, it always brightens up the dining room when it’s on the table ☀️ Which is your favourite Morris design for on your table? 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #morrisfabric #morrisfabric #fabric #goldenlily #tablecloths #smallbuisness #independantbusiness #womanownedsmallbusiness
Our French floral designs are stunning, we’ve got a French archive which dates to the late 1800s- early 1900s which is jam packed full of beautiful designs that are lovingly kept in the archive 🫶🏻 We wanted to recolour a few into this gorgeous sage green colour, mainly because, in honestly, it’s my wedding colours and I wanted to have them on my wedding table - perks of the job! 👰🏽 So these are our designs Dot, Jean and Hearts & Kisses, three of our top favourites out the archive 🌿 We love seeing them restored back to life, the colours vibrant once more, we can just imagine them in the French countryside as they once maybe were, now we produce them as fat quarters which all tone together beautifully for quilting projects - we’d love to see what you make with them, don’t forget to tag us! 🫶🏻
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#Frenchfloral #frenchdesign #originaldesign #ukprinted #independantbusiness #smallbusiness #wedding #weddingstyles #weddingnapkins #bridetobride #brideinspo #frenchflorals #fabricshop #quilting #quiltingfabrics #fabricstash #craft #fatquarters
Cutting gorgeous William Morris Lily today, did you know we sell all our fabrics by the half meter? So projects big or small, we’ve got you covered! 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #preraphaelite #floraldesign #lily #floralfabric #upholsteryfabric #curtainfabric
POV: you’ve always got some sort of fresh flowers and a sweet treat on the table 🫶🏻
design on the table today is our beautiful William Morris Brother Rabbit Red 🐰
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisprint #designs #ukdesign #ukdesigner #britishdesign #britishdesigner #smallbuisness
Back in stock 🌿 Our Strawberry Thief blue oven gloves (and placemats too!) 🍓 a stunning addition to every kitchen 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisprint #strawberrythief #preraphaelite #yorkshirefabricshop #fabricdesign #fabricstash
Bringing timeless elegance to the kitchen with our William Morris Strawberry Thief red oven glove and matching tea towel 🍓🕊️ The perfect blend of beauty and function—who said everyday essentials can’t be art? 🫶🏻
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#WilliamMorris #StrawberryThief #KitchenStyle #HeritagePrint #BritishDesign #CottagecoreKitchen #KitchenInspo #TimelessDesign #TextileArt #HomeDetails #MorrisAndCo #FloralPrint #OvenGloveStyle #TeaTowelLove #PatternedKitchen
🎉 GIVEAWAY TIME! 🎉
Win 2 meters of the stunning William Morris “Daisy” fabric – perfect for your next sewing or home décor project! 🌼✨
To enter:
1️⃣ Like this post
2️⃣ Follow us
3️⃣ Tag a friend who loves fabric as much as you do!
📅 Winner announced 1st July
Good luck! 💛🌼
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50% off Daisy heavyweight and cotton fabric?! 🌼 Oopsy Daisy we printed too much, so there’s now 50% off this incredibly beautiful William Morris design- what are you waiting for! 🫶🏻 This was the first design William Morris ever produced so it remains an incredibly special one, and such a timeless design, it’s perfect for quilting and crafting, the heavyweight is brilliant for light upholstery and curtain making! 🌿 Heavyweight is now £4 for half a meter and cotton is £3.50 for half a meter 🤯
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #salefabric #discount #quiltingfabric #sewingfabric #upholsteryfabric #curtainfabric #smallbusiness
✨ Timeless beauty for your kitchen ✨
Our Pimpernel Green tea towel and oven glove bring the iconic elegance of William Morris into your everyday. Perfect for adding a touch of Arts & Crafts charm to your home 🌿
Available now in our shop!
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#WilliamMorris #ArtsAndCraftsMovement #PimpernelGreen #KitchenStyle #HeritageDesign #TimelessInteriors #FloralTextiles #HomeStyle #CountryKitchen #CottagecoreAesthetic #EcoHomeDecor #WilliamMorrisTextiles #BritishDesign #ArtisanKitchen #SustainableStyle
If you had to guess our favourite colour combo? 🫶🏻 Beautiful Brother Rabbits on the table today along with some stunning blue and white blooms 🤍
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#blueandwhiteforever #blueandwhitedecor #blueandwhitehome #williammorris #williammorrisdesign #brotherrabbit #preraphaelite #artsandcraftsmovement
What have you made with bias binding? 🌿 Perfect for crafting, we’ve got some amazing sales on our 50m bias binding rolls in Red Strawberry Thief, Lily and Trellis have 80% off, a 50m roll for £25- what would you make? 🪡🧵
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #biasbinding #biasbindinguk #fabricsale #fabricsales
Which is your fave; Strawberry Thief red or blue? 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisdesigns #preraphaelites #artsandcraftsmovement #strawberrythief #printedintheuk
A gorgeous Strawberry Thief tablescape - because why not make everyday things just that little bit prettier? 🥰 Is Strawberry Thief blue or red your fave? 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #uksmallbusiness #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner #strawberrythief #strawberrythiefprint #preraphaelite
These gorgeous flowers steal the show in our easy little Saturday tablescape 🫶🏻 Lily is one of our favourite William Morris designs and we were so happy to be able to digitally print it now, of course it’s still printed here in the UK 🇬🇧
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#cottagecore #flowers #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #aldifinds #lily #aldiflowers
Beautiful blooms wrapped in timeless William Morris beauty 🌸✨
This William Morris floral Mallow Wine is so gorgeous and one of our faves year round 🫶🏻
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#WilliamMorris #FloralDesign #MallowWine #VintageStyle #BotanicalBeauty #ClassicCharm #TextileArt #TimelessDesign #PatternLovers #NatureInspired #RomanticDetails #FloralFabric #EnglishHeritage #ElegantAesthetic
Totally obsessed with these dreamy William Morris florals 🌸🪡
Perfect for sewing projects, cushions, curtains – you name it. Classic prints that never go out of style!
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#WilliamMorrisFabric #FloralVibes #SewingProjects #FabricAddict #VintageFlorals #HomeStyle #CraftyCorner #InteriorInspo #CottagecoreVibes #PrettyPatterns #FabricStashGoals
Every Laura’s Beau team member has a William Morris napkin on hand at all time; even on the beach apparently 😂 Dreaming of beach days in Cornwall a few weeks ago ⛱️
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#cornwall #cornwallbeaches #cornwalluk #icecream #napkin #strawberrythief #williammorris
A little William Morris floral magic hanging over the cooker today 🫶🏻 can you name this Morris design? 🤎
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #ovenglove #teatowel #teatoweldesign #teatowelsofinstagram #cottagecoreaesthetic #cottagecore #compton