How to integrate organic motifs into the décor of your house

Our connection with natural elements never goes out of fashion, but in recent years it has garnered new meaning. After an era dominated by chilly minimalism, we’re seeking out warm, welcoming homes with a heart. Organic motifs – flowers, branches, leaves and creepers – lend life and serenity to any space. It’s not just a matter of aesthetics: designs inspired by nature exude wellbeing, help relax our eyes and remind us of life’s essentials. Inspired precisely by this spirit, the new “The Unfinished Works” collection from Morris & Co., supplied by Gancedo, reinterprets the art of William Morris, showing how natural motifs can be elegantly adapted to suit contemporary interiors.

Begin with a focal point

Si te atrae la idea de introducir motivos naturales, comienza por un solo elemento que actúe como protagonista: un papel pintado con flores, una tapicería con hojas o un gran cuadro botánico. En el salón, una pared con un estampado vegetal —como los diseños Cornflower (izquierda) o Bluebell & Peony (derecha) e Morris & Co.— transformará el ambiente sin sobrecargarlo. La clave está en dejar respirar el espacio alrededor del motivo principal, combinándolo con muebles de líneas sencillas y materiales orgánicos como la madera o el lino.

If you find the idea of introducing natural motifs appealing, start with a single element serving as the centrepiece: floral wallpaper, upholstery featuring leaves or a large botanical picture. In the sitting room, one wall with a foliage print – like the Cornflower  pattern (on the left) or Bluebell & Peony (on the right) from Morris & Co. – will transform the environment without overloading it. The secret lies in allowing the space around the main motif room to breathe, mixing and matching it with unfussy furniture and raw materials such as wood and linen. All the designs in this collection are inspired by the library curated by The Huntington, conserving unfinished sketches by William Morris and John Henry Dearle.

Mix and match counterbalancing prints and textures 

Natural designs work better when they are counterbalanced by plain fabrics and neutral shades. For example, curtains with a floral pattern coordinated with plain or linen texture cushions produce a well-balanced effect.

The collection “The Unfinished Works” ranges from busier prints like Clover & Vine (on the left) and Daisy & Oak (on the right) to more delicate options like Chamomile (the wallpaper seen above), allowing us to play around with different levels of visual depth depending on the room.

A word of advice: use more intricate motifs in spaces where you wish to create interest (such as the dining room or the bedroom headboard) and lighter ones in restful areas.

Create a palette inspired by nature

Colours are essential to emphasising the organic effect. Soft greens, beiges, terracottas and dusty blues conjure up natural landscapes and convey calmness. If you opt for a print featuring flowers or foliage, use its tones as a benchmark for the rest of the space. For example, if your wallpaper has sage green leaves and cream-coloured flowers, you can provide a counterbalance with walls in stone shades and touches of light wood.

Gancedo fabrics, with their quality and rich colours, make mixing and matching like this easy and guarantee durability hand in hand with beauty of design.

Go for authentic materials and finishes

Natural motifs are enhanced when accompanied by materials that also spring from nature. Vegetable fibres, handmade ceramics, woods without any shiny varnishes and cotton and linen textiles bolster the feeling of connection with the organic.

The new handcrafting techniques of Morris & Co. – embroidery, embossing, hand-dyed yarns – reflect this same respect for manual labour. Combined with Gancedo’s philosophy, always an ally of sustainability and durability, the result is a straightforward welcoming style, far removed from anything artificial.

Incorporating natural motifs into different rooms

This trend need not be limited to the sitting room or the bedroom. In the kitchen, dainty curtains in a foliage print lift the room; in the bathroom, wallpaper featuring small leaves or flowers creates a natural spa effect; and in the hall, textured botanical upholstery offers a charming welcome.

If you prefer a more understated approach, you can integrate stripes or embroidery inspired by nature, like the patterns above: Bexleyheath Stripe, Bloomsbury Stripe and Dallington Stripe.

Gancedo: thoughtful design and lasting craftsmanship

With nearly 80 years of history, Gancedo is well established as a benchmark for soft furnishing interior design in Spain. Their devotion to craftsmanship, innovation and sustainability provides the perfect fit for the legacy of Morris & Co..

Both brands show that it’s possible to decorate beautifully and at the same time thoughtfully: choosing pieces that will stand the test of time, environmentally friendly materials and designs that will go on providing inspiration with the passing of the years.

As you can see, wallpaper, a well-chosen fabric or a colour that conjures up the natural world can completely change the feel of a room. With collections like The Unfinished Works from Morris & Co., available through Gancedo, nature makes a place for itself inside the house: elegant, unruffled and full of life.