Decorating
Inside the Square: Talking Tartan for Today's Interiors
Consider a pattern steeped in history that still checks out with a stylish swagger
“The yellow, the green of it; the white, the blue of it, the swing, the hue of it … the fair have sighed for it, the brave have died for it.” Yes, Murdoch MacLean was talking about tartan, emblem of Scottish pride for centuries. Beyond the Borders, it became the rage when Queen Victoria and Albert fell in love with all things Scottish, and Albert designed the Balmoral Tartan, which graces many rooms in the royal retreat.
Tartan is way more than a royal infatuation or an enduring symbol of Scottish history though. Maybe because of its longevity and familiarity, it’s often overlooked as an option for modern interiors. Its time-honoured folky ambience denotes instant warmth in winter, but don’t stop there. It can be interpreted in unexpected ways in wallpapers, carpets and furnishing fabrics for all seasons. Even if you don’t speak with a soft Scottish burr, see how to don the tartan with a flourish.
Tartan is way more than a royal infatuation or an enduring symbol of Scottish history though. Maybe because of its longevity and familiarity, it’s often overlooked as an option for modern interiors. Its time-honoured folky ambience denotes instant warmth in winter, but don’t stop there. It can be interpreted in unexpected ways in wallpapers, carpets and furnishing fabrics for all seasons. Even if you don’t speak with a soft Scottish burr, see how to don the tartan with a flourish.
Shape up with today’s tartan
The trend for geometrics is gathering momentum by the minute. Whereas chevrons, hexagonals and circles have movement and energy, in the language of shapes, squares suggest stability and balance. Tartan’s vertical and horizontal symmetry forms a neat grid against the broad wall stripes in this eclectic room. Note how the curves of the whimsical birdcage pendant emphasise the linear elements in the space.
Why it’s hip to be square
The trend for geometrics is gathering momentum by the minute. Whereas chevrons, hexagonals and circles have movement and energy, in the language of shapes, squares suggest stability and balance. Tartan’s vertical and horizontal symmetry forms a neat grid against the broad wall stripes in this eclectic room. Note how the curves of the whimsical birdcage pendant emphasise the linear elements in the space.
Why it’s hip to be square
Mix modern design with a classic pattern
Partnering the clarity of ultra-modern furniture design with a hint of the Highlands is an unexpected and sophisticated take on tartan. The balance of the sharply angled frame in this debonair Halifax chair from by Gus Modern, with the consistency of the rhythmic tartan pattern in cool modern grey and white, does it beautifully.
Partnering the clarity of ultra-modern furniture design with a hint of the Highlands is an unexpected and sophisticated take on tartan. The balance of the sharply angled frame in this debonair Halifax chair from by Gus Modern, with the consistency of the rhythmic tartan pattern in cool modern grey and white, does it beautifully.
Squares within squares in lively yellow and black on modern chairs show a light-hearted contemporary side of traditional tartan form.
Look for contemporary colours
The colours of traditional tartans, often heavy on darker red/green/yellow/blue combinations, aren’t always a good match for contemporary homes. Today’s tartans for interiors are experimenting with new colour combos. The pattern’s the same, but the mood is anything but traditional, as in this vivid red and purple design.
Lochs and Lagoons wallpaper in ‘Fairburn 252705‘: Art House at Wallpaper Direct
The colours of traditional tartans, often heavy on darker red/green/yellow/blue combinations, aren’t always a good match for contemporary homes. Today’s tartans for interiors are experimenting with new colour combos. The pattern’s the same, but the mood is anything but traditional, as in this vivid red and purple design.
Lochs and Lagoons wallpaper in ‘Fairburn 252705‘: Art House at Wallpaper Direct
A potpourri of rose pink, apple green and white is as sweet as a peach and fresh as a daisy for a little girl’s bedroom.
If you can’t find the perfect tartan in colours that fit your decor, or you’d like to design a tartan for your own family, there are many websites that offer a customising service. Search for ‘design your own tartan’.
If you can’t find the perfect tartan in colours that fit your decor, or you’d like to design a tartan for your own family, there are many websites that offer a customising service. Search for ‘design your own tartan’.
Curb your enthusiasm
It may have been voguish for Queen Victoria to cover the walls of Balmoral in tartan, but for modern interiors, lots of tartan is visual overload. Wave the Scottish flag with just one feature furniture piece in an eye-catching colourway. A chubby ottoman in lively red and black invites tired feet to prop themselves up. Choose a tartan with large setts and keep colours to a minimum of two or three.
It may have been voguish for Queen Victoria to cover the walls of Balmoral in tartan, but for modern interiors, lots of tartan is visual overload. Wave the Scottish flag with just one feature furniture piece in an eye-catching colourway. A chubby ottoman in lively red and black invites tired feet to prop themselves up. Choose a tartan with large setts and keep colours to a minimum of two or three.
A crisp tartan on just one component of modular seating hits the right restrained note in a minimally furnished room with primarily un-patterned surfaces. The circular central table is a nice offset to the geometric precision of the seating modules, and its surrounding metal grid has a little design chat with the ottoman.
Decorating 101: name that pattern
Decorating 101: name that pattern
Cross the gender line
It’s said that women prefer to see curves and men like straight lines. The orderly repeat of tartan setts on a behind-the-bed wall creates a masculine tone in this dramatic bedroom. The calm regularity of tartan highlights the flamboyance of the baronial black lacquered bed and angular lamps.
See more perfectly masculine bedrooms
It’s said that women prefer to see curves and men like straight lines. The orderly repeat of tartan setts on a behind-the-bed wall creates a masculine tone in this dramatic bedroom. The calm regularity of tartan highlights the flamboyance of the baronial black lacquered bed and angular lamps.
See more perfectly masculine bedrooms
That’s not to say that tartans are a masculine pattern. One of the first recorded mentions of tartan was in 1538 when King James V purchased “three ells of Heland Tartans” for his wife. In this restful bedroom, soft tartan bedlinen in muted tones subtly echoes the square shapes around the room, and the pretty pink trim is a feminine touch.
Try a different slant
The regularity and stability of a tartan grid makes it a soothing and optically comfortable pattern, especially in a subtle colourway with two or three neutral shades. This can look a little static and formal if not balanced with more energetic lines. Jazz it up with some unexpected diagonals for a more dynamic and casual look.
The regularity and stability of a tartan grid makes it a soothing and optically comfortable pattern, especially in a subtle colourway with two or three neutral shades. This can look a little static and formal if not balanced with more energetic lines. Jazz it up with some unexpected diagonals for a more dynamic and casual look.
Mix and mingle
If your style is eclectic and your only design rule is there are no rules, then tartan’s for you. You thrive on the unexpected and edgy to express your individuality. You put tribal, floral, patchwork, ikat and geometrics together in surprising combinations, so why not a colourful tartan or two? Play around with a tartan rug tucked around a sofa seat and pile on mismatched cushions until you get the look you’re after.
If your style is eclectic and your only design rule is there are no rules, then tartan’s for you. You thrive on the unexpected and edgy to express your individuality. You put tribal, floral, patchwork, ikat and geometrics together in surprising combinations, so why not a colourful tartan or two? Play around with a tartan rug tucked around a sofa seat and pile on mismatched cushions until you get the look you’re after.
For a more coordinated look, mix different tartans. Follow basic guidelines for combining patterns. The square sett form already anchors a medley of tartans, so pick two or three with common colours to complete the connection. Here, hard edgy materials and monochrome grey-based shades take a back seat to the surprising addition of a warm vibrant melange of tartans.
Be true to tradition
If you’re a traditionalist at heart, there’ll always be a place for tartan on classic chairs, like wing armchairs, bergeres, club chairs, roll-arm and tufted Chesterfield styles. An advantage of tartan upholstery on a well-used chair is that it’s very forgiving of a few marks and stains, and even looks good with a little genteel wear and tear.
If you’re a traditionalist at heart, there’ll always be a place for tartan on classic chairs, like wing armchairs, bergeres, club chairs, roll-arm and tufted Chesterfield styles. An advantage of tartan upholstery on a well-used chair is that it’s very forgiving of a few marks and stains, and even looks good with a little genteel wear and tear.
Of course, if your home is your Scottish castle, or you aspire to laird-of-the-estate ambience, tartan is de rigueur. Complement it with panelled walls, leather chairs, an impressive fireplace and landscapes of the heather-clad hills or thoroughbred horses. Don’t forget the hunting hound gnawing on a bone in front of the fire!
TELL US
Have you used tartan in your home? Tell us a tartan tale in the Comments section.
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See what styles are trending on Houzz
TELL US
Have you used tartan in your home? Tell us a tartan tale in the Comments section.
MORE
See what styles are trending on Houzz
‘Tartan’ is a checkered pattern and ‘the plaid’, in Scottish parlance, is a length of tartan fabric worn over the shoulder, belted and fixed with a large brooch to accessorise a kilt. ‘Plaid’ (from the Gaelic plaide roughly meaning ‘blanket’) is commonly used in the US and Canada to describe the pattern as well. The pattern is basically a repeat of 10 to 15cm squares, called ‘setts’, of horizontal and vertical intersecting stripes of various widths and colours – traditionally a maximum of six colours, but sometimes two.