Baker Lifestyle | Bell Flower

Bell Flower is a botanical print from Baker Lifestyle's Homes & Gardens II book, drawn as a fairly generous trailing repeat with plenty of ground showing around the motif, so it reads as a proper floral rather than a busy scatter. The linen content gives the ground a dry, slightly open hand, and the print sits into that texture rather than lying flat on top of it, which softens the colour nicely.

The composition is 63 per cent linen, 28 per cent cotton and a small nylon content for stability, printed 137 centimetres wide, with a 31 centimetre vertical and 34 centimetre horizontal repeat. Baker Lifestyle test it to 50,000 rubs on the Martindale, a genuinely hard-wearing figure for a printed linen union, so it is properly rated for upholstery rather than curtains alone. Two colourways: Spring, a fresh green-toned ground, and Teal, a cooler blue-green version of the same drawing.

With 50,000 rubs behind it we are comfortable putting Bell Flower on a sofa or a pair of armchairs in daily use, not just curtains. It also makes a good bedspread or a pair of full-length curtains in a garden room, where the trailing repeat has space to read properly. Pair Spring with a plain oatmeal linen, or Teal with a deeper blue woven check. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

Allow one extra repeat per drop to keep the trail matching across a pair of curtains, and around ten per cent over on upholstery cuts given the scale of the motif. This is one of the few designs in the book that can go in a cool machine wash rather than needing the dry cleaner every time, though we would still dry clean anything made up and lined. Do not tumble dry, bleach or iron hot; a cool iron on the reverse is safest.

• Composition: 63% linen, 28% cotton, 9% nylon
• Width: 137 cm (54 in)
• Pattern repeat: 31 cm vertical, 34 cm horizontal
• Abrasion resistance: 50,000 rubs (Martindale)
• Suitable for: Curtains, blinds, loose and fixed upholstery
• Care: Machine washable on a cool cycle or dry clean; do not tumble dry, bleach or iron hot
• Collection: Homes & Gardens II, Baker Lifestyle
• Colourways: 2 (Spring, Teal)