de Le Cuona | Elizabeth Paisley – Kestrel

Elizabeth Paisley is a paisley treated with restraint. The motif is drawn at a generous scale and softened by the wool and cotton cloth it sits on, so it reads more as a quiet movement across the surface than as a busy print. Kestrel is a muted, earthy tone, closer to the feathers of the bird than to anything bright, and it keeps the pattern in a low register. The hand is soft and a little textured, with a body that falls well, which is what you want from a curtain.

The cloth is 75% wool and 25% cotton, 135 cm wide, and is sold by the half metre, so you can order exactly the length you need. It has a vertical repeat of 64 cm and a horizontal repeat of 68 cm, which is a substantial repeat and worth planning for. It is a de Le Cuona fabric, reference ELI3, and it is recommended for curtains. We have no Martindale figure to quote, so for anything beyond curtains please ask us before specifying it.

We would hang Elizabeth Paisley in a sitting room or study, in full-length curtains with a generous pleat so the pattern opens and closes across the folds. It also suits a bedroom, where the soft tone helps a room feel settled. Pair it with plain oatmeal or stone walls, a linen in a close colour for cushions, and darker timbers for contrast. Because the pattern has presence, we would keep the other textiles in the room quiet and let the curtains lead.

Pattern matching matters with a repeat of this size, so allow extra length at each drop; your workroom will tell you how much once they know the heights and widths. With a 135 cm width, plan your drops carefully, since you will lose some length to matching. Order the full quantity at once so the cloth comes from a single batch, and line and interline the curtains so the wool falls well and keeps its shape over time.