GP & J Baker | Brooke Plain

Brooke Plain is a linen-rich plain with a viscose majority behind it, which is a useful combination: the linen gives the face a slight irregularity and a dry look, and the viscose makes it fall in soft folds instead of standing away from the pole. There is no repeat and no figure, only the small variations in the yarn, so the cloth reads as colour and texture and nothing else.

The blend is 51 per cent viscose, 24 per cent linen, 18 per cent cotton and 7 per cent polyester, woven 140 centimetres wide and tested to 28,000 rubs, which the supplier rates for curtains, loose and fixed upholstery and bedspreads. Oatmeal is the colourway, a warm grey-beige with a hint of brown that works as a background in almost any scheme and does not go cold under LED lighting.

We use a plain like this for the largest areas: full-height curtains, a sofa that wants to sit quietly behind a patterned rug, loose covers in a family sitting room, a bed base and headboard. It is also the right thing for the reverse of a cushion made up in something showier. Put it with oak, plaster and unpolished brass. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

With no pattern to match, quantities are simply length plus turnings, and a pair of interlined curtains for a 200 centimetre window takes roughly 13 metres. Order the whole job in one batch so the dye lot is consistent, and keep every piece running the same way up: even a plain has a direction, and reversed panels show it in raking light. Interline curtains to keep the drape heavy.

• Composition: 51% viscose, 24% linen, 18% cotton, 7% polyester
• Width: 140 cm (55 in)
• Abrasion resistance: 28,000 rubs (Martindale)
• Care: Dry clean only; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Essential Colour III, GP & J Baker
• Colourways: 1 (Oatmeal)