Mulberry Home | Paint Box

Paint Box is a printed velvet with the loose, brushed-on quality of a watercolour, bold washes of colour laid across a soft cotton and viscose pile rather than set into a hard-edged repeat. It belongs to Modern Country Velvets, and it is the collection's most painterly design: the motif reads as abstracted bloom and foliage, and the pile gives every colour a depth a flat print never has. It is a cloth for a room that wants one real moment of colour.

The pile is a 50 per cent viscose, 50 per cent cotton blend, which gives it the sheen and drape of a fine velvet without the full weight of a mohair pile. It is 144 centimetres wide, with a 45 centimetre vertical repeat and a 72 centimetre horizontal one, and it has been tested to 35,000 rubs on the Martindale scale, so it is rated for upholstery as well as curtains. It is recommended for curtains, loose and fixed upholstery and bedspreads. There is one colourway, Teal/Spice, a deep blue-green ground carrying washes of warm orange, a combination that reads as rich rather than bright.

We would put it on a pair of armchairs either side of a fire, on a single sofa in a room that is otherwise plain, or as curtains in a dining room where the colour can be enjoyed by candlelight. It also makes a striking headboard. Keep everything else quiet, in a plain wool or a stone floor. Sold by the half metre; order a sample to see it in your own light.

A making-up note: velvets have a nap as well as a repeat, so every piece must be cut in the same direction and you should allow one full 45 centimetre repeat per drop or per chair. Ask your upholsterer to work with the pile running down the piece for the deepest colour, and to steam rather than press. It must be dry cleaned professionally, kept off a sun-facing sill.

• Composition: 50% viscose, 50% cotton
• Width: 144 cm (57 in)
• Pattern repeat: 45 cm vertical, 72 cm horizontal
• Abrasion resistance: 35,000 rubs (Martindale)
• Suitable for: Curtains, loose upholstery, fixed upholstery, bedspreads
• Care: Dry clean only; do not wash, bleach or iron
• Collection: Modern Country Velvets, Mulberry Home
• Colourways: 1 (Teal/Spice)