Oakland is one of our hero ranges, it’s got that quintessentially rustic country look that’s become synonymous with The Cotswold Company. As trends moved away from Pine in recent years and towards the strength and grain of oak furniture, these solid pieces have become a staple part of homes up and down our beautiful Island. We’ve gathered together some of our top styling tips so that you can get the most from this beautifully rustic range.
Colours that Complement
We love teaming this range with muted, dusty blues, greens and greys. These colours provide a beautiful contrast to the yellow tones in the wood and help to mellow out some of its warmth. Avoid using yellowy wall colours or accessories with this range where possible, they tend to blend in too closely with the colour of the grain and can become a little insipid. Putting it with a contrasting colour like blue or green can really enhance the look of the grain and elevate a piece into a key feature of the room.
Accessorising & Styling
Oakland has a very traditional and rustic look, so we love to team it with the vintage items we’ve collected or furniture that’s become worn and battered over time. This range fortunately works well with almost any style, but we think it’s best suited to a traditional and slightly more masculine approach to accessorising. Take a look at our classic Tripod Lamp, our Cambridge Copper Lamp or the Carter Wall Clock pictured above for inspiration.
Fresh flowers are always a lovely way to dress any furniture, but adding them to Oakland can really re-address the feminine balance to this range. Our Oakland Small Sideboard looks stunning adorned with this abundance of roses, hydrangeas and eucalyptus, here we’ve gone for a ‘more is more’ approach…you can never have too many flowers right?
We think that the chunky Earthenwear vases and pots work particularly well with Oakland, they replicate the sturdy, rustic and handcrafted look of the furniture while perfectly housing the flourishing blooms.
Dressing With Leafy Plants
Oakland and plants are a match made in heaven. It stands to reason that the beautiful natural wood of this range would work perfectly with a leafy green. Mother Nature rarely gets her colour pallet wrong, so stealing a bit of inspiration from the great outdoors will usually make indoors look great too.
Selecting plants with deep, green, luscious leaves and grouping a multitude of textures together is a great way to complement the Oakland Range.
We particularly love the shape and texture of the humble spider plant and we’re enchanted by the ‘string of pearls’ plant that looks stunning when its draped over the oak grain.
Oakland Looks Great With…
If you’re thinking of redecorating and want to select a scheme that’s going to enhance this range, bear in mind how rich and warm its colour can be. It’s always good to balance the colours in your room with a mix of warm and cool, dark and light shades.
So if you want to balance the yellow tones of this range, look towards muted, deep colours with some hints of blue. We love how well this deep luscious green complements our Oakland chest, it’s a bold colour, but with almost a dusty, dirty, appearance, which is a great match for the imperfections of this rustic oak range.
Oakland’s rustic character also works beautifully well with a textured walls, like exposed brickwork and the uneven plastering. It’s worn edges and hand crafted nature allow it to sit beautifully with unfinished and imperfect surfaces.
What We Love About This Range
This is a timeless range with a style that will outlive us all! If you want to get longevity from your furniture (which is a credential that’s close to our heart) this range will give you abundant strength, a classic look and a unique finish that, like a fine wine, will only improve with age.
It’s got lots of little handcrafted details that give a respectful nod to the traditional cabinet making techniques of the past. Look out for the beautifully rounded edges, dovetail joints, mortise and tenon frames and the endearing diamond dowels that you can spot on the fascias of many items in this range.
To learn more about how the Oakland Range is made, take a look at our blog post ‘Look A Little Closer…’ and our design team will explain even more about what makes this range so special!
