Time To Rethink

From suzanis to quilts, blankets to Ghanaian Asafo flags, we consider how best to decorate with wallhangings and tapestries

That most traditional of flooring styles, the checkerboard floor, is having a moment. We've collected some stylish examples sure to persuade you to give it a go.

They might bring to mind the worst habits of the petite bourgeoisie – think elderly aunts with questionable social skills and curtain-twitching neighbours – but net (or rather sheer) curtains are actually full of design potential. It’s time to reclaim them

There is something so pretty about a curtain instead of a cabinet in a kitchen or bathroom, as these examples prove.

Posters are a cheap and easy way to fill your walls if you don’t have the budget for fine art. The key to using posters is to avoid cliché. Here's our guide to getting it right.

Dramatic and practical, tented ceilings are the decorating go-to we should all be using

Painting your ceilings and woodwork in the same or contrasting colours to your walls is a bold design idea – here’s how the interior designers on our pages do it

From modernist California panelling, to limed-pine floorboards and 1970s Nordic furniture, we're pining after the material that was so recently considered a design no-no

They're not just for the seaside - shells can add texture and charm to any decorative scheme, whether you go for intricate shellwork or a judiciously placed statement conch

Welcome to 'It's time to rethink', our series that brings some of our favourite neglected (and at times mildly controversial) decorative elements back in to the spotlight. In this installment, we turn our attention to seriously formal curtains and blinds - get ready for swags, frills, and flounces galore

Would you be able to embrace a pink loo? How about a pistachio green bathtub? Coloured sanitaryware is back, and we're rethinking the style for modern bathrooms

Welcome to 'It's time to rethink', a new series where we'll be bringing some of our favourite neglected (and at times mildly controversial) decorative elements back in to the spotlight. Get ready to pore over patchwork, sigh about stripes, and have a moral tussle about whether you're ready for the return of tented ceilings.