Helene Blanche X The Darling
The Darling is a sophisticated design guest house, situated in the heart of Copenhagen’s historic centre. It was established in October 2020 by creative director Uffe Buchard and managing director Jens Løkke.
In early spring 2020, Uffe and Jens invited Helene to create a bespoke wallpaper print for their luxury residence. The result was a wallpaper named TOWNHOUSE, launched at The Darling in two colourways – Blue Smoke and Champagne.
TOWNHOUSE has a geometric composition and nostalgic appearance, and draws clear references from classic mid-century wallpaper, as well as the avant-garde art movement of the 1920s. The design features a unique geometric pattern in a subtle repetition of cubic squares.
The bespoke wallpaper’s pronounced textural quality expresses precise craftsmanship, embodying quiet, urbane aesthetics and an underlying jazzy, cosmopolitan persona.
Its uneven, soft rhythm and purposeful irregularities emphasise that ‘perfect imperfect’ feel, so reminiscent of an arts and crafts ambience.
“We are extremely proud to have collaborated with Helene Blanche on the bespoke wallpaper design for our elegant guest house. Helene was a natural choice for us. We have always adored her aesthetics and ability to come up with the extraordinary and personal. The process was effortless, seeing as we actually fell in love with the very first pattern Helene presented to us. She understood the challenge immediately, and we worked together on getting the colours for The Darling just right. The result speaks for itself. It’s stunning, and we can’t wait for our guests to fall in love with the TOWNHOUSE collection,” says Uffe Buchard.
“Painting the motif on paper by hand provides a ‘crafted’ expression. It is this aspect of ‘imperfection’ that gives TOWNHOUSE its character. The graphic repetition of the pattern results in a softer and more distinct design,” Helene Blanche explains.
“To complement The Darling’s stylish setting, I wanted to create a geometric composition involving soft curves and an interchangeable rhythm, like a well-composed piece of jazz”, Helene Blanche explains.
TOWNHOUSE comes in two colourways – Blue Smoke and Champagne. Both have subtle colours, matte finishes and individual expressions. The fusion of a sophisticated colour palette and the geometric theme provides that nostalgic, classic, and timelessly stylish look.
Helene explains further, “My work with the language of colour and abstract motives is an ongoing journey.”
A glimpse of Helene Blanche’s workspace reveals her natural curiosity for texture and a variety of surfaces. It is here the divine magic happens, and new exciting combinations are born. As with all of Helene Blanche’s printed wallpapers, this geometric pattern was first drafted on paper to give it a hand-crafted expression. Then it was printed using a surface print technique, specifically pioneered to replicate hand block printing. This method is the pinnacle of unique and highly skilled wallpaper manufacturing.
