Timorous Beasties

Since setting up in 1990, Glasgow School of Art graduates Alistair McAuley and Paul Simmons’ design studio Timorous Beasties has become a world-renowned mark of fine quirky quality, and helped decorate many a prestigious interior, from the Victoria and Albert boardroom to the UK Supreme Court and the Robert Burns Museum.

But don’t let that fool you into thinking their patterns aren’t apt for your humble front room too. Their flagship retail store on Great Western Road is a friendly access point to their aesthetic wonderland, whether you’re looking to decorate four walls or a lampshade, or simply admire and be inspired by some fabulously pretty, colourful, surreal and provocative design.

Timorous Beasties’ patterns cleverly incorporate and intertwine all kinds of motifs both natural and urban, classic and contemporary. They’re best known for their unique takes on the toile de jouy fabrics of Napoleonic France. Hand-printed patterns are draped from the ceiling in broad fabric sheets, allowing you to view intricate designs in close-up detail – all from the riotously colourful Hotch Blotch series, to their mischievous and mildly controversial ‘Glasgow Toile’, featuring such scenes of oh-so-Glasgow social realism as a Lidl store by some high-rise flats, a drug addict and a urinating workman.

You can buy rolls of fabric by the metre, or ready-made items incorporating different designs, from mugs to barrel lampshades, cushions and upholstered furniture pieces. Just don’t expect to pick up a bargain – stuff this unique comes at a price, with wallpaper going for around £100-£200 a roll. But if you can raise the funds, your living room is worth it.