Forecast: Cloudy With a Chance of Style

It’s winter on the West Coast, among other places, and we’ve had rain for several days in a row (which is a cause for celebration in this time of drought). Perhaps that’s why I’m seeing cloudy weather, even inside the house.

Of course, clouds don’t always signal rain. They can symbolize dreaming and imagination (most children play the game of picking out shapes in the clouds). They also can mean change (many can look to the sky and predict the weather based on clouds) and peace (several literary works set the mood with a perfect blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds). Looking at it that way, why wouldn’t you want to bring cloud imagery into an interior?

Tranquility was the vision of the designers at Coffinier Ku Design when they created this bedroom for a recent Kips Bay Decorator Show House. They designed the artwork above the headboard in the style of Japanese clouds. The idea is to “give a sense of peace as you get into bed,” Ed Ku says.


Interior designer Amy Sklar also had dreams in mind when she remodeled this Los Angeles nursery. To go with the perfect sky-colored paint (Parma Gray from Farrow & Ball), she had misty white clouds painted on the ceiling and walls. Sklar says this room is a place to dream day and night.


The popular Daydream wallpaper, complete with swallows swooping among the clouds, gives this nursery by J & J Design Group the feeling of a summer day; the designers brought the cloud imagery all the way to the ground. They write: “We wanted to create a bright and sweet little nursery for this baby girl. The fun wallpaper was the inspiration for the room. Pops of yellow and mint green make it feel happy and inviting.”


Sunny skies and white clouds aren’t the only source of design inspiration. Wallpaper designer Abigail Edwards finds thunderclouds equally as engaging. Her Storm Clouds wallpaper in Blue Sky shows flashes of lightning. It is a “very detailed hand-drawn design, inspired by the extreme weather and seemingly endless rain that we have experienced recently in the U.K.,” she writes.


One of the wallpapers of the moment is Nuvole by Piero Fornasetti. The dramatic gray clouds have captured the imaginations of designers and homeowners across the country. Is it cheery? Not so much. But the moody, dramatic nature of the print is exciting.

Considering Wallpaper? Here’s How to Get Started


Drama is also the name of the design game in this Denver dining room, by Laurel Quint Interior Design. A gorgeous cloud painting by Ian Fisher sets the stage. “Ian is one of the top up-and-coming artists in Colorado, if not the western United States,” says Quint. “He is so amazingly talented!”


This is another Denver home that’s elevated by a sky painting. The desk, a classic piece once belonging to the client’s father, gets a modern outlook by the cloud painting and by the bold light fixture above it.


Nature provides more than one example of cloud imagery. This Black Cloud onyx comes from the ground, but in this bathroom by G. Little Construction, it looks as if you are surrounded by sky.


A similar but lighter feeling is given in this bathroom with a custom tile mosaic by Ann Sacks.


Wall treatments aren’t the only elements with a floating feeling. You would know that this Cloud bookcase, by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Cappellini, was based on sky formations even if it weren’t for its name.


The LZF Link Pendant Lamp might not be so literally linked to clouds; but they can’t help but come to mind when looking at the fixture in this dining room, by Shirley Parks Design.

Whether you want to make a cheery, dreamy or strong design statement, perhaps it’s best to keep looking up.

More: Dandelions Pop Up in Home Decor

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