Get the look

Get the look: Mexican

Mexican icon Frida Kahlo has long captured the imagination of the interiors world, with her personal and artistic style inspiring bright and bold interior design. A recent Frida Kahlo exhibition at the V&A showcased hundreds of extraordinary artefacts from the artist’s home and there has been a real resurgence in Mexican-inspired interiors ever since. Allow yourself to be inspired by Kahlo’s love of bold prints, vivid colours and craftsmanship and follow our guide to embrace this look in your own space.

Botanicals are a key part of Mexican inspired style. As well as being a talented artist, Frida Kahlo was also an avid gardener who used her garden as a key source of inspiration; her paintings famously featured native Mexican plants such as cacti, Colocasia and Dahlias. To pay homage to this style, we recommend including more tropical prints – perhaps even featuring exotic birds, monkeys and tropical fruit, which are reminiscent of some of Kahlo’s most notable paintings.

‘Tropical style can easily be adopted in your home – you could make a statement with bold, leafy wallpaper or add subtler accents, like palm-print cushions.’

Jane Clayton Style Team

Mexican style is famous for its use of colour and the vivid pigments that Kahlo used in her work. Fuchsia pink, sunshine yellow and azure blue were among some of her favourites and she used them in an expressive and stimulating way. You can introduce this vibrant energy to your own living space using Mexican wallpaper and fabric designs in a similar colour palette. Drawing on themes from Mayan heritage and Mexican wildlife, Andrew Martin’s Hacienda collection blends warm colours with dusty tones to represent the different types of Mexican landscape. The fabrics are perfect for making a bold statement in a neutral room and can be layered up with textured throws and pompom cushions for an authentic Mexican look.

There can be no Mexican style without print. Much of Kahlo’s work was based on the ‘naïve folk’ art style, with imagery depicting indigenous flora and fauna. Mixing bold prints with natural materials will help create an artisanal feel and will tie an otherwise busy scheme together.