‘Too safe,’ said nobody standing in front of deep red. The check does the talking here, and the little blue tit sits right on top of it in cornflower blue and soft yellow. Put it up and a plain wall stops being background the pattern gives a kitchen, hallway or breakfast corner a bit of proper personality without going loud. It sits happily above a sideboard, beside a doorway, or in a run of small pieces down a hallway. Pair it with warm wood, cream ceramics, rattan and checked cotton. Don’t hang it against a busy patterned wallpaper, and don’t crowd it with other strong prints one confident pattern per wall is plenty. As canvas the painted surface reads softer and needs no glazing.