Against plaster, the blue reads less sweet, more deliberate. The check background does the heavy lifting here, so a plain wall suddenly has rhythm and a bit of nerve. Hang it in a living room alcove, along a hallway, or above a low sideboard where people pass close enough to see the thick brushwork. Pair it with cream linen, painted blue or off-white cabinets, cane chairs and warm brown wood. Keep the ceramics simple. What not to do: don’t set it beside another checked or heavily patterned piece, and skip busy wallpaper behind it the pattern needs clear space to land. As a canvas the painterly surface reads as one continuous piece of colour.