Designer Spotlight: Karen Combs of NAMA ROCOCO

Karen Combs of NAMA ROCOCO

I first came across Karen Combs wallpaper line NAMA ROCOCO in an article about a West Newton house in Boston Home, for which Lindsay Bentis of Thread Art & Design did the interior design. Lindsay framed individual sheets of NAMA ROCOCO French Dot and hung them in the stairwell. I tore out the page and kept it in my files.

West Newton house, design by Lindsay Bentis, Boston Home.

An installation from the NAMA ROCOCO website.

And a detail.

Ok, so I’m obssessed.

I re-discovered the line while researching eco-friendly wall coverings for “Raw Materials” for the recent “green” issue of the Boston Globe Magazine.

Combs uses French acid-free papers and hand-mixed artist’s pigments. The painting is done by hand and printed by hand, using silkscreens and other reproduction techniques inspired by artisan practices of 18th century Europe and Japan. In fact, it was a Chinese scroll painting at the Met that spurred the creation of a wallpaper line.

The NAMA ROCOCO studio in North Adams, Massachussetts.

Karen describes the NAMA ROCOCO aesthetic as “a mix of mod bohemian, rock, and soul, with 18th century European and Asian art influences.”

She goes onto say, “I like to mix bold pattern and high style with simple plain organic shapes and geometrics. I like for spaces and objects (and my wallpaper) to feel luxurious but surprising, relaxed, but engaging enough to draw you in.”

Here’s a sampling of NAMA ROCOCO designs:

Serious Bokay in Black & White  |  Chateau 66 in Kraft  |  Sixty-Eight in Mellow Orange

Serious Bokay in Orange  |  Little Butterfly Loop in Chinese Red

Random Geometry in Graphite  |  Serious Bokay in Emerald

Tokyo & Vine in Cerise in Karen’s own house.

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For more on Karen Combs and NAMA ROCOCO read “Shopping with… Nama Rococo” on The Inside Source.

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Author: StyleCarrot

Marni Elyse Katz is a design writer and editor who lives in Boston and Cape Cod with her husband, two sons, and a cat. She blogs about design at www.stylecarrot.com View all posts by StyleCarrot