Paper Home - Tapa dura

‘Take a leaf out of Labeena Ishaque’s book (quite literally!) and spruce up the place with her paper pendants.’

Paper is readily available, versatile and inexpensive. It is also, as Labeena Ishaque brilliantly demonstrates here, an easy-to-work with material that can be used to create stylish, yet practical, objects for the home.

Drawing on ancient Asian skills and influences, The Paper Home shows how perfectly paper can function within a modern interior environment. Using a variety of materials ranging from tissue paper to corrugated cardboard, Labeena Ishaque offers a fresh approach to the traditional crafts of paper folding, cutting, layering, and weaving. Her designs demonstrate the enormous versatility of paper and include a simple papier mâché vessel, organic in shape and fluid in texture, a simple woven bowl made from newspaper, an elegant origami mobile of paper cranes, as well as a wall hanging fashioned from decorative cards and a clock made from corrugated cardboard.

Beginning with a brief history of paper, the varied ways in which it has been used in interiors and the different techniques involved, the book goes on to provide directions for 20 beautiful objects for the home – some quick and easy, others requiring more time and skill – each of which is accompanied by easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions and beautiful photographs.

Labeena Ishaque grew up in Manchester. She was both the style editor and a founding member of Asian Woman magazine. Since leaving the publication in 2001, she has worked as an interiors stylist & writer. It was whilst living in Tokyo that she picked up her interest in the art of paper and origami. Labeena has written two other paper related titles.