How Heritage Furnishes the Present - A One-Object Study, Autumn 2026
Two weeks ago, on a Saturday morning at the flea market, I found a vase. Not just a vase — a vase with potential. Orange, in a shape that brought to mind a pumpkin. And where there's a pumpkin, there's autumn. Straight away, interiors began forming in my mind, and I knew this was an object of many faces.
I turned it over, searching for a trace of history, and found a mold number stamped into the clay, visible at first glance. That number led me to an answer: Czech Art Deco pottery, likely from the 1920s–30s, from a family of designs attributed to the Ditmar Urbach workshop — one of those Silesian-Czech manufactories that exported their wares across Europe during the interwar period. A trumpet-shaped collar, relief spiral handles, an oval medallion on the body, and the distinctive mottled "orange peel" glaze — all combining into a form that has survived nearly a century.
This isn't an object that tries to draw attention to itself. There's no gold, no crystal, no signature of a known artist. What it has instead is form — confident, geometric, and surprisingly timeless. That's precisely why it doesn't belong to one era or one style. It's old enough to carry history, and universal enough to find its place in contemporary interiors.
So I thought — rather than describe this vase, I'd show it in action.
I present six interiors and six different lives for the same object — each set within the colours defining autumn 2026. This isn't a story about trends or decorating. It's an attempt to show that heritage doesn't stand still behind glass.
Heritage furnishes the present.
Chapter I — Morning
Oxblood Bedroom
Trend 2026: Oxblood / Burgundy
Let's imagine a bedroom that's warm, calm, and self-assured. One that wraps around you in the evening and helps you start the day with a sense of harmony. That's exactly why we chose oxblood — a colour returning to interiors this autumn, building an atmosphere of cocooning and quiet luxury.
Heavy curtains, walnut-toned wood, and brass details form a backdrop against which craftsmanship can truly speak. Our vase's orange-chocolate glaze doesn't disappear against the burgundy. On the contrary — it holds a quiet dialogue with it. Warm orange meets the cooler depth of bordeaux, both colours belonging to the same family of rich, earthy tones defining the season.
In a room like this, an object stops being decoration. It becomes part of the daily ritual — something your eyes land on before the first cup of coffee.
Chapter II — Breakfast
Burnt Umber Kitchen
Trend 2026: Burnt Umber
From the bedroom, we move to the kitchen. Here, burnt umber rules — a colour where terracotta meets chocolate. It's the shade of earth after rain, of scorched orange, of late summer turning into autumn. Stable, warm, and natural.
Where oxblood built intimacy, burnt umber works differently. It grounds. It wakes you into action. It's a colour best paired with a well-brewed morning coffee.
In the morning light, our vase stops being a guest. It becomes part of the same palette — its orange-chocolate glaze melting into the windowsill, the wood, the warm tones of the kitchen, as if it had always belonged there.
And that's exactly why we love old objects. They don't try to dominate a space. When they land in the right place, they feel as though they'd always been there.
Chapter III — Leaving the House
Chocolate Brown Hallway
Trend 2026: Chocolate Brown
On the console by the front door stands our vase. Beside it, chestnuts from the last walk, keys set down after coming home. Small things — but exactly the ones that make a space feel lived in, not staged.
It's no accident that Chocolate Brown became one of the defining colours of 2026. It's warm, calm, and timeless. It doesn't dominate a space — it gives it depth and a sense of security.
Here, the vase is no longer just a beautiful object. It becomes part of everyday life — a witness to comings and goings, and all the small stories that happen in between.
Chapter IV — Afternoon
Deep Navy Home Office
Trend 2026: Deep Navy
Time to work. Whether we work from home or elsewhere, we always try to give a space a little of our own character. We arrange books, keepsakes, favourite objects. After all, we spend a significant part of our day there.
Deep Navy accompanies this beautifully. Serious, but not cold. Elegant, without being rigid. It builds focus without stripping a room of its warmth.
Here, our vase doesn't blend into its surroundings — quite the opposite. Against the navy, its orange-chocolate glaze becomes a striking accent. This colour pairing isn't accidental. Navy calms the space, while the ceramic's warm tone brings energy and balance to it.
On the shelf above the desk, it stands among books, sketches, and material samples. This is where it feels most natural. Creativity, like collecting, requires patience, attentiveness, and the ability to see value where others see only an ordinary object.
Chapter V — Early Evening
Boutique Window
Trend 2026: Creamy Neutral
After work, there's still a dinner planned. Instead of taking a taxi, we choose to walk. We pass shop windows, browsing them like the pages of a well-published book. And then we stop at one.
In autumn, displays change character. Natural fabrics appear, along with warm écru tones and creamy beiges that this season replace cool greys. Everything looks effortless, though every element has been carefully considered.
Our vase settles perfectly into this palette. Surrounded by cream-coloured bags, linen curtains, and autumn accents, it stops being an antique. It becomes part of a contemporary story about interiors and objects made with time in mind, not season.
We slow our pace. Dinner can wait a little longer.
Chapter VI — Dinner
Warm Mahogany Restaurant
Trend 2026: Warm Mahogany
Finally, we arrive at the restaurant. Mahogany is a colour that feels most at home after dark. It doesn't need daylight — it comes alive by candlelight, in the warm reflections of wood, in hushed conversation.
It's the light here that completely transforms how our vase reads. The orange-chocolate glaze that melted into the kitchen that morning now catches and reflects the warm glow of candles. The relief spirals and uneven texture become more pronounced, the form gaining depth.
Here, the vase isn't the evening's main character. It's part of the atmosphere. That's the presence the best-designed objects hold — they don't demand attention, but they make a room feel complete.
The day ends where our fascination with this object began. The same form, the same craftsmanship — yet an entirely different mood.
Closing
One object. Six interiors. One autumn day.
A form designed nearly a hundred years ago isn't trying to keep up with trends. That's precisely why it still finds its place in contemporary interiors.
Heritage doesn't stand still behind glass.
Heritage furnishes the present.
This is also how I choose objects for Fontaine London. Before they enter our collection, I try to see them not only through the lens of their history, but through how they might live within contemporary interiors.
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Katarzyna Sajko
Founder, Fontaine London