Let These Boho Fabrics + Furnishings Transport You To Transylvania

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Room with Mind the Gap's newest fabrics and wallpapers

Mind the Gap’s Transylvanian Roots collection is a flourish of color, pattern and texture evocative of the region’s rich cultural heritage.

Five years ago, Stefan Ormenisan took a leap when he launched a bespoke wallcoverings line—the first of its kind in his home country of Romania—with his business partner Victor Serban. “This was one of the biggest challenges—convincing people from around the world that we are doing serious things with great taste and beautiful stories,” says Ormenisan.

Lamp, wall and spools of fabric by Mind the Gap

The anniversary line includes 18 wallpaper and 13 fabric designs, as well as upholstered furnishings and wall art.

Vixen pattern by Mind the Gap

Jubilant patterns, such as Vixen, recall folkloric narratives of flora and fauna.

Heirloom pattern by Mind the Gap

The Heirloom pattern by Mind the Gap.

Today, the creative director spends much less time convincing and a lot more time dreaming, as evidenced by the brand’s anniversary collection, Transylvanian Roots—a transportive maximalist assemblage of fabrics, wallpapers and furnishings emblematic of his homeland’s rich Bohemian spirit. “Once an independent country, Transylvania was a melting pot of peoples, cultures and traditions, from Saxons, Hungarians and Romanians to Székelys, Ashkenazi Jews, Armenians and Gypsies,” says Ormenisan, who takes pride in his mixed Romanian, Saxon, Hungarian and Armenian heritage. “When creating these pieces, we drew on the idyllic memories of our childhood summers spent with grandparents in the countryside.”

In those traditional homes, embroidered textiles softened wooden furniture while trimmed and tasseled lamps brightened winter nights—themes reflected in the collection’s jubilant cushions, lampshades and wall art. Ornamental and decorative motifs in lush reds, yellows and greens recall vintage patterns and color palettes used by folk artists for hundreds of years, while painterly botanicals reference Central Asian suzanis and Slavic and Ottoman influences. “I love the diversity in such a small area—all of the traditions and customs belonging to different cultures that live together to form the authentic heritage of this place,” says the creative director.

While Ormenisan believes Transylvanian Roots, with its detailed embroidery and handmade finishes, is equally befitting a rural cottage or city setting, he muses it would shine in a stately Georgian manse
in London. “I imagine a large garden with a stylish topiary, a monumental entrance and a sumptuous drawing room with a large-buttoned sofa upholstered in the finest cotton velvet with embroidered and printed fabrics,” envisions the creative director.

But for now, Ormenisan will dream a little closer to home. With his business partner, he recently purchased a hunting manor in the Romanian town of Presaca that once belonged to noble Hungarian families—making it the ideal backdrop for the brand’s storybook prints like Erdely, Vixen and Enchanted Woodland. “Surrounded by mystical scenery with smooth hills and vast woodland, when you enter this village, you feel the old history entering your body; a timeless vault,” he explains. “I love how time has stopped here, creating a world full of originality and romance.”