The "Dangerous Beauty" Deep-Dive
April Mawhinney is an Irish-British designer whose work is inspired by a deep love of wildlandscapes, folkloric tales, and expressive colour. At Lust Home we are delighted to announce our Lust Home x April Mawhinney Collection. April, who is inspired by the eerie beauty of poisonous British flora and fauna has designed Forbidden Foxglove exclusively for Lust Home, a design which exudes opulence and romance, infused with just a hint of peril!
1. April, your work beautifully balances romance with a "hint of peril." What is it about the darker, more mysterious side of nature that gets your creative heart racing?
I’ve always been fascinated by the places where beauty and danger overlap. Nature is never just soft or sweet; it has teeth and secrets. I’m drawn to plants that look enchanting at first glance but reveal something unsettling when you either look closer or learn more about them.
2. The Foxglove is the undisputed star of this collection. If this "Queen of the Hedgerow" were a character in a folkloric tale, what would her personality be like?
She’d be the elegant enchantress who glides into the party late, uninvited and instantly becomes the most interesting person in the room. Elegant, enigmatic and slightly aloof. She’d help you if she felt like it, hex you if you crossed her and she'd never apologise for either. A queen with secrets stitched into her sleeves and poisonous plants in her garden.
3. Your studio is based in West Sussex—how much of the local wild landscape actually "creeps" its way into your sketches?
The West Sussex hedgerows are constant companions in my work; they are tangled, ancient, and full of quiet stories. But the way I see them is absolutely shaped by growing up in Northern Ireland with the sense that every tree had a spirit, every stone hid a fairy door and every bend in the lane held a tale. So when I walk the South Downs or the woodland paths near my studio, I’m not just spotting birds and observing plants; I’m listening for the folklore humming beneath them. It’s Ireland’s storytelling soul meeting England’s wild landscape, and the two weave together in my sketchbook.
4. Folklore and myth play such a huge role in your designs. Was there a specific story or legend that inspired the "Fairies' Thimbles" in this collection?
Absolutely. Growing up in Northern Ireland, foxgloves were never just flowers. One tale that stayed with me was the belief that foxglove leaves should be placed beneath a child’s crib to stop the fairies from stealing the baby and replacing it with a changeling. It’s such a haunting mix of love and fear: a parent tucking a poisonous plant under a cradle as a charm of protection.
And foxglove’s darker history also helped me to select this plant. Long before it became the source of modern heart medicine, it was used as a poison. A plant that could heal or harm depending on the hand that held it. That duality is exactly what inspired the Forbidden Foxglove wallpaper; it’s delicate, enchanted, and quietly dangerous, carrying centuries of folklore in every speckled petal.
5. You’ve mastered the art of "expressive colour." How did you choose a palette that feels both luxurious and a little bit haunting?
I start with colours found in the natural world, then tweaked them. Think bruised berries, twilight greens, soft poisonous pinks. I wanted the palette to feel indulgent, but with a whisper of something uncanny; like a beauty that knows its own power.
6. If your Foxglove wallpaper could talk, what’s the one secret it would whisper to anyone walking into the room?
“I can stop a heart or steal one; choose wisely.”
7. You’re hosting a dinner party inspired by your "dangerous beauty" aesthetic. What’s on the menu, and who are the dream guests (dead, alive, or mythical)?
The table would be candlelit and slightly theatrical. Food would include wild mushroom tarts, jewel‑toned salads, black garlic, and desserts that look like they belong in a gothic banquet.
Nothing would be labelled, partly for mystery, partly because I forgot. Elderflower cocktails would arrive in glasses that catch the candlelight just so, and nothing would ever be entirely what it seems.
For guests, I’d invite Bjork, who would bring her quiet confidence and raise the room’s atmospheric drama instantly. May Morris would arrive with her impeccable embroidery skills and graciously improve my napkins. Philip Pullman would sit with his daemon who immediately charms everyone, and we would all finish dinner with a glass of golden Tokai.
8. Poisonous flora or poisonous fauna—if you had to pick a favorite "dangerous" muse to draw forever, which would it be?
Poisonous flora. Plants hold their danger quietly, almost politely. They lure you in with beauty, then reveal their darker nature. That subtle, deceptive elegance is irresistible to draw.
9. What’s your "creative potion" for a productive day in the studio? (A specific tea, a certain candle, or perhaps a very loud playlist?)
Creative Potion Recipe for a Productive Day
Ingredients:
One open window, but only when the weather behaves
Two green woodpeckers, their laughing chatter drifting in like a spell
A generous pot of Earl Grey, brewed to amber‑gold
One woodland‑scented candle, lit to invite the forest indoors
Listen to a looping thread of stories, either; the time‑bending worlds of Natasha Pulley, the parallel‑soul wanderings of Philip Pullman
or the delicious shivers of the Uncanny podcast
Method:
Stir the morning air with birdsong
Pour the tea until the room smells like bergamot and possibility
Let the candle smoke curl like a woodland spirit around your desk
Invite a story to keep you company
Work with intention
10. For the Lust Home lovers who want to embrace their rebellious side, how would you style the Forbidden Foxglove print to make it feel truly "opulent yet edgy"?
I’d pair it with antique brass, smoked glass, velvet textures, and a few botanical curiosities. Think luxury layered with a hint of peril. It should feel like stepping into a story where beauty is powerful and a little untamed.