Textural Appeal for
House and Home Decorating
Texture in house and home decorating enhances visual appeal.
The way material looks and feels influences a room’s design scheme.
Bringing together contrasting and multiple textures in your home can create a rich and intriguing environment.
There should be something in every room that invites you to reach and touch.
Tactile interest can emanate from any material or surface that is coarse or smooth, hard or soft, matte or shiny, such as - a velvet pillow,
- a bronze sculpture,
- an antique quilt,
- or silk draperies.
All of these qualities give a room a comforting contrast.
One of the easiest ways to introduce a wealth of character to a room is with beautiful fabrics.
Compositions used in apparel are crossing over into interior design.
Boucle, chenille, tweed and linen all conjure up different looks.
The surface patterns of tapestry, brocades, crewelwork and boucle give a warm, inviting look to a room.
For fabrics with a light sheen that will give a cool feel to a room choose satin, silk, taffeta and moire.
The natural compositions of raw silk, cotton and wool give a mellow, down to earth effect wherever they are used.
For a touch of luxury there are velvet, chenille and faux fur.
- Velvet upholstery will enhance the softness of a sofa.
- Try pairing leather with a faux fur throw or a chenille pillow.
- Antique embroidery and quilts are perfect for time worn glamour in a bedroom.
- and crisp white linens will make a bed seem more inviting.
Even the simple choice of pillows and throws and the way they're placed against furnishings can highlight the look and feel and encourage you to settle in and stay awhile.
Whether you're partial to luxurious fabrics like cashmere or velvet or to practical looks like linens and cottons,
introduce a variety of patterns throughout your home with pillows, throws and draperies to create the most comforting environment possible.
Indulge your taste for variety and whimsy using texture in your house and home decorating.
Too many smooth shiny elements used together can seem hard and clinical and too many rough ones might look dull.
The key is to have some kind of contrast.
Rough, natural surfaces create offhand elegance and stand out against smooth polished surfaces, each complimenting the other.
Think of marrying rough with smooth or fine with coarse surfaces to achieve the desired effect.
Coarse or matte surfaces will make a room seem smaller and more intimate and convey a sense of warmth.
Sisal, sea grass and fabrics including tweed, chenille and wool are coarse materials and have warm relaxing properties. Matte surfaces such as stone, rough-hewn wood, stucco or terra cotta absorb light and sound.
House and home decorating with naturally textured materials like wood, stone, tile and brick is valued for their feel and color.
Glossy and smooth finishes ranging from polished wood, slate, marble, metal, ceramics, glass, glossy paints and silky fabrics reflect light and make a room appear larger and brighter.
Surface interest of all kinds enrich a house and home decorating space. Every room has an existing element of texture, a stone fireplace, hardwood flooring, plush carpeting in the bedroom, even granite counter tops that should be considered.
Even relatively featureless rooms may be improved by adding contrasting textures with wallpaper or paint.
Paint can be applied in matte or high gloss finishes or with special effects.
Cornices and moldings also add tactile richness.
Surface grain also lends character. Possessions that are old, worn, battered, scratched or dented often possess more charm than things that are pristine.
Window treatments are natural outlets for texture.
Fabric choices alone for draperies, blinds and shades are enormous!
Interesting looks on the floor offer possibilities for instantly softening the look of a space and giving a room character.
Area rugs are warming and provide a layer of depth making floors more visual.
Carpets that can be smooth, knobby, sculpted, or flecked, add a range of colors and patterns and most of all create a sense of warmth and intimacy.
Quarry and ceramic tiles, marble and slate make a room feel cooler.
Varying the material can make the effect more interesting. Think of an oriental on top of a hard wood floor.
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