Whether we own our own home or rent, it’s where we spend the vast majority of our time. Using fabrics creatively can be an affordable way of decorating our personal space – whatever our budget. With a few key items and prints, a room can be transformed from a generic living space to a home – YOUR home.
What’s important about interior design is its significance to you. Have Scottish ancestry? Pastel tartan carpets give a whole new spin to an ancient design. Have a particular affinity to zebras? Get a zebra print carpet if you so please (although please don’t). Wish you’d been around in the seventies? A fan of sinking your toes into sand? Try a luxurious shagpile rug.
If you’re happier with simple flooring but want to warm up a room, consider decorating a single statement wall. Someone who knows their art history can opt for a William Morris reproduction, whereas if you’re sorry you missed out on the seventies, go all-out with an obnoxious design in varying shades of sunset.
Fabrics and textiles needn’t to be the domain of those with cash to spare, either. Sentimental? Upcycle a loved one’s old shirt to make a pillow case. On our grandfather’s passing, we cut up an old Hessian sack from his garage to cover Mason jars. With a couple of decorations and finished off with a tea light, the sack was given a new lease of life and the jars proudly sit on our mantelpiece in memory of Grandad.
Brighten up an old sofa with a Marina Ignarski Designs cushion which are created from hand drawn images and digitally printed onto cotton. Designs include a splashing emerald frog, vintage yellow floral, lace and shells collage and black velvet rose cushion.
Photography ©Mike Osborne
We spend so much of our lives subconsciously surveying our surroundings, touching them.
A fabric’s price is irrelevant to how it makes us feel. Egyptian cotton bed sheets may give one person the best night’s sleep of their lives, but slipping on an ancient pair of slippers after a tough day may be equally as comforting to someone else. And that’s how our houses should feel – like coming home.
About the author
This post was written by Matt Wilson on behalf of Walton Flooring Centre, a carpet and laminate floor specialist delivering high quality and exceptional service.