Grand Home Decoration

When thinking of your grand home decor, fabric patterns, styles, look, feel and material should be considered by your personal taste rather than the effect each and everyone of them will provide to your rooms. The reason why I think this way is because at the end of the day it is all good if silk makes your rooms nice, fresh and airy but what good is it if you are not keen on the fabric, the texture or its particular shine. You will live in your home and you should determine which fabric will be best for you to share it with, and, once you have made up your mind, you can determine other aspects like colors and where to place the fabric. Think of it like dressing up: you might prefer skirts to trousers or blouses to tops whether they are appropriate for the occasion or not: the important thing for the everyday wear is to be as comfortable as possible. You can then be flexible about colors, makeup and general accessories.

Prints, Patterns or Plain

Whether you choose to have patterned or printed fabric is also up to your personal taste although there are some things that you need to take into consideration. Colorful prints add great visual style but you should really place them in larger rooms where there are no patterns or prints that might clash or take over, rooms with soft and light colors. You just don’t want to overcrowd the area. Also it is a good idea that you use these types of printed patterns to upholster your biggest pieces of furniture like sofas or armchairs. If you want to upholster a chair or stool, go for more classic styles like stripes or smaller patterns, and if budget is a problem you can always opt for the practical ottoman slipcover. At the end of the day you want to make sure you do see the grand design. Don’t worry about plain fabrics looking dull or bland as sometimes it is better to avoid the possibility of a fatal clash. In case you wanted to mix and match, it is advisable to go for a combination of different textures like silk, thread, leather and velvet.

The right combination can provide fantastic dynamism to your chosen room, but try not to abuse the look using too many different styles. If you don’t want to abuse your home decorating fabric style, you will find that most shops will sell four or five different types of printed fabrics (wide and thin stripes, flowers, natural motifs) that go well together because they share the same color.

Home Decorating Fabrics: Which Ones?

Besides being beautiful and adding to your home decor, fabrics must be functional and adapt to all sort of different uses. For example, not all fabrics are suitable for upholstery but it is also obvious you do not need the same type of fabric to upholster the sofa in a house where there are children running around than the one for the fabulous decorative chair or stool displayed in your bedroom. So as you can see it is really a matter of value, and above all, always check the labels for care and maintenance before selecting your fabric.

Synthetic and Natural Fabrics

Natural fabrics are very nice and offer superior durability. Among the most used at home is cotton, its essential virtue its resilience and the nice and fresh feel. Plus its great power of absorption. Another natural fabric is wool, its quality would be warmth. It is durable, elastic, flexible and has a lovely feel. Linen (from a plant) is fresh and very pleasant to the touch. It is widely used for making curtains but its main problem being the creases. Silk has a great shine and is strong and elastic at the same time. The fabric is also very sensitive to the light which it causes it to age rather quickly. Angora, cashmere and mohair are other types of natural fabrics.

When thinking about home decorating, fabrics that are manmade or synthetic also have great benefits as they are very resistant to stains, creases and everyday wear and tear. The most popular are the polyamides (derived from petroleum) which have the property of not shrinking or creasing (i.e. nylon and polyester). Acrylic is a synthetic fabric that sometimes is mixed with wool or cotton. It is light and provides excellent insulation but it is less resistant than the previous ones and tends to generate static electricity.

All in all, almost any fabric for home decor is capable of transmitting many different sensations because of its texture, patterns or/and colors. If you are unsure about how to come about your home decoration if you are re-decorating – and don’t want to go through the painful process of painting walls and buying furniture to change the whole home decor – fabric will definitely be one of the best choices to go for.

54” Wide Amy Butler Home Decor Love Twill Paradise Garden Mint Fabric By The Yard List Price: () Sale Price: ($14.98) Availability: (Usually ships in 1-2 business days) View Product

NFL Indianapolis Colts Cotton Printed Fabric -Per Yard List Price: ($9.99) Sale Price: ($10.99) Availability: (Usually ships in 1-2 business days) View Product

Material World: Home Decor Projects for the Fabric Obsessed (Domestic Arts for Crafty Girls) List Price: ($19.99) Sale Price: (Click Here to View Sale Price) Availability: () View Product

6yd Home Decor Drapery Fabric w/ Scotchgard Finish List Price: () Sale Price: ($50.00) Availability: (Usually ships in 1-2 business days) View Product

54” Wide Amy Butler Home Decor Love Twill Stone Path Ivory Fabric By The Yard List Price: () Sale Price: ($14.98) Availability: (Usually ships in 1-2 business days) View Product

54” Wide Amy Butler Home Decor Love Twill Sandlewood Ivory Fabric By The Yard List Price: () Sale Price: ($14.98) Availability: (Usually ships in 1-2 business days) View Product

54” Wide Amy Butler Home Decor Love Twill Paradise Garden Midnight Fabric By The Yard List Price: () Sale Price: ($14.98) Availability: (Usually ships in 1-2 business days) View Product

54” Wide Amy Butler Home Decor Love Twill Sandlewood Periwinkle Fabric By The Yard List Price: () Sale Price: (Click Here to View Sale Price) Availability: () View Product

So you’re thinking: I want to change my home decor. Fabric: is it a good enough option for a big change? The color, texture and prints of fabrics will most definitely add a particular style to your rooms in general. Think of all the different materials available when we think of home decorating: fabric can provide them. Silk, cotton or linen are ideal if you want to add freshness while chenille and velvet are fantastic to add warmth to your rooms.

Once you chose the color range, the big questions is: where do you start? Although many people do differ when it comes to decorating your home with fabrics, it is always advisable to begin with the biggest piece you need to upholster in each and every room. This will be most definitely the sofa in the living room, the headboard in the bedroom and the curtains in the dining room. This way, it will be easier to coordinate the rest of the room.

To achieve continuity and avoid clashes from one room to the next, we should have a good idea of the global look, feel and style we want to add to our homes. A good start would be by using the same material or type of print throughout. On the other hand, one must bear in mind that the fabrics are great if we want to hide flaws in our rooms or enhance particular areas. So, before deciding on the final look it would be convenient to study the different characteristics of the space we want to dress: dimensions, orientation, size and shape of the windows or ceilings amongst other features. An airy, ample space will look a lot more comfortable if we dress the house windows with thick curtains. But in contrast, small rooms will look a lot better with materials like silk, linen or organza.

Sampling

Remember what the professionals do: a pinup board that helps you with the overall look and feel. Collect all sort of samples from all sort of fabrics that will be part of your room – sofas, chairs, curtains, carpets (check out cheap carpet cleaning) or even lampshades -, with the intention of creating a fantastic overview of the whole style and see how they look next to each other. Start discarding the ones you like the least. Staple on the board the remaining ones; the ones you definitely want to display in your rooms. After choosing the fabrics or materials, check how they behave with both artificial and natural light, and, finally, take the board with you when you set off to buy your new furniture so you can check how the finishes combine together.

To create amazing grand home decoration, fabric is most definitely a way to go and also something you should consider before buying your furniture, selecting accessories or even dressing your walls.

photo credit: TALUDA – Cortesy of sxc.hu