Any design project requires an interesting mix of materials. Textiles are the key to creating a rich and complete design. When working on a project, pulling the fabrics to be used is one of the first things we select.
Mixing up your fabric selections will elevate your tonal palette and allow you to add excitement to your design by including patterns, colors, textures, and styles. Fabric can do all of this for you! It can be your best friend if you’re in a space where painting or renovating cannot happen!
Here are our top 4 luxury textiles you should consider using to elevate your interior design…
1. Luxurious Velvet
Velvet is one of my favorite textiles to work with. It has a soft and luxurious feel and comes in various fiber types. Silk velvet is the most luxurious but also the fussiest to use. The best places to use velvet are accent pillows, throws, and even drapery.
Polyester or cotton velvet is a little more forgiving and can be a decorative topper to your bed or cover accent furniture.
Microfiber velvets are the best for your high-traffic upholstered pieces. This soft, luxurious, and serviceable fabric cleans up with soap and water, resists staining, and feels fantastic!
2. Elegant Linen
Linen can find its way onto your bed, your windows, accent pillows, and slipcovers.
For draperies, nothing beats linen! It holds a crisp pleat yet has a beautiful “drape” or flow to it that you cannot get with cotton or polyester.
In bedding, linen is exemplary! It softens with each washing and lasts longer than cotton sheeting.
3. Leather with Longevity
Leather develops the most amazing patina! From a large-scale sofa to an accent chair in the corner or traditional to super modern, you can find leather in all home design styles. It’s durable, and it softens with age. Yes, it will scratch, but that is part of its beauty.
Be wary of low-budget leathers as there is most definitely a difference. Avoid anything labeled “split” hide leather or just emblazoned with the words “genuine leather” with a price tag that is too good to be true.
A leather hide can be one of three types:
1. Full-Grain leather, which, as the name implies, is the full grain of the hide and the most durable of all leathers.
2. Top-Grain Leather is the top layers of the hide. This is the outer layer of the hide, which means that this desirable grade is durable and dyable.
3. Split grain or value-priced leather is typically the bottom layers of the hide that has been coated. If you’ve ever seen a leather sofa that had layers peeled off, this was most likely a split-grain.
And if you cannot fathom using genuine leather in your design, there are plenty of Vegan Leather alternatives that will give you the durable distressed look.
4. The Warm Nature of Wool
Wool is the most common material used for beautiful rugs! All rooms can benefit from an area rug. You can also use wool for blankets and pillows. There is even more delicate weave wool that makes beautiful drapery.
We are getting ready to participate in the Pasadena Showcase House here in the office. An annual charitable event where designers from the greater Los Angeles area come to decorate one room and show off their abilities!
This is the second year participating, and we were selected to do the foyer, grand staircase, and upper gallery. And while it SOUNDS like a lot (and it is: you can follow along here), never have I needed fabric MORE than I do in this project.
There is LOTS of wood paneling with little opportunity for fabrics to come out and play. And since fabrics are kind of my thing, I’m doing a deep dive into these fabrics myself!
If you need a little more information on mixing your fabric patterns, check out this post.
If you would like a professional’s eye on your space, we would love to help. So reach out, and let’s make a plan to elevate your space together.
xoxo,
Pamela
