texture
noun
- the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or a substance.
synonyms: feel, touch, appearance, finish, surface, grain, quality, character, consistency, weave, nap
"the quality and texture of the fabric"
It's something we take for granted in our homes and often it's something we add naturally when we decorate and furnish our rooms, guided by the products on sale no doubt. You might think you don't add texture, or don't have different textured items in the room you're in now.
Take a look around you, and look for the texture
Even if you're in the bathroom, a room you wouldn't naturally think would have much texture, I bet you've got fluffy towels - or wished you had - and a bath mat whose texture contrasts nicely with the smoothness of your tiles. Maybe you've got a loofah, or an exfoliator too... But enough about bathrooms, there's plenty more texture elsewhere in the house.
I'm sharing some snippets from our living room, to show how you can introduce texture easily if you think you could do with some more.
With wooden floors, leather sofas, high ceilings and a wood and steel spiral staircase in the corner of our living room, we've had to work hard to reduce the echo and 'bounce' of sound, and we quickly realised that soft furnishings help. Cushions are a great way to add texture, and if you have cushions with removable covers then you can swap the covers to match the season.
The most obvious texture we've introduced in our living room is the bamboo wallpaper on the main wall. MOH found it years ago and showed it to me not expecting me to like it, but I did. And when we redecorated it was top of our list, and we haven't regretted it. It's also really easy to hang as it's about a metre wide and the note that comes with it says there's no need to match the pattern either - a novice wallpaper-ers dream!
A WALL LIGHT SHINING THE LIGHT ON OUR SPIRAL STAIRCASE
But it's not just textiles that add interest. Our round CD rack does that too, in a way that a more traditionally shaped rack might not. When I explained to our decorator that we wanted these two wallpapers together and to hang the CD rack back where it was, he told me it wouldn't work. But it does, maybe not in the traditional way, but that's not a reason not to do something is it?
I've mentioned cushions already, and throws, especially fringed throws are another quick way to add texture. And on those cold evenings they're great for some extra warmth too. Julian Charles are currently promoting their #NotCompleteWithout campaign and if you're looking to add more texture to your house then it's worth taking a look at www.juliancharles.co.uk as they've some great homeware items.
Nature too has some great textures, think of the smooth driftwood and the fun you can have searching for that. I've opted for something slightly more easy to find and that's giant pine cones, and equally as much fun to find on a long country walk. I display mine in terracotta pots from my dad, much to MOH's dislike. But for me the pots were too nice to leave in the greenhouse, and way too nice and characterful to just have earth in, I've three in a line, and no idea why I've only photographed two.
Lampshades can also add texture. The one above is a paper shade, you'd never think so would you, its pattern suggests texture and I love how it is against the radiator. I said we'd worked hard to introduce texture, and along the way we've made what I can now call clever choices, at the time we just liked the chenille patterned material for our curtains.
These add texture to the small Georgian-style windows but don't overpower the room, which I think is always a challenge with curtains. My ideal curtains are full, flowing and floor length curtains but they wouldn't suit our windows so they're on my list for another house!
Books add texture too. Whether they're more decorative like these above which we picked up in a local bookshop many years ago or your reading pile. If you look carefully in the photo below through the lamp base in the top right, you can spot my reading pile, which seems to have got a little out of control. The encyclopedias which look old and interesting, are old and interesting but sadly we've no idea just how old. We liked their battered look and that they're Nelson's Encyclopedia, especially as we're up the road from Greenwich with its rich maritime history.
And with a beautiful wooden floor, at times it seems a crime to cover it with a rug but for us it's an essential. Without the rug the room feels bare, and we feel lost. It's amazing how a rug can help ground us, and zone the room - it's taken a while to get the right sized rug, but we're there now and we wouldn't be without it.
So, as I said at the top of this post it's easier to add texture than we think. Did you notice more texture than you first thought when you really looked?
* This is a collaborative post with Julian Charles, but all views and opinions are my own.