Home comforts
Firstly thank you for all your comments on Facebook concerning our competition, keep them coming as the competition is open until Friday when we will announce the winner. Very exciting!
I was reading over the weekend Traditional Home which is in cohorts with www.lonnymag.com who have done a rather grand job of redefining tradition. I tend to turn traditional on its proverbial ear when it comes to decorating as too much of one style bores me preferring as I do a more interesting combo. Many would disagree of course but hey its early I am not going to argue against that. What design does have in common no matter what style you adhere to is the importance of sensory indulgence that mix of materials and textures that delight the senses. Creating a comfortable home is all about creating an atmosphere a cosy retreat from the world outside. Texture often gets overlooked I find, yet it has the power to add a subtle interesting layer to a space.
I am pretty obsessed with it because no longer am I confined to the visual elements I can now actually determine how a space will feel. I can soften floors by floating rugs all over the place (imagine shiny super hard concrete softened with the most beautiful patterned tribal rugs). Or a sofa upholstered in velvet jazzed up with some serious pattern or rock n roll star cushions in metallic leather. Interiors become much richer when you start playing around with texture she says sitting next to an old African drum (found in a flea market which I use as a coffee table with a super sweet mouth blown glass vase housing some spring blossom). Heavenly.
Image below from Traditional Home and whilst its not exactly my cup of tea (a little more colour maybe) it certainly nails what I am talking about:
Check out all the different textures from the woven sofa to the shiny floor, the velvet upholstered armchairs and the soft woolen rug. In general its a little too conservative on the texture front using mostly the same or similar elements - I would have plumped for some contrasting sensations rather than the gentle gradient seen here where each texture slowly and yet beautifully melts into the next. Different strokes for different folks as they say!