Soft furnishings or textiles are fabrics used inside a home. Fabrics come in a wide and dazzling array of colours, textures and patterns. They can be used to create major focal points or they can subtly underline a design scheme with colour, pattern and texture. When choosing soft furnishings link all required pieces together. For example, if you are considering a door or window treatment in an open plan, link them to other soft furnishings such as the sofa throws, cushions, floor coverings etc. Create a family of fabrics by taking into consideration colour, pattern and texture in order to achieve an interesting but holistic effect. Too much of the same would generate a flat and boring effect.
You may opt for a natural colour scheme throughout but create your focal point with a bright coloured armchair, heavily patterned carpet or various shapes of coloured, textured cushions. Always take into consideration the proportions of the object you are going to upholster or the aperture you are going to dress. You may come across a terrific pair of curtains on completely the wrong window!
When choosing fabrics, it is important to look at the label as it will provide you with all the required information such as whether it is suitable for window treatments or specifically upholstery or both. It will also indicate the number of rubs indicating the durability of the fabric and therefore determine its suitability for its purpose. Usually for decorative purposes the figure would be 10,000 rubs, for light domestic, 10,000 to 15,000 rubs or general domestic, 15,000 to 25,000 rubs.
The choice and combinations of fabrics are vast but crucial for the final effect of an interior.
In the upcoming blogs, I will be specifically providing further guidance on how to choose a fabric specifically for window and door treatments by taking into consideration colours, textures, patterns, proportions and style.. allow me to introduce the use of pleats and the lack of them!
