There are countless helpful interior design tips out there to make your home beautiful. But truthfully, it all comes down to TEXTURE! Texture is what adds visual interest and makes a home feel inviting and lived in. Adding texture transforms your space and makes your house a home.
When adding texture, hygge is the word that is the focus of my mind. If you are unfamiliar with hygge, (pronounced “hoo-gah”), it is a Danish word used to define a characteristic of Danish culture. “A quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being”. AFAR magazine describes the hygge lifestyle as “finding comfort, pleasure, and warmth in simple, soothing things such as a cozy atmosphere or the feeling of friendship. The Scandinavian term encompasses a feeling of coziness, contentment, and well-being found through cherishing the little things.” WOW, can’t you just feel this description? Whatever you just envisioned while reading about hygge is your starting point of what you want to achieve in your home.
Here, we will show you how to add texture to your interior design and create your own beautiful, cozy, and inviting space that everyone will gravitate to.
General Guidelines to Follow When Adding Texture
Always gravitate to natural tones and textures; e.g. woods, concrete, metals, glass, pottery, linens. These elements are going to ground your space and lay a beautiful foundation for your texture palate.
A generally neutral color palate is going to give your home a sense of calm and timelessness. You can achieve this by using nature as your guide for your color palate. Creams, blues, and greens are naturally pleasing to the eye. Farrow and Ball do a wonderful job at creating paint colors with beautiful earthy tones that feel so effortless and inviting.
Old pieces give a home life. The imperfections and wear antiques carry tell a story that factory items will never achieve. When you are collecting layering pieces for your home, having vintage items are going to make your home feel more inviting, warm, lived, and loved.
Don’t force it and don’t be in a hurry. Pieces collected over time are going to feel more organic than buying items all together for your staging. It may take some time to find the perfect pieces for your space to make it feel “complete”. That is part of the process, have fun with it. In addition, don’t be boxed in with what you are visualizing for a space or what you think will “match”. We have discovered that if you only collect things you love and are appealing to your eye, you will always find a place for them in your home. This secret is what is going to give your home your personal curated touch.
The more you mix textures the better it gets! Combine masculine and feminine design elements to the same space. (Soft linen pillows to a chesterfield sofa). Combine rustic and elegance. (A crystal chandelier over a rustic wood dining table). Marriages like these give such visual interest. Having a “theme” for a home’s decor will make it feel flat and forced.
What to Use When Adding Texture to Your Interior Design
Here is a list of some of our favorite texturing staples that you can easily add to your space.
Bamboo blinds paired with a soft, cream-colored linen curtain.
A beautiful antique wood piece for a warm backdrop for your texture layering.
Wood dining table and chairs with slipcovered end chairs for a touch of softness and comfort.
If you have marble or quartz countertops, add wood elements like breadboards, baskets, Demijohns.
Alternatively, if you have wood countertops add a marble cakestand or Lazy Susan. You can use pottery pieces to hold utensils. Placing a piece of marble will not only look good but can function as an intimate baking area.
Bamboo furniture creates texture even without display pieces with it.
Baskets around your home do the same and they also provide functionality. Use baskets for throw blankets, storage, even as side a side table.
Adding classic Blue and white gives your home a timeless touch. Visit here for a detailed breakdown of all things blue and white.
Beautiful Persian rugs add warm texture that makes a home feel welcoming. Their multicolor designs bring life to a space and work well with many rooms. We find that gravitating towards Persian rugs that have more reds tend to work best in more rooms.
Vintage pottery feels grounded and its different shapes, colors, and techniques add interesting and rustic texture.
Seashells! We love bringing the outdoors in. Like the pottery, shells different shapes, colors, and textures bring life to a room. More for how we incorporate seashells, here.
Art is a great way to incorporate texture. Oil paintings have so much character and life. These are $4 thrift store finds. Art frames with texture will provide even more interest to your space.
Old books are a favorite texture element! They tell their own story and add sophistication and beauty. We love old law books or encyclopedias but really all books are great. The picture of the black bookcase below is displaying my grandmother’s family bibles of those passed. This display is beautiful and sentimental and is a great example of giving your home life.
