Bed linens, drapes, rugs, sofas, chairs, ottomans, table linens and clothing have fabric as a common thread.
From the runway to the living room, furnishings follow fashion trends, according to Angela Carroll Ast, an interior designer and owner of ABCA Design Decorating Den Interiors in Milford, Pa.
“Fashion is the trickle-down” for home and textile trends, she said.
According to Rethinking the Future — https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/ — there is a strong and undeniable connection between fashion and furniture as “colors, patterns and materials” are common to both areas.
On runways, in shops and boutiques, Ast said, patterns, layering patterns and using rich colored textiles are populating clothing — and home décor lines for 2024.
Smart home furnishings and intelligent fabrics could become the home furnishing sector’s next frontier.
Intelligent fabric tech is migrating from the R&D lab to the marketplace in pioneering wearable textiles as well as home fabric and furniture coverings.
Longevity.Technology.com reports smart window coverings like curtains and blinds can automatically adjust during the day to sunlight exposure.
Sofas and chairs covered with intelligent fabrics could offer built-in heating and cooling elements for the ultimate seating experience — and boost home comfort, too, the website said.
From its beginnings Before the Common Era in ancient Egypt and China to today’s performance options, velvet is enjoying a popularity surge.
Ast said velvet and performance velvet remains a standout fabric choice — especially in areas like Bucks County where traditional design and furnishings are often requested — and expected.
Performance velvet may be constructed of 100% synthetic materials, or it may be a blend of cotton and a synthetic, like polyester.
These new fabric options offer the luxury of velvet combined with greater durability, resistance to “pilling” and easier cleaning and maintenance routines than traditional velvet fabrics. Pilling takes place when fibers come “loose” and collect into small balls, known as pills in the weave.
Colors this year include deep rich blues and steel grays paired with white, navy and black, Ast said.
“Royal blue has a purple undertone, and it’s a rich undertone that mixes well with black,” she said.
Black tones are usually flat, like dusty black iron. These shades mix well with a variety of grays and beiges, Ast said.
“It’s still about the modern farmhouse look with medium toned woods, iron colors and tones or iron work and blues,” Ast explained.
She recommends selecting colors within the same tone family.
For example, all warm tones or all cool ones, especially when it comes to mixing flat medium blues with grays or black.
Ast’s advice when introducing or integrating color into your home’s interior landscape includes:
• A “love it or leave it” approach. “If you love it, it will work,” Ast said.
• Stick with classic tones — they endure. “It’s fun to go out of the box, but when people come home they don’t want visual chaos,” she said.
• If you pick a pattern, make sure you love it.
• When mixing patterns and solids, think 60/30/10 trio of percentages. It’s the rule with color, but you can do the same with pattern,” Ast said.
Sara Lynn Brennan Interiors — www.saralynnbrennan.com/ — unpacks the 60/30/10 rule as 60% of a room’s color as dominant; 30% as a secondary color and 10% as an accent color.
Ast said she loves a lot of textiles in rooms because they help with sound absorption — especially in open concept floor plans. That can mean layering rugs, or adding pillows or throws.
“If you want to layer pattern, as long as it’s in the same color family, it can work,” Ast explained.
Test drive patterns and pattern layering with accents first — like throws, pillows and rugs.
“I thought for sure we’d start seeing pattern on sofas, but that isn’t happening much yet,” Ast said.
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