Thursday, August 4, 2011

Design in Mind: Cozy

“What’s up with you and fabric?” I get versions of this question every few weeks. (Truth be told, my fabric obsession pre-dates my interior design degree.) I joke with my friends that if there was ever a “Gladys Aylward” of the fabric world it would have to be me. After all, someone has to rescue all of the discarded fabrics. I marvel how fabric has the power to elevate a cookie-cutter room and make it warm, inviting, familiar, and cozy.

Working around fabric every day over the past three years has given me a new appreciation for styles and color combinations that I never would have glanced at before. I joke with my interns that I have an “inner old lady” that glories in chintz and a “crazy Aunt Harriet” that thinks that pink, orange, lime, and violet can all be perfectly combined in one glorious silk.

The inside joke in the design world is that designers are positively their own worst clients. We love so many things, how do you expect us to choose? One decorator friend said that she wants a house for every style she loves – urban living, kitschy charm, elegant manor house, etc. My choices tend to be… cozy. I told another friend recently that I like things to have a rumpled, worn edge to them. I want rooms to entertain in, and later provide a place to snuggle down with an old book and a squishy throw.

Perhaps the room would look something like this…

Navy plaid armchairs big enough to curl up in… with whimsical pillows.

Cozy sofa in a brown texture. Pillows in a one-of-kind fabrics… and since I am splurging, let’s put the cream zebra fabric on the piano bench, too.

Paisley drapery panels over dark wooden shutters… with tufted leather wing chairs in front of the windows. How cozy...


(Fabrics by Ralph Lauren & Clarence House. Exclusively to the trade.)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

dear miss b.,

i was an anthropologie today looking at all the lovely things, and i found myself thinking "wow, what a great house miss b. and i would have if we lived together." sadly, we do not. :( but the thought occurred nonetheless.

sunday rest,
miss a.