Fabulous Fabrics
The world of fabrics. A voyage into textures and colours that never ends.
My most pleasurable part of an interior design project!
As an interior designer I can spend hours sitting down at the fabric store going through infinite piles of fabric swatches. Looking at one and forgetting about the other. Placing dog ear marks on the favourite ones to go back to later and combine them with the rest of the colour of the room. One has to really and truly understand fabrics, know the way a fabric is going to respond to a certain treatment. Will it sag? Or will it stay stiff enough? Or maybe this particular fabric will not let in enough light through it!
I have just returned from Spain and Italy a couple of weeks ago, updating our fabric collections and bringing with me the very latest in styles and trends. Once again, my heart was doing pirouettes in my chest when all the new collections were being shown to me. Selecting the ones that would be ideal for use in our homes and having to sadly refuse others that are not suitable. 
The textures, the patterns, the weaves, their weight! It is like being at a restaurant where one serving of food just tastes better than the next, leaving the restaurant pleasantly full looking forward in returning soon.
This year most of the fabrics all reflect darker earth tones. Patterns are more daring than ever. Large woven patterns on a black background accompanied by metallic treads and shimmery sheers. It is all heading towards the glamorous and shabby chic direction. Rough linens embroidered in fine intricate designs or smooth silk crushed and creased to create a rougher look. In this period of French revival one also comes across the traditional patterns and colours. 
Damask as a matter of fact, woven onto an old gold or pewter colour. Used as panels on dining chairs or even as a tapestry on a Roman blind.
Smoky charcoal grey tones super imposed over tans and coffee tones. They get as close as one may get in almost calling them monochromatic. It’s a game between textures, which one of them is getting the most attention or which pattern is screaming out the most from the lot? Gone are the days when a client matches three or four co-ordinates from the same sample book to play safe. It is an adventure and challenge of combining different types of fabrics, from different fabric houses even! 
It all boils down to the ability of doing so. A natural flair that comes with experience.
In our mediterranean countries we definitely can accommodate this latest trend in fabric as our houses are flooded with light. Using sheers behind a curtain is always what I suggest to my clients. 
It blocks off the rigidity of the door or window frame and filters the glare. It also gives privacy without having to sacrifice the light.
When clients usually get to this stage, the stage of hanging their curtains and upholstering their sofas, finances would have started running low as the project would have endeavoured most of the bank account. However, one has to keep in mind that fabrics add the soul to the interiors. It is literally dressing up the finished interiors. It’s like going out one evening and having the perfect outfit to go with it! With the perfect shoes and the perfect accessories. It just seals off the space and makes it all just perfect.
Source – Kenneth Tanti
