Texture is an important part of giving a room a finished look. It influences the resonance and gravity. Both visual and tactile consistency is important to room design. Different textures are also used with different styles.
Visual Texture
Visual texture appeals to your sense of sight. It pulls you into a room with a single glance. One way to use visual texture is grass-cloth wallpaper. Another would be to use an artisan-made rough clay tray.
Tactile Texture
Tactile textures fire your sense of touch, they make you want to feel them. A deep red velvet couch in a living room or a coarse woven linen duvet in a bedroom add tactile interest.
Texture and Style
Different textures are also tied to different styles. Smooth textures are very modern. They can be used in contemporary designs, but also perfect when creating an Art Deco design from the 1920s. Rough textures are more appropriate for farmhouse style or industrial.
How to Put all of the Pieces Together
A room is built by using many different types of texture, along with color, lighting, form, pattern, line and space.
Space is what defines the area in which a designer works, a room or a house. Different designers begin in different places. The Design Diva likes to begin with the floor and the walls. They set the stage for everything else. For example, say we start with a medium-dark wood floor and walls painted a pale grey. This creates a blank pallet on which to create a room which is going to be filled with Boho design and primary colors.
This room will be filled with sheepskin pillows, a leather couch, and a nubby knit throw tossed over a velvet chair. Throw in handmade wood tables, and woven baskets.
An Art Deco room could start with a Salerno design tile floor or a wool area rug in a geometric design, thrown over a smooth wood floor. Furniture would be smooth and rounded with shiny metallic accents, especially matte gold metallic – also in a geometric design. Think of the Empire State Building. It is Art Deco. So is the architecture of Miami.
Farmhouse chic begins with scraped wood floors, rough-hewn furniture, hand-loomed rugs, and rough linen covers.
The key is to make sure there is a theme and a blend of textures — smooth and knobby, rough wood and glass, satin and live plants.
So, which type of texture is right for your space? Along with adding visual and tactile appeal, texture can be used to enforce a specific design style. For example, smooth and glossy texture screams modern interior, whereas rough and natural texture is more in line with a rustic scheme.
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