A good resource

The unlimited world of patterns and textures brought along by fabrics could be a great addition to any home. I've worked for a long time with fabrics and they are certainly my first recommendation for a subtle renovation. Many times I've heard customers ask themselves, ''and now where can I use this one?'', right after making their choice among an incredible variety of wonderful designs. Here's a short and inexpensive tip for those who have scraps of unused beautiful fabrics awaiting for them.

The incorporation of fabrics as framed pictures to be used as part of the decoration always seemed quite interesting to me. It's an endless way to create superb matches and combinations of textures, patterns, colours and shapes in pictures and of course, in the frames themselves.

Pattern fabrics are ideal as decoration elements, adding touches of colour without distractions.
(Photos adapted from Palatial Living and Atlanta Homes Mag)

Similar patterns in different colours, or viceversa -- fabrics are very versatile!
(Photos adapted from Clarke & Clarke and Martha Stewart)

Framing fabrics is extremely easy. Just make sure you glue it very firm and stretch to the frame or a passepartout border, leaving your favourite section visible and properly aligned. You may choose to use the fabric as the passepartout instead, surrounding a simpler design.

Framed fabrics blend nicely into any decoration style.
(Photo adapted from On to baby)

The tradition of fabric design is an art in itself. No doubt it deserves to be on your wall!

Pictures + Pictures

Using pictures as a decorative element is not something new but it's still a remarkable feature in every home.

We can display from a reproduction of an art masterpiece to a photograph of our beloved family. The dynamism that visual images can give will help us to completly define the character of any space. They get even better when you break the tradition and dare to combine many pictures in the same wall! 

Pictures have been hung above beds for ages, but that shouldn't stop you from doing the same -- just add your touch!
(Pictures adapted from Country Living and Apartment Therapy)

Play with pictures of different styles to give your dining or living room an eclectic but interesting look.
(Pictures adapted from La Dolce Vita and Leslie & The City)

Pictures are perfect elements for brightening up those difficult small corners of your house.
(Photos adapted from Pottery Barn and The Selby)

According to the choice of diffrent kind of frames or their distribution itself we can create both formal and informal spaces that could suit our intention for the room.

If you have the means and are brave enough, you may consider turning your living room into a family-sized art gallery!
(Photos adapted from Time Out Australia and Wikipedia)

Pictures, pictures, pictures... Combine them at your will to create stunning displays with a modern touch of an old-time favourite!

Ethnic textures for lively homes

On the last post i've supported the many benefits of choosing neutral tones in general decoration. It could allow us to play extensively with colours and textures to liven up a room. 

An excellent example to reinforce this idea are the ethnic knits, usually bursting of vibrant colours. These are usually hand-made and respond to a long tradition of small producers, though big companies have shown interest too in the recent years. 

We can go from traditional asiatic fabrics from India, China or Vietnam to the hand-made South American ones, all colourful and cheerful as well. Specially in South America, where I come from, we could find different types of knits depending on the area.

A nice combination of Ethnic fabrics: Bali seeds cushions, Indian cushions, a framed textile from Central America and blankets from the Andean region .
(Style by the author. Photo by Mechy Rocco.)

A very representative example is the aguayo, which is a multicolored woolen cloth traditional in the Andes region (north of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru).

Peruvian women using their aguayos as transport bags.
(Photo by Mechy Rocco.)

Aguayos are usually sold in local market across the Andes.
(Photo by Mechy Rocco.)

Lovely cushion made with an Aguayo.
(Style and photo by the author.)

The molas are also very famous worldwide. They are made by kuna women from Euador, Colombia and Panama. The molas have several multi-coloured layers (usually two to seven) of cotton cloth sewn together, usually depicting recognizable patterns like animals or geometric figures.

Colourful molas could bring happiness to any room!
(Style and photo by Mechy Rocco)

So, if you'd like to try something lively at home, don't be shy and mix some ethnic colours!

Keep it neutral

There's one basic concept that I always try to apply on my works and offer as an easy tip for my customers. It should also make for a nice start in this blog!

If you don't have a specific intention about the style of a certain room, you should consider choosing neutral colors for big stuff, so you will be able to manage later which things are going to have the leading roles on your space.

Neutral shades are particularly convenient for the most visually important elements like the color of the walls or the textiles of a big sofa. It will allow you to add some shocking colors or crazy designs on details late. Frames, pictures, pillows and blankets -- they will all standout against a calm background!

Applying colors this way will make also have less chances of getting bored or tired of our decoration.
As an example, let's get back to the big sofa and imagine this is placed in the living room of a family house. The true benefit of choosing it in a neutral color will be being able to play with different colours and textures on cushions, carpets, curtains and other easy-to-replace objects nearby. We can have different curtains to change depending on the season, so we can create a cozier room during winter by selecting warm shades and a light design or colour for a fresh look during summertime.

A modern sofa with clean lines in a quiet room gets better with a choice of colourful cushions.
(Cushions and photo by the author)

The same sofa with a different choice of cushions gets equally cheerful!
(Cushions and photo by the author)

This tip can help us to completely change the look of our home by taking care of some minor details. Would you take it into account the next time?