Textile Messages

Fabrics can make a huge difference in a room—creating a mood via window treatments and upholstery, rugs and wallcoverings, pillows and linens. We asked Annika Christensen, an interior designer and the owner of Midnight Sun Swedish Antiques & Design in Libertyville, to talk about how she’d use textiles in two spaces of her own imagining—one urban, the other country

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URBAN GLAMOUR

Urban Glamour textiles

“For a city bedroom with high ceilings and tall bay windows, I would paint the walls a deep charcoal gray and the wood trim a crisp, glossy white. I love drama! The ceiling would be the same shade of aqua/blue as in the small linen sample. All furniture would be arranged on a plush white-silk Tibetan rug over gleaming dark wood floors. I would accent with silver pieces, creating a space that juxtaposes loose and relaxed with drama and glitz.”

1. “I would use this charcoal linen for a loosely slipcovered headboard, duvet cover, and bedskirt.”

2.“We need some glamour, so I’d put a sleek Lucite or shiny stainless steel bench at the foot of the bed, with the seat covered in this sparkly, silvery gray fabric.”

3.“To lighten things up a bit, I would use this contemporary floral fabric in long, straight panels on the windows.”

4.“The combination of smooth linen with a pleated woven cotton is beautiful; I would use this pinkish-lavender cotton for shams and a throw at the end of the bed.”

5. “I would throw a pair of simple aqua linen pillows with large flanges on a pair of comfy but sleek chairs slipcovered in the same charcoal linen I used on the bed to set off the floral fabric on the windows and continue the room’s relaxed feel.”

 

Photograph: Leonard Gertz

 
January - February 2010