Decorating with Texture

Comfort, theme, price, and color may be some of the foremost factors you consider when decorating your home. However, there’s another crucial element of good design that often goes overlooked: texture.

This aspect may trip up some homeowners since it comprises many different facets, including appearance and tactile sensation. But when you’re able to fully grasp it and incorporate it mindfully, you can make your home feel more balanced, inviting, and tasteful than ever. Here are some of the most effective ways to add stylish texture to any space.

Mix up materials

Different materials carry distinct textural looks that affect how we respond to them: hard or rough surfaces bring a formal edge to rooms, while objects that are soft to the touch are more welcoming. One of the best ways to create impressive interiors is to incorporate a wide spectrum of materials into your spaces that vary from soft to hard, including fabric, wood, ceramic, glass, metal, and stone.

If a room feels off no matter how much you tweak and rearrange it, featuring a new material could offer a solution. For example, say you have a dining room that’s full of wooden furniture and feels a bit stuffy. Adding curtains, a rug, and some cushioned seating could lend a comfortable tone and balanced texture to the space.

And don’t fret about your materials needing to match. According to the principles of transitional design, which incorporates elements from different themes and time periods, you can successfully layer varying materials as long as you select them carefully and unite them around a tight, cohesive color scheme. So a living room with antique upholstered furniture could benefit from a surprising piece like a contemporary resin table if it suits the surrounding color palette. This stark visual contrast can also make the space feel well curated and texturally balanced.

Use eye-popping patterns

Depending on who you ask, pattern may not technically fall under the category of texture. But stripes, waves, florals, and other types of patterns can certainly achieve the same effect as other textural details, adding visual intrigue to surfaces.

In other words, patterns are packed with texture, so incorporate them into every room. Structural features like herringbone flooring and slat-wood wall paneling are wonderful options, but it may be more cost-effective to pepper patterns into your accent decor, such as with intricately painted pillows or pottery.

Of course, some restraint is needed—a space with too much variety could have the maddening appearance of a circus tent. Try sticking to three patterns at most per room, placing objects that feature them strategically and surrounding them with flat surfaces. As a straightforward example, you could simply set a striped accent pillow on a solid-colored chair for a powerful effect.

Consider color and finish

Paint doesn’t just set the tone for a room; it also has a textural range of its own. Because satin, semigloss, and glossy paints reflect light, they can lend a subtle texture to a space, especially when used to highlight an architectural element like wainscoting or crown molding. Conversely, you can achieve a flat look if you opt for paint with an eggshell or matte finish, each of which has low reflectivity.

To add even more attention-grabbing texture to your walls, curate an art collection—these pieces will lend instant textural effects to their surroundings. For subtlety, choose paintings with larger swaths of matte color and few hard lines. Or to add significant character to a wall, select a piece that features a greater number of bold shapes or a diverse palette of glossy colors.

Incorporating texture doesn’t have to be difficult. Be intentional with your choices, and you can ultimately achieve your desired effect: a high-energy room full of textural variety, a soothing and sparse space where your stress can slip away, or a perfectly balanced place that meets somewhere in the middle.