A Salute To Bedrooms... For Valentine's Day 2022

Since today is Valentine's Day, I thought I would re-share a popular post from the past: a salute to sensuality featuring some luxurious, fun, luscious boudoirs.

One of the most basic ways to create an inviting bedroom retreat is to simply make the bed itself seem inviting. A padded and tufted headboard, as seen in the two photos below, sets the stage for a bed that appears sprawling, substantial...a comfortable place to spread out, a tranquil spot to relax on, a soft sensuous spot to roll around in...

A bed with an attractive base and headboard signals a sense of place and purpose.
In the first photo, the bed seems like a cushy cloud nestled on a plinth of warm, rich leather. Second image: the soft blue headboard and footboard by Jay Jeffers announces itself in this superbly relaxed yet sophisticated room.

Layering soft, sumptuous textures is another way to add a decadent sense to a bedroom. In the tactile room below, designed by Eric Kuster, we see hair-on-hide panels on the anchor wall, and a soft faux fur throw plays well with velvets and satins.

Speaking of fabrics, another way to soften a bedroom is to use fabric panels on the walls, a technique I have successfully used for clients. You can use drapery panels as a floor-to-ceiling headboard, like the first image. Or you can run panels along an entire wall, like Elizabeth Gordon did in the second image below. It's also good for dampening sound (wink wink).

A dark color palette in a bedroom says moody, exotic, and romantic.

The first image below by designer Smith Boyd features a delicious palette of browns, taupes, and greys along with textures like leather. The wood-grain striped wallpaper creates a natural, slightly wilder feeling that is tipped a little to the masculine side. The feeling of the dark purple Arabesque wallpaper in the next image is carried through by the Rococo mirrors and night tables... it feels like a fantasia on Mozart's "Abduction From The Seraglio!"

And think about dramatic, steamy, over-sized photos for an addition of extra sass and whimsy.

In the first photo, Amanda Nisbet's wild room for the Kip's Bay Showhouse uses a photo of pink glossed lips by Marilyn Minter. Another Marilyn, this one Monroe, presides over the bedroom of Brazilian architect Jorge Elias and his wife Lucila in the second image. I love how the lightness, curves, and playfulness of the photo (and its subject) contrast with as well as compliment the Chinoiserie feel.

And finally, I must report that I have tried to give equal time but I can't find an image of a bedroom that uses sexy images of men, which seems a little unlikely... there have to be some expertly designed bedrooms out there with a painting of a male torso or even a stylized Tom of Finland image. If any of my readers come across such a thing, let me know!

Above photo by Trevor Tondro

Above photo by Roger Davies

And notice how, in all of these images, extra pillows offer more visual comfort as well as more opportunities to introduce color, texture, and pattern. I hope I have inspired you to think about ways to enhance your bedroom, and to make it even more of a special "destination."

Happy Valentine's Day and happy designing!

What Is Button Tufting?

There are some funny terms in interior design, and I believe the term "tufting" falls into that category. The word can produce a quizzical look on faces, but the concept is quite simple. Tufting refers to depressions at regular intervals on a piece of fabric or leather (such as a cushion or on a piece of upholstered furniture) by passing a thread through it. This can be left as thread, but most often this technique is seen as button tufting. The most famous example of this is on the classic Chesterfield sofa, previously featured here.

The iconic Chesterfield sofa features button tufting arranged in a diamond pattern which imbues it with a very sophisticated and traditional look. But if a button tufted sofa is arranged not in a diamond pattern but in a linear pattern, the effect is quite different. As you can see by the example below, what we end up with is a more contemporary feeling along the lines of a Mid-Century Modern piece of furniture.

Tufting can be also be used on headboards to add further softness and luxury to a bedroom...

...or on benches...

...or on chairs...

...and of course, on pillows and cushions!

Happy designing!

A Cushion Is A Cushion Is A Cushion

Right? Well, not really. As usual, in interior design, there are so many terms and styles for things that seem like they should be simple. Take the humble cushion. If you've ever noticed the construction of a cushion you might have seen the following shapes.

The most common cushion or pillow type must be the "knife edge" cushion. One look at this style and it is easy to see why it has that name. A knife edge cushion can have just a simple seam where the fabric is sewn together, as seen below.

Or a knife edge cushion can have what is called a welt. Also commonly called a cord--or sometimes referred to as "piping"--a welt is a piece of rolled fabric that trims the edge of the pillow. A self welt is one that is made out of the same material as the cushion or pillow.

But look how fun a pillow can be with a contrasting welt. If done with light and dark colors, the effect can be very striking, looking like a bold outline.

A knife edge cushion can be a little plain so to add some elegance to a pillow, try a Turkish corner where the material is pinch pleated into a discreet fold. The overall look is softer and more luxurious.

Another common cushion and pillow style is the box edge. Instead of sewing two pieces of material together to form a seam, a box cushion has side panels that give it a top, a bottom, and four sides, just like a box.

A flanged cushion is one whose edge extends beyond the seam, as seen here. The flange can be of the same or different material.

Sometimes the material used for the flange can be gathered into a kind of ruffled look that lends a feminine or country appearance.

Pillows can also be trimmed or edged with a variety of fringes, tassels, and pom-poms.

A bolster pillow is mostly used for decorative purposes. It is usually seen at the ends of a sofa, or as part of a pillow arrangement on a bed. The example below in silvery velvet is a bolster with a darker welt and a button tufted end.

When you go cushion shopping, keep an eye out for these styles.
Happy designing!

Three Patterns of Africa: Kuba, Kente, and Mud Cloth

Using ethnic cloth as an accent in interiors is a wonderful way to add character, texture, and pattern. The following three cloths, all hailing from Africa, are beautifully earthy and graphic, and would lend tremendous panache to any space.

Kuba (KOO-buh) cloth is made in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire, out of raffia. Men grow, harvest, and weave the raffia into a coarse material which is then given to the women who pound the cloth in a mortar to soften it. Once it becomes supple, the women then appliqué geometric patterns to the yardage of the base cloth. The result is a fabric that bears a resemblance to cut velvet. The patterns traditionally vary in a single piece, abruptly shifting from one repetitive pattern to another.

Because of the nature of the raffia, this material is better suited for smaller, decorative items like pillows or displayed as wall hangings and art, but one does see it used on seating and chairs. The first photo below shows a bench upholstered in kuba cloth from West Elm (now discontinued).

Native to the Akan people of South Ghana, kente (KEN-tay) cloth is unique in that it is actually comprised of many individual strips of tightly woven cloth. These strips are woven into a bigger piece of fabric, much like the strapping of lawn chairs, in an "over-under" pattern, creating rich layers of stripes and lines. A hallmark of kente cloth is its bright colors of orange, green, blue, and black.

Below we see it used as a pillow cover for a bright sitting area by Glenn Gissler.

Mud cloth from Mali, also called bògòlanfini (bow-hoe-lan-FEE-nee), is dyed and patterned using fermented mud high in iron content which lends the rich rusts, browns, and blacks characteristic of this fabric. The room below uses mud cloth and kuba cloth! Like kuba and kente cloth, mud cloth also features highly geometric patterns with, generally speaking, extra thick lines.

Mud cloth is perfect for using in upholstery because of its thicker, near-burlap-like texture which holds up well on chairs and sofas. It looks good on simple pieces of furniture as seen in the desk chair in the first photo below, but it also looks amazing on antique or European pieces like the Louis XV chair in the second photo below. Remember Design Mantra #1: "Contrast brings interest!"

I used a piece of authentic mud cloth as a tree skirt under an African themed holiday tree I created a few years ago for a charity called The Holiday Designer Showhouse, here in Northern California. You can read the original post here.

I have access to many sources of fabric which invoke kuba, kente, and mud cloth, but also know where to get the original versions of these cloths. If you would like to reupholster a chair, or create some custom pieces of furniture utilizing these stunning fabrics, give me a call!

Happy designing!