decorative fabric parasols

hammock rubyellen on tumbler

via the decorista.com

doilie window treatment via Free People blog

rosehip’s crocheted pillow cases

Manuel Canovas Kazan fabric on sofa

from my Bohemian Aesthetic- clever

I don’t post often and I usually have a topic from which I don’t deviate. However, I have some randomly clever and pretty home textile products that I would like to share that are light and Springspirational. Although it is Spring, it has not yet sprung in in New England.

It is rare that I encounter such a talent who has no interest in self-promotion or collaborative efforts. She simply likes to paint. Check out these images and visit her website: http://www.lulisanchez.com/home   I do know know why any home textiles company has not licensed any of these designs for use in home decorating fabrics. Or, maybe they have bought her paintings and used them, but not her name. Help me out here!!!

Peacock chair vis The Family Love Tree

Peacock chair vis The Family Love Tree

The Peacock headboard via The Family Love Tree

I was reading the most recent version of the digital home decor mag AdoreHome.com, which I love, and saw these great peacock chairs and headboards. I flipped for them. They come in an assortment of happy, spring colors.  The web-based store from which they came is The Family Love Tree,  https://thefamilylovetree.com.au/_chairs/peacock-chairs . Unfortunately, it is in Melbourne Australia! So, where the heck  in the U.S. can we find these lacquered versions of rattan chairs that were ubiquitous in the 1980′s?   They would sell like hotcakes!

Classic peacock chair via The Family Love Tree

Whose flloral trellis fabric is on that ottoman???

The loveseat fabric is “Les Touches” by Brunschwig & Fils.

Sofa fabric by Manuel Canovas for Cowtan & Tout. Curtains are Rose Cumming’s “Lace”.

Something is happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear. For years now, most floral fabrics have been in the form of abstract monochromatic one dimensional renderings.  In 2010, I started to see the return of funkier larger scale florals. Svenskt Tenn, Florence Broadhurst and Josef Franc floral fabrics experienced a rennaisance on traditional upholstery frames. In 2011, exotic florals, faunas and insect motifs began appearing on everything from wallpaper to melamine plates. Dorothy Draper projects and her floral fabrics received lots of coverage in the press in 2012 as did the Martinique palm leaf wallpaper that is known widely as the wallpaper throughout The Beverly Hills Hotel. In fact, I am convinced that the coverage of this leafy pattern  helped to catapult the emerald color trend (also Pantone’s choice for 2013 in home furnishings).

I developed an appreciation for chintz fabrics in the 1990′s when working for Robert Allen Fabrics. I was given resposibility for a stepchild division that the company somehow acquired. The company was based in a suburb of London and produced printed cotton chintz fabrics that were derived from documents. The company sold fabrics under its own brand as well as produced fabrics that became exclusives for many of the reknowned traditional textile companies. I initialy struggled with the designs because they seemed stuffy and oddly colored.  Over the next few years, I realized that I had become completely smitten with them. I have actually been missing them and awaiting their re-emergence. Apparently, the time is now.

I believe that chintz has legs , but that it has to be used is small doses for the average person to enjoy it.  Chintz everywhere in a room is a bit too overwheling for 2013. Sure, Mario Buatta and Ann Pyne can pull it off for their clients, but they are the exception.

Martinique wallpaper used in The Beverly Hills Hotel

Lily Pulitzer chintz fabric on chair through One King’s Lane

Made in Italy by Kartell, the Mademoiselle upholstered armchair

wool scrap patchwork bedcover via Rosehip.typepad.2

)   Check out these wonderful specimens.

Sweet felt goods blanket

Vintage reversible poncho/cape on ebay. (Don’t bother looking for it. I bought it.)

Hudson’s Bay Company Point Blanket Designer Collaborations via FFFFOUND

Poncho by SHELLEY via Oakliesfashions.com

Bavarain reversible poncho/ cape on ebay

sweetandblue upcycled teen sweatercoat on etsy

sweetandblue upcycled clothing on etsy

enlightened platypus upcycled sweatercoat on etsy

Mermsid mushroom upcycled sweatercoat on etsy

I am a sucker for all of these in the winter. I love to layer, but I love feeling unencumbered, too. Here are some terrific images.

Both of these Marimejjo dresses are from 1966!!

These caftans were created by Marimekko designer Liisa Suvanto in 1974.

Another gorgeous creation by Annika Rimala for Marimekko in 1954. Do you recall what most women wore in the States in 1954?

All three of these simple shift dresses are from 1965 and were designed by the very talented Marimekko designer Annika Rimala.

I picked up and started flipping through a Marimekko book that was given to me in 2005 by the U.S. distributor of Marimekko at that time. The book is “MARIMEKKO  Fabrics Fashion Architecture”. It recounts the history of the Finnish textile company. The pictures are gorgeous. What really strikes me as impressive is how timeless both the textile patterns and the apparel that they produced are. I looked at the images of models in Marimekko garb and felt as though the models’ haircuts and clothing could beasily be worn today and still look fresh and timely.

Hermes throw: There is nothing better than paying a company lots of money to become one of its brand ambassadors.

Typographic pillows. I guess I should leave.

This exact floral print kantha throw which is on every flash sale site and in every other catalog.

Greek key fabric. The karate chopped pillow continues to remain timeless.

Chevron pattern: Although I find it timeless, this pattern is on everything.

Poufs, not just Moroccan ones. Do people really utilize them?

Vintage typewriter on a stack of vintage suitcases. Very cute, but everywhere.

It is always fun to take a look at what themes, colors and objects were prevalent during a calender year. Without putting a huge amount of thought into this, I would like to simply display images of trends that have been BAMM,right in my face this year, both in magazines as well in blogs. I find it interesting that so many of us embrace  fresh style, it becomes ubiquitous and then that fresh style causes a numbness or lack of reaction in us.  So, these are just some of the images that have lost their freshness for me.

Monogrammed trays, mongrammed anyting, melamine trays, too

bar cart, Style by Emily Henderson. It’s not that I don’t LOVE the look or oddly yesteryear notion of getting banged up one weekday afternoon…

Cliche. The Hermes throw, chevron and typography all in one room.

Kasuri inspired rug House To Home UK

kasuri pillow

Indigo cotton kasuri fabric from 1970′s

Along with shibori, I have grown to love kasuri and have recently seen  high-end china and area rugs that use interpretations of kasuri patterns in the indigo colorway. ‘Maybe an emerging trend? So, what is kasuri?

In Japan, this double ikat technique (warp and weft resist dye) is known as kasuri. Before dyeing, sections of yarn are tightly bound in predetermined lengths. The dye does not penetrate these protected areas when the thread is dipped into the dye bath. The binding is then carefully removed leaving yarn that is partly white and partly colored. The threads are then used as the warp or weft so a pattern appears as the cloth is woven. The slight misalignment of threads gives the pattern on the kasuri cloth its characteristic ‘fuzzy’ outline. The dyer must have great skill to bind the threads in just the right place so the pattern emerges as planned. The patterns are all symbolic . Japanese kimonos are often made from the bingo kasuri fabric.

Having 300 years in its history, Kasuri is designated as a traditional craft which is very rare in Japan. The beautifully woven patterns come out from the joint effort of wisdom and technique of weaver who can foresee the pattern on finished product at the phase of space-dyeing. The natural touch and indigo blue of the Kasuri fabric is pleasing to the minds of the Japanese people. Most vintage kasuri fabric is taken from dismantled kimonos are handwoven using natural indigo dyes. However, new kasuri is typically machine woven using synthetic dyes.  Kasuri yarns can be wool, linen or cotton. The fabric typically need to be washed at least 3 or 4 times to remove residual dyes that bleed off the fabric.

Indigo cotton kasuri fabric from 1950′s

Marisol™-brand umbrellas are designed to protect women not only from rain and sunshine, but from violence and war. A portion of proceeds helps the women of the Democratic Republic of Congo to rebuild their lives at the City of Joy, a revolutionary healing and training center created by women on the ground and sustained by V-Day, a worldwide activists’ movement to end violence against women. http://drc.vday.org.

They come with a hefty price tag at $315 each, but they are are all limited addition African wax print fabrics and a portion of the proceeds are donated. They are truly beautifl with their energetic prints and signature teardrop handles. Check them out at http://www.marisols.org/site/