Texture Talking

Words: Modupe Oloruntoba | Styling: Charl Edwards  | Photography: Bevan Davis

Cosy is all we really want to be, come winter. Temperatures drop, our daylight hours are cut short, and we start piling on the layers. Although we can’t hibernate (a pity, really) we can retreat, trading in late summer night drinks on the veranda for the joy and comforts of the indoors. I am a homebody, perfectly content to stay in blanket burrito mode for the full duration of the season, and then some. For the social, active, outdoor adventurer or even for anyone between the extremes, winters can be somewhat confining. The cabin fever sets in even faster when you think about what the typical home looks like in winter. From the bedding in the living room to the cluttered night stands, a general state of disarray is created when we attempt to create a sense of warmth by surrounding ourselves with things. The good news is that modern decor and design trends mean that you can strike a balance: cosy doesn’t have to mean cluttered, minimal doesn’t have to be cold, earthy isn’t just brown, and focused doesn’t have to look bare. Big or small, the potential for your space is endless and this will show how you can use new texture trends and styling tricks to make the most of it. The bad news is how fast everything is going to sell out – start adding your favourites to your cart now.

Making a functional shelf beautiful is easy when you think of it as a display. A white surface and a white wall make a solid background to keep your arrangement looking tidy: Group similar objects, textures, and colours (animals together, porcelain together, magazines together) for a clean look that also makes your books, tins and bric-a-brac easier to see and use.

Velvet and (faux) fur are classic winter textures, used here in a way that allows you to move between summer and winter functionality in minutes, and creates a warm focal point in a room of smooth metal and wood surfaces. A throw pillow is a great way to use colour where you want it and remove it when you don’t. Ribbing also makes an appearance in new season decor items. Styling tip: two armchairs and a throw doth a couch make, without taking up as much room as a real one would.

In an unused space, grab two of your dining chairs and a small table to create a makeshift den, perfect for long conversations and longer games of monopoly. A standard white wall continues to be a useful feature, not just as a backdrop to decorate with textures but also as a partner to wood, creating a dipped colour block effect on the orbit table. Styling tip: create continuity and flow by using either texture or colour to tie together objects and furnishings that share a space: white flows from the wall to the marble mantle, marble flows from the mantle to the lamp base, and the lamp’s rose gold colouring and metallic surface tie it to the clock.

Try a bright, clean monochromatic spin on using earth elements in your home: charcoal, white and gold are a beautiful combination, one that can be varied and built on by including shades of grey.

Again, grouping by colour lends order and direction to micro spaces like shelves and cupboards. Turn storage into display by exposing shelves – especially useful for opening up a small kitchen – and arranging crockery for form and function.

Bring the outdoors in with small plants and artwork informed by an oceanic colour palette. Colour can be used to tie the space together by mirroring the hues of decorative pieces in functional pieces. Blue tones continue throughout, layered by repetition and texture: rope, felt and corduroy play well together and create a softer feeling, perfect for a calm, restful bedroom.

A pastel shade of turquoise invites the use of pastel pink, a key colour for the season, as a partner in bringing lightheartedness to a room’s layout. Pink and rose gold are useful for softening monochromatic tones, as is ombre colouring for softening contrast.

Every open storage opportunity, like this three-tiered shelf, is also an opportunity for multifunctionality – clothes become part of your decor armoury when stored on open display, and the shelf is elevated from functional surface to visual feature.