BANISHING THE BLAND

SHAYNNA BLAZE EXPLAINS HOW TO CREATE INTEREST BY USING TEXTURE EFFECTIVELY WHEN DECORATING YOUR HOME

Using texture can add depth and tone to a colour scheme, but how do you work it into a room?

Texture plays with natural and artificial light to change the colour of any item and give it depth. It also adds interest to a room.

On a perfectly flat surface light bounces in one direction and this is how you get an added shine on a surface. With any textured or surface variation, light shoots off in a number of directions (not seen to the naked eye) but it means you are seeing how light interacts in a 3D way.

Yes this is technical but it is simple light refraction that adds depth instantly on a non-flat surface. For surfaces that have deeper textures, such as fabrics, rugs and carpets, this traps light and creates little ‘caves’ of darkness in the fibres.

This creates great tonal differences in a surface.

You can have just one colour in a fabric, but because fibres move and sit in different directions, you are having multiple directions of light shooting in multiple directions.

This means you can have one colour in several applications – a hard bench surface, a low-pile rug or an open weave on a couch – and you will get great tonal variations in the room without colours clashing because in the end you have one colour.

So how does texture create interest? Well, we all get pretty bored with a flat surface. Yes, it is neat and streamlined, but if we have a pure flat surface on everything, the room becomes clinical and bland.

Texture adds ‘movement’ to a room. It gives lines and undulations for the eye to follow. Once you have the visual interest it is human nature to see how it feels and you make a ‘connection’. For more expert Lifestyle advice, go to lifestyle.com.au