The Power of Fabric – how fabric can change the face of your home

Fabric is an intrinsic part of our living spaces even though we often don’t really notice its presence.  Fabric will also make a great impact on the impression you may give to potential buyers of your Malta Real Estate.  Just by looking around any given room will usually show a variety of textiles in varied forms and formats. Consider carpets, rugs, dishcloths, tapestries, throw-overs, cushion covers, duvets, upholstery, wallpaper, blankets, sheets, napkins, tablecloths….. the list is endless.  Which means that in the long run, the type of fabrics, their quality and colours have a direct effect on our spaces.

It is easy to notice for instance how a new set of bath towels can create a whole new ambience in a bathroom, or how changing summer curtains to winter curtains can immediately create a much warmer feeling in any given room. Covering a boring settee with a luxurious throw-over can transform your livingroom and re-upholstering your set of chairs can take your dining room from rustic to elegant in one fell swoop.

Consider carpets. You may choose a simple weave carpet, hand-woven in the old tradition and un-dyed so that the natural colour of sheep’s wool can be better appreciated. Or you can head towards the other end of the spectrum and select a prized Persian carpet, always rigorously hand-woven with tufts of diverse colours and designs. Somewhere in between, you may settle for something synthetic, loud and rather kitsch, something which has been produced in a factory so that there are hundreds of similarly made carpets in hundreds of similar homes.

Some Malta property owners use textiles to reflect their particular quirks and penchants. Such as the Malta property owner who loves Art Deco and decides to adopt uniquely fabric designs that reflect the period of Art Deco. Designs inspired by French designers the likes of Clouzot, Henry, Robida…..are a case in point.

Others will be rather more inspired by typically English designs such as those on wallpaper produced during the early 20th Century. Wallpaper designer names of the period include Bawden, Seeman or Silver whose designs are amongst the most appreciated by collectors nowadays. In contrast with these complicated and colourful designs, contemporary woven wallpaper tends to lend a backdrop against which other exciting designs can be juxtaposed easily. Collectors of unique textile artefacts can thus splurge out and enjoy displaying them effectively.

The depth of colour and the unique way colour has been ingrained into the fabric further enhances the décor. Think of Indian dyes, Asian embroideries, Middle Eastern designs, geometric concepts, tapestry-like décor……then go to the extreme end of the spectrum and go all white, candid, pure, clean, surgical and neat…… Just try using different weaves of white fabric in the same room and see how the room comes to life in an extraordinary way. As one of the leading authorities on textiles, author Mary Shoeser says… “….life is based on patterns, spun in potentially never-ending repetitions until the structure is in accord with its destiny.”

This article was written by Marika Azzopardi, a freelance writer and journalist.  A frequent contributor to national English language papers and magazines, she writes about a bevy of topics including art, people and life in general. She is also the author of children’s books and short stories, delving into adult fiction from time to time.