Bring Nature Indoors With Textile Prints + Curtains

Hello and happy Friday, let’s fill our imaginations today with some lovely ideas for the home with botanical curtains and textile wall hangings. I loved reading about how artist, Pernille Folcarelli in Denmark, uses both to, “create a soft home style and a calm, harmonious atmosphere.”

I personally love the first image shown above, handmade by Pernille, because it speaks to my personal aesthetic so very closely. Everything about it, from the rosy wall color to the calmness in the display, and of course the wall hanging, tugs at my heart. The books on the cart, the ceramics, dried flowers, it’s very feminine, calm, and modern.

Aside from looking beautiful, it’s also important to note that textiles reduce disturbing room acoustics or that “hollow” echo that so many minimalist rooms have.

I know this isn’t a trend in the states, but did you know that many northern Europeans have ditched curtains for simple blinds or shades, or nothing at all? I vote to please BRING THE CURTAINS BACK! I love how they both frame a window and absorb sound so a room loses that annoying echo which is so extremely cold. Also, I love how, in the evening, windows are no longer big black boxes - you can close the drapes and enjoy your cozy, warm nest.

Above is another example of warm and beauty, which speaks to my heart as well. I love the vintage-inspired lamp and the printed drapes because they give this otherwise bare room a bit of a soul. I also like seeing patterns. For very long now, pattern has been outed a bit here in northern Europe - passed by for solids, tactile things like faux fur, velvet, “teddy bear” chairs, leather, etc.

In America and the UK pattern seems to be forever a thing - they LOVE their patterns. It isn’t as common here these days to see printed drapes in the homes of local Instagram influencers or even in your favorite design books and magazines. Everything is very solid and tactile, which is super lovely, but when I see this room above I definitely vote YES on prints done right.

The Dutch are starting to move prints into the interiors world again, and the Danish are giving it a go, so let’s see where we end up.

I gladly welcome back patterns BUT in a very controlled fashion, as shown above. The example below is a bolder version of the one above that maybe would appeal to someone who really LOVES pattern and color combined - someone BOLD! Both examples are just lovely.

BUT on the flipside, I can’t imagine living in the 80s or 90s again when everything was printed including wall-to-wall carpet. Do you recall those days? Here’s a fun thing to try so please google it: do you remember the floral sofa from the Golden Girls’ home? WE HAD THAT SOFA in our home for 10 years. Yes, really. My mother was a massive decorator, totally full-blown into it. She had all the latest and loved color. We had macrame, dried flowers, gold embellished everything, ficus fig-trees, pampas grass, and rattan chairs long before they came back in vogue in 2018.

I still remember when our Golden Girls apricot sofa moved in - heavily patterned, I knew the 80s had arrived and my mother was giddy over it. And if you’re wondering what our sofa looked like before the Golden Girls sofa, it was a super plush lime green velvet sofa (70s) which I was perfectly happy with, combined with gold metallic bamboo-patterned wallpaper and Chinese hand-painted porcelain in the cabinet with red dragons painted all over it. In the corner, a large vase filled with very tall pampas grass. In the windows, macrame planted hanging from hooks filled with plants.

This view below may appeal to the monochromatic fans out there, or fans of the handmade minimalist modern movement where everything is very sculptural and rooms are extraordinarily edited. The patterned wall hanging offers something more than a mirror or framed art.

I like what Pernille, the maker behind these patterned textiles, has to say about our innate connection to nature,

“In an unpredictable and uncertain world, we turn to nature. It brings calmness and grounding. Studies show that we relax and feel less stressed when looking at nature's motives. This also applies to images and imprints of plants and nature. But having lots of nature outside is not a given for everyone. Therefore, plant motifs on the walls are a unique opportunity to surround ourselves with botany and green colors. Like an indoor garden, which requires neither watering nor care.”

I want to wish you a wonderful weekend, thank you for stopping by my blog to visit me today!

Love,

Holly

Photos: Pernille Folcarelli