Thursday, April 23, 2015

ORC Week 4: Texture and Art

A successful room is a room with a lot of texture. Nester, in her inimitable way calls a room with too many slick textures a diarrhea room. Most of our rooms, she says, are this way. What we need is more roughage.

Abigail Ahern, takes the idea further. Every room, she says, needs at least six textures.

Six!

She advises two from each category: smooth, rough and soft.

Smooth textures are things like glass, marble, smooth tile, plastic, fabrics like silk and satin, certain pieces of pottery and ceramics.

Rough textures include wicker, reclaimed wood, brick, stone, and luckily for me, book spines.



I got everything back on the Expedit during the Organize-a-thon last weekend.


Soft textures include most fabrics and feathers.

Her emphasis is on opposition, on contrast and juxtaposition. Smooth with rough, (a smooth ceramic lamp on a stump) soft with smooth, (velvet curtains over a glass window), rough with soft (a woolly blanket in a basket.)

So, I analysed my room and what I had.

Rough? Wicker chair, wicker baskets, book spines.



Smooth? Glass, ceramics, polished wood, plastic (the Expedit and the table are melamine, definitely plastic.)



I updated the china cabinet by taking out the mullions and lining the back with (photocopies of) pages from a Children's dictionary during the Organize-a-thon.

Soft? Velvet curtains.



A cushion on the wicker chair would help--as would a rug. But the cushion wouldn't add a significant amount and my husband doesn't think a rug is a practical idea in this room--and he may be right. 

So, it occured tome that some sort of textile art would be just the ticket. I had planned to put my large 3x4 foot canvas on this wall to help balance things out, 



but scraped that idea when I saw this:



So, I made an attempt at textile art.



The bottom is bothering me--I'm not sure how to finish it off. The width, too. Should it be wider? It may be too 1/2 and 1/2 dark and light. And is the branch too "rustic" for this room?


Your thoughts are welcome.


As usual, please check out the others, both the invited, who posted on Wednesday (and what an inspiration they are) and the party crashers, like me.

If you'd like to catch up on my progress, here are the weekly posts:

Week 1: Befores and a Vision
Week 2: The Painted Room
Week 3: The Agony of Decisions



8 comments :

Anonymous said...

Okay, this is my thought on the string art. Maybe add some of the green from the bird picture above your china cabinet? It looks too match-ey blue and I think if it was wider (string part not stick) it would help fill in the void there. Maybe a pillow for the back of the chair also? If the thought of a rug is not good, how about those rubber-backed rugs that you could wash? I have used those in high traffic areas and they have worked for years, until I was ready for another change in décor. It's coming together nicely! You are doing a great job!
Gina in Chattanooga, TN

Alana in Canada said...

Thank you for the great suggestions, Gina. Yes,I think more green is probably a good idea. (I ran out of yarn, actually!)

The rug is a bad idea because of traffic through here...but I havenot given up. I still hope to find something.

MMarie said...

Alana, you are so creative! Love the way your sample cuts diagonally along the bottom. That adds interest and moves your eye. Have you considered lowering it on the wall, with the branch about the same height as the top of your china cabinet? May balance better, at least in the photo. Also, I wonder if it could use more black on the far left side? As for the branch, I love it and especially how it ties in with the birds. Oh, wonder if you could find a little bird or two to perch on the branch?

Lisa @ Lisa Moves said...

I like it! (Perhaps a bit wider?)

Alana in Canada said...

Thank you both! More black I can do. That will help make it wider and give it more presence, too. The birds plus the branches--cute!

Unknown said...

This is not what I pictured when you said yarn-art! Haha

My first thought was also that it went together with the birds. Nice and thematic!
I think the thing that "makes" the piece used as an example is that clean, off-centre diagonal edge. Maybe something like that, or even just a carefully cut slant might pull your piece together.

I like it! And I like that it almost matches the curtains.

Alana in Canada said...

Good analysis Anastasia. Cutting it is such a commitment! Silly of me to be apprehensive about it, but I am.

Kim said...

Don't be apprehensive! I know, we are all that way when we are doing something for ourselves! Just do it! I would make it a little wider and cut like your example! the straight angled cut gives the balance that you have been talking about! Rough natural wood against angles ... Perfection! IMHO!! Good luck!

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