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Thursday, December 28, 2023

Looking for Fabric Yardage Information? See The MOST Recommended Site on the Web


FREE HOME DECOR YARDAGE CHARTS

Recommended by leading interior designers and interior design schools and decorating sites
See Why

Monday, December 18, 2023

From Our House to Yours...


Whether you celebrate
the Winter Solstice, Chanukah,  

Christmas, Kwanzaa, or another 
holiday this time of year, we wish 
you warmth, peace, hope and love. 
+

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Mixing Fabrics in 5 Easy Steps - Part 5

This installment wraps up our short tutorial on coordinating fabrics and patterns. However, we will be posting sample boards based on a few more of your submissions over the next couple of months or so. So follow this blog to see more. Last week we featured several options for Steve's inspiration fabric. This week we turn our attention to Nancy's fabric and how it all comes together.


Nancy's sample board can be used in several ways. You will notice that there are a variety of textures, scales, sheens and patterns as discussed last week in Parts 3 and 4. Nancy can pick one stripe, one plaid, one small pattern, one solid silk for sheen, etc. from the swatches above.

Or the sample board can be divided so the left half is one scheme and the right side is two schemes - one on the top right quarter and one below on the bottom right quarter of the board. Trims and accessories go with all groupings.


If working with the left side, Nancy needs to select one stripe and one of the solid greens - either the quilted silk (for a more formal
look) or the textured velvet (for a more casual feel). Both provide a wonderful tactile quality. The cornice above the solid satin drapery panel on the left is actually covered with a wide wallpaper border (or frieze) that happens to echo the flowers and colors of the inspiration fabric beautifully.

Similarly, Nancy can choose from the fabrics on the bottom half, and even select more than one pattern since all (except the striped lisere) are quite different. 

Once you have decided on your fabrics, plan where they will be used.  Do not use all of one fabric, color, texture, pattern, or sheen in one area of the room. Think in terms of balance in using them.

For example, if your inspiration fabric is a floral used on a sofa and a chair, as in the example below, you might use the same fabric for a couple of pillows to toss on another chair (whether part of that seating group or elsewhere in the room), and/or as a valance for the window treatments.  Then your second fabric (such as a coordinating plaid or stripe ) could be used as a comforter or duvet and for Roman shades and to upholster a chair or cover a table. Your third selection might be a luxurious solid or tone-on-tone fabric that can be used to trim the curtains, make shams for the bed pillows, and to cover a bench at the foot of the bed.

Be sure to consider your walls and floors when selecting fabrics, as they provide additional places and sources of color and patterns. The scale of your furniture should also be considered. The same "rules" outline above can be used. Just substitute a wallpaper for one of the fabrics. Wallpaper can even be your starting point instead of a fabric. And lighter weight fabrics can be used as (removable) wallpaper! These are not hard and fast rules, and exceptions can often be successfully made but this guide is meant to be just that -- a guide to help you build the confidence and skills to create the room of your dreams.




Here are some additional informational and DIY resources you may find helpful:
How to use Fabric as a Wall CoveringFabric wallcovering can be provide a lot of decorating impact for little cost. It is not only easy to apply fabric to your walls with starch, the fabric will be easy to remove (and reuse) and it will not damage the wall. Whether you live in an apartment or dorm and are not allowed to paint or wallpaper or even if you simply like to change your decor frequently or want to cover flawed walls, hanging fabric as a wall covering is the perfect decorating solution.  
Color Your World: How to Choose and Use Color in Your Home
The overwhelming possibilities and thousands of paint chips that confront you in paint stores or your local Home Depot are enough to drive anyone to the safe shades of white and almost-whites. The fear of choosing colors that do not work together, the misconception that matching colors takes some innate ability you don't think you have, and the inability to visualize what colors will actually look like in your room may also contribute to difficulty in deciding on color. Once you understand the basic principles of using color and some professional "tricks" decorators hide up their sleeves, you will have the knowledge and confidence to create a space that enhances your life, conveys the mood you want, and garners a lot of compliments as well.  Top 10 Interior Decorating Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
You don't have to be a professional interior decorator to understand and apply some basic principles of interior design that will help you create a comfortable and functional home with style.Whether you want to rearrange furniture in your living room, update your bedroom decor, create a guest room, shop for a dining room chandelier, or are downsizing or starting from scratch with your first studio apartment, the tips on this page will help you make the choices that are right for you and your lifestyle. 
This DIY Guide shows you how to hang artwork, individual shelves or shelving units, closet organizers, cabinets, curio cases, media storage, speakers, flat screen tvs, kitchen cabinets, heavy mirrors and more. Our guide to hanging items on walls explains how to determine what type of wall you have and the mechanics of hanging items on different types of walls (drywall or sheetrock, plaster, brick and stone, etc.) including what type of tools and hardware you will need to hang everything from family photos to heavy mirrors. You will learn the the basics and some easy-to-do but more advanced options plus we've included tips the pros use, important links for safety information, how-to videos, and much more.
This page dicusses 11 common interior decorating problems and teaches you the tricks interior designers use to correct them with pattern and color. Creating a home decorating magazine-worthy room does not take magic or a lot of money. It is much easier than pulling a rabbit out of a hat and you can do all of these tricks yourself. Whether you have a long narrow room, low ceilings, furniture you want to feature or make less noticeable, or other problems commonly encountered when decorating a space, we've got some easy-to-learn and DIY slight-of-hand secrets the professionals use to fix such things.


Friday, November 17, 2023

Mixing Patterns in 5 Easy Steps - Part 2

First of all, I want to thank you for all of the submissions for our Designer Sample Board contest! We were overwhelmed by your response and wound up choosing two winners at random. There were so many wonderful fabrics that we will try to post sample boards for more entries when we get to the end of this series as well. For now, congratulations to Nancy of Seattle and Steve of Virginia! Their inspiration pieces will be our examples as we learn to mix patterns and colors.

I know most of you have selected an inspiration piece and this week we will move on to Step 2. In step two we will begin to select coordinates by colors. Be sure to consider the colors of your walls and floor, woodwork and existing furnishings if you are not changing those.


The swatch on the left was submitted by Nancy in Seattle. It has a chenille background with tapestry florals. She has a sofa and one chair upholstered in this fabric and has 2 yards left over. The walls are ivory with oak woodwork. 

Nancy is off to a great start. The warm yellow undertone in the ivory painted walls and the oak stained woodwork work perfectly with this fabric. However, Nancy wants to make the room more interesting and cozier. Plus she needs window treatments, has to reupholster a chair and ottoman, and some artwork and lighting to the room.
 
STEP 2
Choose two or more additional fabrics that each have one of the colors from your inspiration fabric.
Vary the lightness and darkness of the colors in the fabrics. Using the above floral as an example, you might choose a deep burgundy, a toasty bronze gold, a medium to light green tone, and a rich cream (top row below). To take the color scheme lighter, go with the lighter rose color, a golden yellow, and a darker green for accents (second row). Or, mix and match tones depending on your tastes and what is available.

Next we have a photo of a window treatment from Steve's guest room in his Virginia home. He's going for a combination Victorian and French Chateau look, as he describes it. Let's see what step 2 looks like with Steve's classic floral toile as our inspiration piece.
We can stick to the Blue-White-Yellow color scheme shown here, or introduce another color. Either way, here are some color swatches for coordinating fabrics for this beautiful toile chintz. We added few shades of green, but you might choose a different color, such as lavender or rose.


Play with the colors in your inspiration piece. Make color swatches larger and smaller to see how they look in different proportions. Most of all, relax and have fun. Remember how excited you were when you got your first big box of crayola crayons? Approach this project with the same sense of play an enthusiasm and you'll be on the right track.  If you don't find a color scheme that you love with your inspiration piece, you might want to go back and choose a different one. This week's task is to get a general idea of what colors you want to work with. Next week we will look at what to look for in coordinates besides color.

To be continued....






Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Mixing Patterns Victorian Style in 5 Easy Steps - Part 1: Introduction

One of the hallmarks of Victorian decor is a mixture of patterns. Most DIY-ers find this the most difficult aspect of Victorian interior design. However, it is really a lot easier than you would think. Just follow these four easy steps and you'll be able to pull off a coordinated designer look for Victorian and any other style of decorating.  So relax and have fun. We're here to help you enjoy the process. PLUS submit your photo (details below) and

You Can Win a FREE professional 
interior designer sample board 
Valued at $500
specifically suited to your needs*


 Step 1
is the most important. Choose a great inspiration piece.
Begin by choosing a fabric, rug or wallcovering in a pattern or color you love. Names to look for include Brunschwig & Fils, Clarence House, Schumacher, Scalamandre, Stroheim & Romann, Lee Jofa or other premier design houses. Try to find a design or pattern in at least three colors, such as one of the fabrics shown on the left. If you are decorating in period Victorian style, aim for an inspiration piece with four or five colors.

Your choice should be a design in colors you like. Coordinating fabrics and even ready-made items and wallpapers that go with them are available, but the result can be boring or too "matchy" to look right. You will get better results if you customize the mix so it is uniquely suited to you and your home. This also means you can use that one-of-a-kind vintage remnant or the Persian rug that's been in your family forever as your inspiration.

*So here's your homework assignment: Find your inspiration piece. Send us a photo (jpeg) and we will use two or more of submitted photos over the next few installments to illustrate our steps. That means, at least two of our readers will wind up with custom sample boards they can use to create the coordinated room of their dreams. (See details below.)

IMPORTANT DETAILS: Entry must include your name (we will only use your first name), email address (just for verification - will not be made public or used for any other purposes) how much of the sample product you have (e.g. size of rug, wallpaper for an entire room or one wall only, fabric length and width), your style or period of decor, the size of the room, and any other relevant information and photos (e.g. favorite colors, item you have that you must use without reupholstering, etc.).

The fine type: By submitting your original photo you are granting us permission to use it as we see fit. Please do not submit photos that may be copyrighted by someone else with one exception: You may select a fabric from RestorationFabricsandTrims.com for this contest. Photos must be received by Jan 30th, 2024. SUBMIT photos and information to Info@RestorationFabricsandTrims.com. The subject line should read "Sample Board Contest Entry."

Still having trouble finding an inspiration piece? Send us a photo of your favorite print dress or shirt and we'll take it from there. 

Thank you and Good Luck!

New Rare Interior Decorating Fabrics - Get 1st Dibs and $ave

New Gothic, Victorian, Arts & Crafts, Aesthetic, Eastlake, Art Nouveau Fabrics just arrived at Restoration Fabrics and Trims! A treasure trove including many new vintage OAK fabrics. Some heavy enough for carpeting, others rare old discontinued finds. All offered at less than wholesale.

Monday, October 2, 2023

You know you own an old house when...


There's Humor in Them Thar Bills...

The true life drama, romance, comedy, mystery and tragedy of historic restoration...


Owning and restoring an old house is often a love/hate relationship. Maintaining one's sense of humor is essential -- as is knowing that others have survived similar ordeals and lived to tell their tales. The first 20 items in this list are based on our personal experiences with our 1880 Victorian (aka, affectionately, "The Money Pit"). If you have ever owned (or own) an old house, we think you will relate to our list and hope you'll share your own realizations, frustrations, trials, triumphs, insights, and discoveries.

You know you own an old house when...

1) Every time you get up from your desk the chair rolls across the slanted floor

2) There really are bats in your belfry (and the house's too - not to mention the bat skeletons in the furnace)

"Bats in the Belfry" is
Available at AllPosters.com
3) You can't flush the toilet if someone is taking a shower, doing laundry, or washing dishes.

4) You scan the curbs on garbage day to see if there is something you can scavenge (a rusty hinge? An old screen?) because you might need it some day.
5) Others go to dinner and a movie on the weekends. You hang out at garage and tag sales and antique auctions. Instead of a trip to the mall or home depot, you head to the local salvage yard.

6) When you finally take a night off and rent a movie (see #5), you rate it by how much attention you pay to the woodwork, wallpaper, and furnishings. (You've sat through some of the worst movies because you didn't want to miss any of the details of the room settings.)

7) A vacation means you have a chance to a) paint the side of the house that needs it most b) strip the carved black walnut window frames that someone actually painted BROWN! c) pull up that peel-and- stick tile/Astroturf/or commercial carpeting and install an encaustic tile floor in your foyer.

8) There is no such thing as a "weekend" project (or a week-long one for that matter). Projects have no ends as they always lead to another.

Photo of stripping and painting an old house is available at AllPosters.com
9) You can't find a plumber or electrician willing to work on your house.

10) Contractors offer you a refund to NOT have to finish a job despite a signed detailed contract and payment by the hour.

11) When you finally take a night off and rent a movie (see #5), you rate it by how much attention you pay to the woodwork, wallpaper, and furnishings. (You've sat through some of the worst movies because you didn't want to miss any of the details of the room settings.)

12) You are so used to your homes' idiosyncratic creaks and squeaks (not to mention the sounds of the heating system and ticking of the clocks) you can't sleep anywhere else because it is too quiet.

13) You choose wallpaper by how it will look on walls that are only plum(b) because a previous owner painted them that color.

14) You rip up the bathroom floor and discover a previous owner cut the floor joists to run the pipes across. You are actually very happy about this because you discovered the damage before the water-filled tub crashed through the floor when you stepped in for a soak. 


Do you approach old houses with fear
tempered by wit?

...Then you should see The Old Dark House
The 1932 classic and cult favorite starring a creepy old house and the likes of Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Raymond Massey, Gloria Stuart, and Lillian Bond. With a dark, finely honed sense of humor, an outrageous cast of characters, and wonderfully entertaining and informative extras, this is the one to see. (Avoid the remake from the 1960s.)

So get the popcorn ready, pop the disc in the DVD player you've hidden in that old thrift shop armoire and enjoy!


15) A couple who owned the house in the 1970s stop by and brag to you about drilling holes in the 3 Eastlake mantles and inserting a door knob and mechanism to operate the flues so they did not have to bend down, reach under the chimney, and pull the chain originally installed for that purpose. They expect gratitude but all you can manage is a frozen smile while all you can think about is how much you'd like to drill a hole in the center of their foreheads.

16) Someone introduces you to a stripper at a party and you ask how they'd recommend stripping your fancy woodwork. When she answers you realize she isn't that kind of stripper -- and you're actually disappointed!

17) You use and insist that contractors use common/slotted screws because crosspoint/phillips screws were not used when your house was built.



 Some of our favorite resources for Old House Nuts...





From left to right: Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes, The Old House Journal Compendium, Caring for Your Old House: A Guide for Owners and Residents, Working Windows: A Guide to the Repair and Restoration of Wood Windows, and Old Electrical Wiring: Evaluating, Repairing, and Upgrading Dated Systems.


18) You freak out when someone suggests replacing your old cast iron radiators with baseboard heating.

19) As soon as you (yes, you - who can find a painter willing to paint your "lady" in 12 different colors, let alone afford it even if you could) finish painting the last side of your house, the side you painted first is ready to be re-done.

20) You consider words like "polyurethane," "plastic," and "vinyl" as expletives.

21) It is difficult to stop your own list at 20, since "old house lovers" also love to share the miseries, joys, and discoveries of the buildings we are enamored of.

PART 2 - From our Readers

21. You own more "work" clothes (for working on your house) than clothes for work (to wear to the office).
         ---Kathy P.

22. When the exterior walls and attic of your house are "insulated" with 3 parts crumpled old newspapers, 4 parts cold air, and 3 parts pigeon droppings.
         ---Phil2

23. You hate the 1970s. And the '80s. And most of the '90s.
         ---SteveNickola

24. You're not sure if putting in a half-bath for the house that previously had one bathroom and ten occupants was worth sacrificing the original butler's pantry on the first floor.
         ---Jenn from Penn

25. You spend more time taking pictures of yourself doing work on your house than you do of you with your family.
         ---Charlie W.

26. When somehow the phrase 'it will be spectacular when it's finished' comes up in every conversation.
         ---Oxfordian

27. When you get your house Efficiency Tested, and they tell you the only room in the house insulated is the dining room.
         ---Anna Rounseville


28. Is waiting for YOU!


Add your own experiences in the comments below...


Share your "old house" story, commiserate, comment, tell us we're crazy (you wouldn't be the first -- or the last) or scroll down to browse some of our favorite old house resources.





     
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Monday, August 21, 2023

The 4 Basic Principles of Victorian Interior Design and Home Decor


Above: Portrait of Queen Victoria in 1843.
This image is in the Public Domain.*


This page provides an introduction to Victorian interior design and home decorating. This easy-to-follow guide is organized into the four essential design basics of Victorian interior decor: Color, Pattern, Opulence and, of course, Romance -- the quintessential hallmark of the Victorian era.

Learn how to incorporate these four principles of Victorian decor with ease and confidence to create the room or entire home of your dreams.

You'll also find some specially selected resources to help you achieve a historically sensitive Victorian interior decorating style that suits your home's architecture as well as your own lifestyle and taste preferences.




A Victorian Interior from 1886.

What is Victorian Style?


Victorian stye is a broad term that generally is used to refer to characteristics of design (architectural, fashion, home decor, etc.) from the latter period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 1837 until her death in 1901.

This style draws inspiration from nature, geometry, theory, and many other resources. It also encompasses a wide range of sub-styles including Eastlake, Aesthetic or Anglo-Japanese, Gothic Revival, Renaissance Revival, Greek Revival (Neo-classical), Egyptian Revival and "exotica" like Turkish and Persian design.


The Four Design Basics of Victorian Home Decor

From Victorian Interior Decoration:
American Interiors, 1830-1900
Available through Amazon.com
                       



The Victorian Home Decorating palette was actually quite sophisticated, with a particular emphasis on tertiary colors. (Tertiary colors are those created by mixing equal amounts of primary and secondary colors.) The dark colors that are usually associated with Victorian decor are more the result of poor lighting than of color choice.


Early Victorian homes featured lighter colored walls with richer colors in the dining room and library. Later Victorians turned to deeper tones, which  were used to emphasize the importance of a room. In more urban areas, colors like gray, darker green, and a grayer blue were often chosen to minimize the effect of grime and soot from coal dust and stains from gas and oil lamps.

The picture above shows a basic Victorian color palette. However, since computer monitors
do not accurately and consistently depict color, the photo should be considered an approximation

Victorian colors are warm and subdued, and included soft colors on gray or cream backgrounds, deep rich walnut and mahogany browns, black, and shades of teal, plum, aubergine, mustardy yellows and golds, burgundy, rust, blue, green (think sage and olive, not mint and kelly) and "dusty" hues like "ashes of roses" and a subdued shade of lavender.

The colors chosen by individual homeowners also reflected the organic pigments that were available and what their local merchant had in stock. The brighter shades of white we have today, for example, were not available as a paint color in the 1800s and were not seen in any home then or prior to that era.

Please note that many paint companies, such as Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore, offer "Victorian" paint colors, but they are not necessarily historically accurate. If that is your goal, it is best to not rely on those products alone for information. Whether you decide to choose historically accurate colors or use a combination of old and new hues, consider the limited technologies and pigments as well as the Victorian lifestyle when selecting your color scheme.


           
Photo shows a corner of an 1880 Victorian
parlor with its plethora of patterns.

Complex patterns covered every surface of the Victorian home. From multiple wallpapers to luxurious fabrics and oriental rugs, Victorians loved pattern and used it lavishly throughout their home.

Although it may look excessive to the modern eye (as it did to some toward the end of the Victorian era), it is nonetheless a very comfortable decorating style, with plush fabrics for layered window treatments and upholstered furniture, elaborately designed rugs, and a warm and welcoming ambience.

Patterns ranged from flora and fauna to geometric patterns, stripes, damasks, and more. Depending on the tastes and talents of the residents, results could range from a mish-mash bordering on horrendous or a skillful, balanced, pleasing environment.



A Typical Victorian Interior
Above is a period photo of a Victorian interior. Note the numerous framed pictures on the wall and the decorative objects on every available surface. (Scroll down to see our gallery of Victorian interiors.) 

 * * * * * * * * * * * 



Add color and pattern with Victorian Style Wallcoverings

 


We love the Victorian Style Designer Wallpapers available from Graham and Brown.
Shown above are just two of the many patterns and colors available. 


 * * * * * * * * * * *
           
The custom of elaborately decorated
Christmas trees was popularized in
the United States by the Victorians
and epitomizes the exhuberant
Victorian love of opulence.


Excessive can often be considered synonymous with Victorian. The upper classes often flaunted their wealth and those who aspired to their status found ways to mimic it.

If one could not afford fine woods to panel walls and marble fireplaces for "public" rooms like the dining room and parlor, less expensive materials would be painted to imitate them. Mass production helped make "the look" available to the middle class via heavy textured wallcoverings like lincrusta and anaglypta and trompe l'oeil ("fool-the-eye") wallpapers.

Furniture and accessories were elaborate and ranged from delicate to massive. Extravagantly ornate decorations, china, lace, stained glass, flowers, knick-knacks, busts, souvenirs, framed paintings or prints, multi-layered window treatments, richly patterned fabrics, and accessories galore were used liberally throughout the house. Restraint was not part of Victorian interior decorating. The results varied, as one can imagine, from a cluttered and stiffling space to, in the hands of the more skillful, a refined, sophisticated, complex, and warmly romantic room.


        
Romanticism is perhaps the strongest reason for the persistant popularity of Victorian decor. Victorian style evokes now, as it did then, the imagery of European fairy tales with its turrets and gargoyles.

Lush layers of luxurious fabrics begging to be touched, sensuously carved furnishings, and exotic trimmings added to the seductive appeal belied by Victorian mores and rules of etiquette. Whatever the style, Victorian decor without the romance is simply fussiness and clutter.


____________________________________________________________


Hints on Household Taste by Charles Eastlake

Originally published in 1868, this is the decorating Bible for the post-civil war Victorian era. Get the same interior decorating advice savvy Victorians relied on.




____________________________________________________________

 
Victorian Interiors

Engraving of a Victorian Parlour, 1854
Victorian tea. Engraving by Cyril Hallward.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti reading proofs of Sonnets and Ballads
to Theodore Watts Dunton in the drawing room at 16 Cheyne Walk, London, 1882.


Follow us and be the first to see our next blog entry with lots more Victorian Room Settings!
     
You can find us Pinterest and  Facebook.

 * * * * * * * * * * * 


Looking for Victorian Home Decorating 

Fabrics to Inspire Your Color Palette? 

 

Choose from a wide variety of period reproduction and vintage fabrics and trims from printed floral chintzes and toiles to silk damasks and velvets. For Historically sensitive home decorating at budget sensitive below-wholesale prices, visit Restoration Fabrics and Trims for Selection, Savings and Service.

Copyright Notice:  All Text and photos not otherwise credited are © 2019-24 Restoration Fabrics & Trims LLC. All rights reserved.  DO NOT COPY. This page is protected by Copyright Law. We will prosecute plagiarists.

 

Monday, February 6, 2023

Choosing the right upholstery fabric for your home: Other considerations 

When selecting Fabric for your home’s upholstered furniture, in addition to durability, you will also want to consider other factors. 

Many styles and types of fabric made out of very different fibers can have the same durability rating. You might want to select the easiest to clean, the most historically appropriate for your home and decor, or limit your choices to natural, eco-friendly choices.

Fabrics suitable for all types of upholstery come in a wide range of prices, so if you have a budget, you will want to consider cost as well. However, with fabrics as with many other things, buying the cheapest is not always the least costly in the long run. Look for quality brand names you know and trust. There really is a difference between designer exclusive fabrics available only to the trade and most fabrics you might find in your local fabric store or upholsterer’s showroom. 

Make sure to purchase enough fabric at the same time so it is from the same dye lot or bolt. Also, patterns and colors are frequently discontinued by manufacturers and you may not be able to purchase more in the future. If you want matching or coordinating upholstery and window treatments, the same advice goes. 



If you are decorating a period home or in a historic decorating style, you will want to consider fabrics suitable to that era. For example, if you are lucky enough to live in an old New England Saltbox, you would want to use fabrics made from the natural materials available then, such as wool, linen, and cotton. 

As long as you preserve the look and feel of natural fabrics, you might also want to consider natural fibers blended with manufactured fibers to add durability. Fabrics should be in colors and simple patterns that were available at the time. 


 After the Revolutionary War, Federal Style was the fashion in the Newly United States (the American version of what is known as Georgian Style across the pond), with fine fabrics in the Neoclassical Style often featuring patriotic motifs and personages.





Victorian lovers can indulge in luxurious fabrics like damasks and velvets, with elaborate trimmings as well as florals, stripes and embroidered fabrics. These would also be in natural fibers but would be more finely woven and include silks. 

Revival styles (Gothic revival, Egyptian revival, Colonial revival, and similar looks) that harken back to patterns reminiscent of the motifs and designs of the original period they strive to emulate are also appropriate. 



For early 20th century Craftsman (Bungalow, Prairie, or Mission) style home, there is a return to simplicity and, in reaction to the industrial revolution, an emphasis on organic patterns from nature and evidence of hand-craftsmanship. Art Nouveau style often overlaps with late Victorian and Craftsman styles and has an organic curvilinear look that was popular from the early 1900s until World War I.


If your style is more mid-century modern, look for retro designs with a futuristic look. These include what are often called "atomic" motifs, as well as shapes like boomerangs and overlapping geometrics. 






And Be Sure to Visit Restoration Fabrics & Trims
For the Finest Selection of Upholstery & Drapery Fabrics

 Specialists in Period Sensitive Decorating at Budget Sensitive Prices


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