Rugs, fabrics, handbags and totes, glassware, paper goods, bedding, tiles, carpet tiles — there seems to be no stopping Maine-based designer Angela Adams, who is known for her organic yet-hip-and-cool patterns. We spoke with Adams for some ideas on how to use fabric in creative ways throughout the house. She was in Chicago recently and has been getting a lot of attention for her fabrics for Northbrook-based Architex.
Karen Klages, [email protected]
1. Mixing it up on the sofa. “One interesting thing is mixing fabrics on the same piece of furniture,” Adams says. “I like the idea of a solid piece [of furniture] that becomes a colorful piece with just the flip of a cushion.” Try covering one side of cushions in a quiet fabric, the other side in something more ebullient.
2. Floor show. Have floor cushions made. “It makes for a fun piece of furniture that can slide and store under a coffee table,” Adams says. “I like them kind of big — at least 2 1/2 feet square, something fairly good size so you can get comfortable on them. Or do a circle — a couple feet as a circle is pretty good size. We use them in our house. In one room, we have a shag rug with floor cushions and, actually, we really don’t need any more furniture than that.” That and just a fireplace.
3. Hang it up. “For acoustical reasons, we use fabric in our [design] studio” on the walls. “We put a frame around” 3- or 4-feet-long pieces of fabric and hang them like artwork. They look like big, modern paintings. “You could do a triptych. It would be fun, actually.”
4. Bear it — and grin. “We made teddy bears with our fabric too,” Adams says. “Find a local seamstress” to make one and mix the fabric bear in with your throw pillows on a sofa or bed.
5. Skirting the issue. Instead of buying a fancy bed, fancy one of your own — with the help of a seamstress, perhaps. Have a headboard made with your fabric-of-choice, and then have a matching/complementary bed skirt made for a finishing touch.
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