The Ultimate Summer Guide for Textures: Boucle, Silk, and Stone

Do you feel like something is missing in your home? Then it’s worth considering playing around with texture. Color, shape, and pattern tend to be the elements that dominate our decisions when styling our interiors, so texture often gets forgotten along the way.

📷 Tom Mark Henry, Damian Bennett

However, it is an essential part of adding visual weight and balance to a room, and overlooking it can lead to a space feeling incomplete and flat. At a time where physical touch has been restricted, bringing textures into the home is more important than ever.

Let’s explore how to incorporate this summer’s hottest texture trends into your interior design.

Boucle

Meaning “curled” in French, boucle is a woven looped yarn made from natural fibers. It’s best known as the fabric of choice for the now-famous “Womb Chair,” created by Eero Saarinen in the late 1940s. Texture was crucial for the architect and entrepreneur Florence Knoll, who commissioned the Finnish designer to create a chair that was "like a great big basket of pillows.” And, after Coco Chanel premiered her iconic boucle jacket in 1954, every celebrity adorned themselves (and their homes) with the tightly twisted, curly fabric.

📷 Elsa Hosk

Now, boucle is back, giving our interiors a retro vibe this summer 2021. It appears to have a bumpy texture from afar, but close up, it’s super soft and comforting. It also absorbs light which gives it a matte finish.

This material is made for asymmetrical furniture and sweeping lines – it creates a cocooning and enveloping effect. Jonathon Adler’s off-white boucle settee will make you feel like you’re floating on cloud nine.

📷 Ulla Johnson

If you have been glued to your home office desk, consider investing in a boucle office chair to make working from home as comfy as possible.

However, if adding boucle to your home feels like a big step, start with cushions, ottomans, or poufs. Their rounded, elegant shapes match perfectly with this fuzzy fabric.

Silk

Silk could not be more different to boucle, which is even more reason to place them alongside each other. There is a fine art to layering, but if done right, contrasting textures can majorly elevate your interiors.

Silk is smooth and glossy compared to boucle’s rough, fleecy texture. While boucle is robust, silk is more delicate, prone to light damage, fraying, and wear and tear. Boucle best suits a muted palette, whereas the thin nature of silk absorbs a lot of ink in the printing process, meaning colors can really pop. The one element they do share, however, is that they both scream glamor and luxury.

📷 Lucia LaFerme

To go with your cream boucle sofa, we are in love with these pure silk throw pillows from CB2. Their abstract round shapes give off serious 70’s Italian retro vibes.

Silk wallpaper adds a shimmery appearance and a soothing texture. But, if you don’t like the ultra-smooth look, silk dupion or raw silk are two alternatives that are more textured and matte. Besides, raw and natural materials are all the rage this summer.

Finally, you can add more texture by going for a silk bedspread or wall-hanging. Perhaps those carefully embroidered with little birds, butterflies, or flowers – an ode to oriental design.

Stone

Whether it’s marble, granite, or quartz, it is flooring and countertops that first spring to mind when thinking about these materials. But using stone doesn’t have to require a large-scale project – accessorizing with small items can create the impact you want texture-wise.

📷 Arhaus

A circular stone tea-light holder will take you back to beach days, cupping the smooth pebbles in your hands. Or jagged-edged agate crystal coasters would give roughness to an otherwise sleek side table. What’s more, a sturdy ceramic lamp base contrasts beautifully with a delicate pure silk shade.

📷 CB2

Having said that, stone suits statement pieces such as indoor water features and sculptures. Check out this CB2 dining table which marries three strong textures together: brass, glass, and stone. Its two organically shaped cement bases can easily be paired with rounded boucle furniture.

To further enhance the tactile quality of stone, try to find objects with a ribbed effect or carvings, such as scalloped planters or serving bowls.

Giving texture the attention it deserves can really take your interior styling to the next level. Not only do contrasting surfaces have aesthetic appeal, but they also give a home a sense of depth and intimacy. Boho boucle, ethereal silk, and cold stone – there’s room for them all.

Now, get the app and start layering!