"There's more to a calming interior than color" – the textures to buy into for a relaxing home

If you’re only thinking colors when you’re trying to make your interior feel more calming and peaceful, well, my friends, you’re missing a trick. A big one. While colors are a great place to start, they’re just that - a place to start, not stop. ‘I find that colors from nature, yellows, blues, greens, they really give us a sense of calm and relaxation whereas sometimes super bright colors like reds give us a sense of anxiety. So if you’re looking for something that would give you more zen, yellow is brightening so it can help you focus,’ tells me Queer Eye’s interior design extraordinaire, Bobby Berk. 

But continue on your journey towards a peaceful-looking home and dive into tactility. Color trends cover that which you see, but textures cover what you feel when you touch the items in your home. Have you proactively thought about how you feel when your feet touch the floor, or your hand goes over the surface of a throw cushion while you’re sitting on the sofa? You might not have thought about it, but they do have an impact on you. 

Texture is one of those things we might notice when it’s bothering us (something’s too rough, or too cool), but what if we used it mindfully to make us feel better? ‘I like a lot of texture in my fabrics. I find myself sitting and playing with it as I watch TV. Fabrics with textures in them are nice for people who like the space to feel more relaxed and calm,’ tells me Bobby.

Texture design is a great way to engage with your interior too and be more mindful of it as you experience the different fabrics and materials in your home. 

Here are some great textured items to buy for that relaxing sense of tactility at home