Use Fabrics For a Beautiful Home

Fabrics can really make a positive impact on your home. Not only is fabric easy to use, it can be cheap, easily accessible, and most importantly, easy-to-change if you don’t like it any more, or if you change your decor. Beautiful interiors all make full use of fabrics. Whether you shop online or purchase from a fabric shop, it’s the soft home furnishings that make all the difference to your pad. This article will show you exactly how to use fabrics for a beautiful home.

make_wall_curtain

use fabric for beautiful home

Why use fabrics for beautiful interiors

Soft home furnishing (fabrics) is the most versatile, quick and easy way of changing your surroundings. You can also use paint to beautify your home, but fabric is my number one choice. Nowadays, you don’t have to be rich to enjoy a beautiful interior. Fabrics are cheap and ideal for your needs because you can purchase them and design items that suityou and your individual home. It doesn’t take a professional designer to whip up a few soft home furnishings. With a little bit of talent and some extra time, you too can make your home beautiful with fabric.

 

Ways to make your home beautiful using fabric

Wall art that doubles as storage unit
make_wall_storage

use fabric to make wall art or storage unit

Use fabric to make a wall feature

Go to make your own wall storage to see how to design this project. It doesn’t cost anything because you can make it from an old table runner or just fabric you have lying around. This project is simple and will only take a couple of hours. It’s great for any kids bedrooms, as you can choose colours and themes to suit.

 

fabrics make splendid soft-furnishings for living rooms

 

Use fabrics on picture frames and clocks

This wall curtain is extremely easy to make - it’s just one straight stitch all the way around. This simple, but well-chosen and well-placed piece of fabric (behind the fern) adds richness and beauty to the room. Go to how to make a wall curtain to see how to make it yourself.

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use fabrics that match your decor in clocks

 

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use fabric that match your interior in pictures

The above clock and picture are placed in the dining room, where two of the decorative colours are black and red. You can see the full pictures at the dining room makeover. The clock is on the mantle piece and the picture is on the storage unit on the far left of the room. We used a lot of red fabric in this room, so the plaid red and black complements the look and beautifies the room completely.
picture_frames_fabric

use fabrics inside picture frames

I cut the pictures out of the frame and replaced them with fabric. I simply put the frame back together for a beautiful picture with exactly the colours I want.The above pictures have been hung in the hall. The colour there is light green, so the plaid (greens and blues) fabric is perfect for this space. You can see the full effect at how to pimp understairs cupboard. This fabric has also extended use in the living room, which is just off the hall area. It’s the same fabric used to make the wall curtains above. The flow works well for the overall effect.

Make your home beautiful by using fabrics in high-traffic areas

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a hall window and window sill - no use of fabric

 

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same hall and window sill - colour fabric, home-made window seat

I used colours that complemented the ones used in the stairway to make a simple window seat cushion and a throw. A small piece of foam and an old throw is all you need. This throw was bought for 50p (less than £1.00) from Ikea’s discarded baskets. The colours are beautiful and are a perfect match for our landing/stairs. Half an hour later we had a window seat, where the kids sit and listen to music or just chat with each other.

Use fabrics on furniture

You will never get all your furniture to match, no matter how hard you try. If you’ve got a particularly old piece, why not use fabric to cunningly disguise it. You don’t have to sew anything for this project. Simply buy a cheap scarf (the one below is Asian print) and use on any piece of furniture.
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old rocking chair

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same old rocking chair, covered in a scarf

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cover an old headboard with fabric to complement your bedroom

Old, unmatched headboards need not be a problem any more. This project can be done at no cost whatsoever if you already have a headboard and some fabric lying around. See this kids’ bedroom makeover for a tutorial on how we covered this old headboard.
cover_old_chair

cover an old chair with fabric to match your couch

You can go to transform an old chair to see how you too can use fabric to add to your furniture collection. Any old chair can be covered to suit the other chairs/couches you already have in your home. The hardest part is finding fabric to match your existing pieces. Sometimes furniture shops (or even fabric shops) can source this for you if you have a swab of the fabric you need.

Use fabric for a beautiful bedroom

bedroom_makeover_pictures

make your own bedspread

Make a cheap bedspread by buying exactly the fabric you want. Make sure you measure your bed first though. All you need to do is hem the fabric and you’ve got a bespoke bedspread to make your bedroom beautiful. See this bedroom makeover here. And if you’re looking for the perfect bed for your bedroom, you can check out the link.

Use fabrics to hide clutter

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storage space without curtain

This curtain cost me nothing. It was an old throw given to me by my mother-in-law. We don’t use it any more, so it’s been converted into a curtain to hide all the mess and clutter behind it. I did no stitching at all. There are clips attached to the curtain pole. The throw is clipped in and can be removed and replaced by another piece of fabric when I get tired of the look (or change the colour of the room).
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storage space with curtain

This is the beauty of using fabric. It’s so versatile, yet super easy to change. It doesn’t cost much to make your house look as good as the ‘beautiful interiors’ pages of house magazines. See the other entries of our diy projects for more ideas on how to make your home beautiful.

  • How do you use fabric to make your home beautiful?
  • Do you think you’ll try any of the tips above?
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About Anne

Anne Lyken-Garner, the owner of DIY Projects is the published author of the inspirational memoir, Sunday's Child (available on Amazon). She's also a freelance writer, blogger and editor. She writes for, and manages 4 blogs. See how Anne can help you with editing your site at the Hire an Editor page above.
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15 Responses to Use Fabrics For a Beautiful Home

  1. upholstered headboards November 20, 2012 at 4:11 am #

    A headboard is something that you do not realize how much you would enjoy until you own one. Many individuals enjoy sitting in their bed at night to either read a book or watch some TV before go to sleep. If you do not have a headboard, you are forced to lean against the hard wall. I do not know about you, but my back can not handle that for long, I think so. If someone have a headboard attached to your or our bed, if, you can comfortably rest up against it instead. While all headboards are a comfortable alternative to resting up against a wall, upholstered ones or you are by far the softest and most comfortable.

    Reply
  2. Atish October 22, 2011 at 8:37 am #

    Wow great..!! Its beautiful. I m just loving the images here. thanks Anne.

    Reply
  3. Squirrel Queen October 21, 2011 at 1:27 am #

    Love what you did with the rocking chair. I like to take old furniture and give it a new look, I did some chairs last year.

    Because of our high ceilings and large windows I don’t use very much in the way of window treatments but I like to add fabrics in other places. I like that little pocket storage, that would be great for the bedroom.
    Squirrel Queen recommends you read..Up The Down StaircaseMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Harleena Singh from Freelance Writer October 19, 2011 at 2:03 pm #

    Wow Anne!

    I love the interesting things you chalked out here about all that you can do with pure fabric. These are surely creative ways, and something that I need to try out as well. I especially liked the pocket storage one, something so much needed to hide your smaller stuffs.

    Thanks for sharing 🙂
    Harleena Singh recommends you read..Welcome to the New Updated Blog!My Profile

    Reply
    • Anne October 19, 2011 at 2:13 pm #

      Thanks for the comment, Harleena. Also, welcome to my new wordpress blog. There are a few niggling issues, but I’m getting there. Blogger was a lot easier to learn. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Judy
    Twitter:
    October 17, 2011 at 4:10 pm #

    Facebooked, I agree completely. Fabric adds a warmth and softness to your home, gives us versatility, harmony and color and provides for an absorption of sound!

    Glad to see your home is shaping us so nicely. God bless!
    Judy recommends you read..Tips to Avoid Getting Sick this WinterMy Profile

    Reply
    • Anne October 17, 2011 at 4:14 pm #

      Thanks for the share, Judy.

      Reply
  6. Self Sagacity October 16, 2011 at 4:40 pm #

    Great job with the decor. Definitely need to think about fabrics more often, they made such nice changes in your home. They are also fabulous for accents and decor too.
    Self Sagacity recommends you read..Game Tables Are Still BestMy Profile

    Reply
    • Anne October 16, 2011 at 5:20 pm #

      That’s right, Amanda. Welcome to my new place. It’s taking a while but I’m getting there slowly. Still a lot more to accomplish.

      Reply
  7. nike soccer October 15, 2011 at 5:43 am #

    Like your key phrases! Thanks !

    Reply
  8. Wandering Thought October 13, 2011 at 9:39 pm #

    You did a fantastic job using fabric around your home! I like the pocket storage in the room, and it’s a great idea to hide so many little knickknack.

    Reply
    • Anne October 13, 2011 at 10:20 pm #

      It is, Icy. My daughter finds this storage space so useful

      Reply
  9. Cathy Kennedy October 13, 2011 at 2:02 pm #

    What interesting things you can do with material!

    I have some padded folding chairs, which I need to cover with a strong fabric. This is DIY project I’ve put off far too long. Your post reminded me of this, so I guess I need to take it as a sign to get the job done. lol

    Zombies…Alphabe-Thursday & T2Q

    Reply
    • Anne October 13, 2011 at 10:21 pm #

      Starting is the hardest part. I found that once I’ve started, the work seems a lot simpler than I thought it was.

      Reply

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    […] drawers). When this is done, put up your curtain to keep the stuff hidden and dust free. I have a tutorial on how to do this on my diy blog if you want more […]

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