Fresh Fabrics

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By Elizabeth Ann Wells

It's not just the season. Birds and botanicals are soaring in home interiors via drapery and upholstery fabrics that take your breath away.

These are not the patterns remembered from your parents' or grandparents' homes. While steeped in tradition, today's contemporary interpretations are bolder in color and more dramatic in scale.

"We have multiple designs of some stylized birds," says Jan Jessup, director of communications for The Calico Corners-Calico Home Stores, a national retailer with an online design store. "Some are more natural in their inspiration, and others use cinnabar and teal for an altogether different look."

The fabrics' fresh new appeal also comes from larger-than-life scale, says Mark Knight, director of design at Kasmir Fabrics, a Dallas-based trade wholesaler.

"Everything is over-scaled. Twenty years ago, botanicals were made to fit a 27-inch sofa cushion. Today the designs spill over," he says. "It's like coloring. You don't color inside the lines. You explode outside them. It's trendy to have a section of a larger design on the cushion."

Fabric makers and designers recognize that coloring outside the lines is familiar to younger generations. They also understand younger customers are comfortable in traditional decor having grown up with it, says Knight.

"The trend in the market is for a younger, fresher customer. What is considered traditional has been updated to appeal to a younger taste. The more mature customer is also attracted to these fabrics because they are not so avant-garde that they become uncomfortable," says Knight.

Botanical and bird themes date back several centuries. "Bird shapes are very sculptural from the body to the wings, whether they are soaring or perching," says Jessup. "Botanicals resonate with our love of flowers and plants."

Fabrics with botanicals and birds emerged as 16th century European explorers illustrated their discoveries in exotic new lands, according to Jessup.

Today's designs can work wonders in a home with a neutral palette that looks a little tired.

"Too plain has become boring," says Jessup. A homeowner's personality or style can really shine in furniture or drapery depicting an exotic bird or magnificent flower. "These kinds of designs really complement an off-white sofa."

The fastest way to change up a room, Knight says, is through paint and upholstery fabric. Accent pillows for sofas and chairs, and simple, tailored window treatments with opulent yardage are easy updates.

"A pillow can take less than a yard of fabric," says Jessup. The result of a well-chosen pattern: Room-changing. If a fabric inspires a total redo, keep this in mind from Jessup: "A person's choice of artwork and colors -- even what they don't choose --tells me something very distinctive about the person who lives in that space."