Learning to embrace the imperfections.
Choosing the right fabrics can certainly add a sense of comfortable luxury to almost any designed space. Linen and leather are both natural fabrics that sometimes maintain a bad reputation, but these are two of our personal favorites to incorporate into designed spaces because of their facets of uniqueness and durability.
The best fabrics for a room often have the power to elevate an entire space, while adding depth and even another layer to the backdrop of the design itself. With such interesting imperfections, these two materials have the power to elevate a space in a multitude of ways. The element of texture can play this role within the overall design, almost like an art form itself. It adds that je ne sais quois to a room, with more depth and illusion.
Overall, leather and linen are both materials that offer sturdiness and timelessness, while also giving off a sense of organic and natural elegance. In order to live beautifully, it’s important to learn how to embrace and showcase life’s imperfections.
Here’s our guide to washed woven leather and linen, two of our favorite imperfect fabrics that we encourage you to showcase throughout your home’s most beautiful spaces.
washed woven leather:
We love washed woven leather for its ability to give off visual texture and warmth within a space. The organic and tactile qualities that this material possesses can add so much to an interior. Leather is also a durable and beautiful material that continues to develop a lovely patina over time. Although there are so many great qualities, the material carries surface imperfections resulting from the animal’s life (scarring, wrinkles, branding) that some people may not appreciate. It can also become scuffed or develop a patina from use over time that contributes to the leather looking “used,” so people who want to have spaces that are considered “perfect” may sometimes shy away from using this material because of its organic, naturally imperfect nature.
Though true, washed woven leather is one of our favorite materials, and it’s incredibly stylish, modern and quite versatile in regards to how it can be successfully incorporated into a room. It works perfectly to coordinate with other fabrics and textures that are living within a space.
Suitable for any interior, this fabric sometimes takes on a bad reputation for its toughness in texture, but when it’s washed and woven, leather only becomes softer and more supple over time. It’s also durable enough to be lightly vacuumed, damp-wiped down whenever needed, and cleaned with leather conditioner or saddle soap. When washed and woven, the fabric exudes a new dimension of being softened and is even more durable. This new texture that it takes on allows for increased softness as the years go by, which makes this fabric perfect for classic, heritage and keepsake pieces. It’s also easy to work with its finish, as the natural patina of the material is so beautiful. When added to a room, this material helps to provide visual texture and warmth to any space.
linen:
Linen is a gorgeous natural fabric that can add a flair of comfort and elegance to any space. When using it as a key facet of a designed interior, it’s essential to think about how the piece will be used and how it will hold up to wear and tear.
Linen has the ability to resist pilling and fading, which helps to maintain the original look of the fabric. It’s comprised of longer fibers, so it’s incredibly durable and the weave doesn’t allow for fraying. Historically, linen was the fabric of workmen’s clothing. The long flax fibers spun an incredibly durable fabric that still allowed movement.
The soft nature of the fabric lends well to slip-covers, which makes cleaning simple. When linen is soaked in water, the fiber opens up and releases any stains, whether washed at home or dry cleaned.
Some people don’t like that linen can wrinkle easily. Over time though, linen gets extremely soft and loses its wrinkles. This natural fiber is exceptionally beautiful and adds a little bit of downplayed luxury to any space.
As in all of our interiors, we work to thoughtfully curate a selection of brands that pride themselves on conscious, livable luxury. Discover some of our favorite designs that use linen and washed woven leather materials here.