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Texture Go to bottom of page
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Example1

Texture: surface attributes


Texture is the definition of surface attributes having either visual or actual variety. Soft velvet, rough stucco walls, coarse sisal fiber flooring, color alternation, smooth glass, and rock jaggedness to name a few examples.

Overview

Find Relief With Texture
Surfaces that have character bring visual interest to the room without sacrificing overall visual harmony. The attention to detail becomes apparent when the occupant gets closer to the texture. This invites feeling the depth or relief of the surface while interacting with the room.

Room Emotion by Texture
Removed: sharp, repeating, radial, concentric
Open: smooth, shiny, reflective, rippled
Enclosed: soft, Rough, fuzzy, jaggy, velvet, fibrous
Formal: grid, straight lines (like brushed stainless steel)
Down to Earth: fibers, weaves, wicker, rough, terra cotta
Functional: smooth surfaces clean easy but reflect noise and light. Rough textures absorb sound and light, but do not clean easily and untreated fiber can stain.

Texture can appear smooth or solid if the scale or appearance of scale is small enough. This is exagerated by foreshortening when the areas of uniqueness or variety in the surface are no longer discernable.

Bring the outdoors inward by providing textural transitions like rock and tile entry ways, hard wood flooring and natural fiber wall coverings. Create visual interest without making the room feel enclosed, ornamental or busy, as large patterns tend to do.

Combining Textures

Cohesive use of texture creates harmony. Mixing textures without context to one another, challenges tradition and creates a mood of avante garde. Consider what an embossed fabric sofa in a room with sculpted carpet might look like. Would the textures compete? What about a courdoroy jacket with a velvet pair of pants or natural fiber shirt. Too much texture or exciting and on-the-edge?

Combining patterns with more contrast of scale helps the eye distinguish areas of interest and will prevent visual confusion. Textures lose their visual variety when the viewer is further away, so small textures capitalize on visual interest without visually cluttering the room.

Lingo (expressions often used with texture)

The following terms may help to communicate the intent of the designer internally or to a client.
Comparative perspective - the ability to discern and compare depth differences via foreshortening.
Foreshortening - patterns, lines and shapes becoming visibly smaller while the furthest edges of an object appear to close together toward a single vanishing point in the distance.
Relief - surfaces having depth, dimension or varying shallow elevation.
Surface attributes - differentiation, depth or variety of the surface

Ideas

Wicker and Sisal Floor BedroomExample1 - invite exploration while providing surface character with texture. Click on the image to the left to see how texture can be used to enhance a nature theme.

 Texture Go to top of page

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