Falling for autumn weaves

Add accents of natural materials in fall colors to a few rooms

The big trend continues for fall: Mother Nature’s own materials and colors as room accents for a casual, earth-friendly yet stylish decorative scheme.

Some people will interpret this organic Mother Earth movement as “green,” and go forth to buy naturally cream-colored cotton sheets and towels. Ralph Lauren has applied his sterling designer taste to a premier collection of homegoods in 100 percent organic cotton. This Lauren Home collection was in the works for a year and will include, come mid-October, a line of sheets, towels and bed dressing. But Lauren’s reach is beyond the natural color of cotton to eight earthy shades. Examples are sheets in Tidal Pool or Placid Sky. Well, those are certainly subtle tones in nature.

Other shoppers may simply reach for a rock, say a jewel-like geode to display on a sustainable-wood bamboo table.

The thrifty among us may choose to haunt flea markets and take home vintage linens in subtle colors from years of laundering. A few will find those white marble-topped washstands from the Victorian age. If the marble is uncracked and unstained, these practical pieces of bedroom furniture from the pre-bathroom age can be resurrected for multiple uses. Some stand in for bar/servers in living rooms. Marble veining remains one of Mother Nature’s best patterns, but don’t spill on it. Marble absorbs more than granite.

Others with an endless budget will insist on perfectly polished hardwood floors and granite countertops in the kitchen - or an onyx top for a master-suite vanity. Such one-piece bowls and countertops are easy to keep clean, compared to glass vessel sinks.

It’s hard to improve on handsome natural materials such as polished wood, marble, granite, onyx and fibers from sisal to silk.

Autumn is a particularly appropriate time to admire the natural world as plants are shutting down for the cold season ahead, and squirrels and other animals are busy gathering sustenance.

Autumn colors in a normal year are warm and invigorating. Beige and brown may be this fall’s color scheme, due to the drought, but we can always bring on the warm golds and blazing burgundy reds by layering textiles throughout the house.

Somewhere last week, I came across this clever slogan to boost retail sales:

“Life is tough. You need more pillows.”

And given this day’s plummeting temperatures, we all will need more cozy throws on assorted armchairs, sectionals and sofas.

Textiles, even in pillow-sized yardages, are among the most economical ways to warm up the house for fall. Every single retailer, such as Pottery Barn, West Elm, Williams-Sonoma Home, Target, HomeGoods, Linens ‘n Things, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Pier 1 Imports, are trotting out their autumn colorways in the form of weaves.

Go ahead, shop for a new duvet cover, a throw pillow with silk ribbons woven through the center, a shower curtain or new hand towels for the guest bath. With some restraint, you won’t break the bank, but you’ll enjoy seeing the season change inside your own home.

We like furniture weaves as well. Some of the dark-stained, all-weather wicker pieces fitted with comfy cushions can go indoors to a casual room for fall and winter. Carry them back outdoors next spring. They’re lightweight. No back-breaking work moving “woven” furniture around.

More formal is the sustainably designed Copenhagen Water Hyacinth Lounge Chair and Ottoman by McGuire at www.kohler.com (the furniture line is Kohler-owned and linked by Web site to Baker and Kohler plumbing supplies).

McGuire’s is focused “on marrying environmentally-aware materials and fine design. The Copenhagen lounge chair of woven water hyacinth fibers is a renewable natural resource. The Web site says that water hyacinth self-replenishes every four weeks, and the fiber are “hand-woven by expert craftspeople around a handcrafted frame of sustainably-grown rattan from managed forests in Thailand.” Furthermore, the fibers are coated with a non-toxic, water-based lacquer.

Pier 1 Imports catalog shows many woven-fiber furniture styles. That company’s new Web site announced, as of Sept. 1, there is to be an online store no more. It’s hard to maintain a consistent online inventory, and the words “not available” tend to aggravate customers. You can still browse the catalog online, page by page at www.pier1.com.

Pier 1 goods are to be sold in stores only, and there are 1,000 nationwide. What a concept. Everything old is new again.

But you don’t have to buy woven furniture or sustainable-wood furniture and remake every room this fall. One or two fresh new accents can transform any room. Take the Fall Leaves Pillows in the Pier 1 catalog. Autumn-colored appliqués are stitched onto silky polyester for the softest pile of autumn leaves you could ever sink into - without an allergy attack. The pillow colors are named Mosstone, Carafe Brown, Black and Sand.

Shopping for pillows or other textiles is a good way to turn over a new leaf.

By Joyce Rosencrans

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