Choosing a fabric pattern is not just about keeping up with trends, it’s also an important part of expressing your personality and style through your home.
And jacquard designs can be a brilliant way to do this.
The term indicates how the pattern is woven, not the specific pattern itself. Named after its French inventor, Joseph Marie Jacquard, the jacquard loom weaves almost any type of fabric, from luxurious silks and to simple cottons.
It creates raised motifs within the material, which makes the patterns an integral part of the fabric itself, not decorative components added later.
Cosy: M&S’s Casablanca jacquard bedding, from £69. Jacquard looms can weave almost any type of fabric, from luxurious silks and to simple cottons
Jacquard fabrics are increasingly making an appearance in collections and come in an array of designs, from dramatic ornamental damasks to florals, stripes, chevrons and geometric patterns.
‘This technique creates uniquely textural surfaces and luxe connotations,’ says Chloe Beharrell, a London-based graphic designer.
‘It can be used in a range of interior styles, from elegant sofas and chairs and upholstered cushions to intricately patterned throws and bedding.
‘You can use jacquard fabrics to blend graphic patterns with textures — or just use texture.’
An important feature for busy households is that woven fabric won’t wrinkle, so it’s ideal for a neat-looking chair or cushions.
Out of Africa
The M&S X Fired Earth collaboration features bedding, cushions, throws and towels, where patterns are brought to life through washed cottons, faded jacquards and hand-worked embroidery.
The Casablanca collection duvet cover and pillowcases (from £69, marksandspencer.com) are crafted from a pure cotton jacquard and inspired by the colours and designs of the Moroccan coastal city.
Karen Thomas, head of home design at M&S, says: ‘Jacquard wovens are a great way of adding texture and can be casual or luxe, to suit every house style.
‘We’ve used a modern, geometric pattern, inspired by archived Fired Earth tile designs, to bring a relaxed contemporary look.
‘We’ve also incorporated a palette of muted, earthy shades on pure cotton for a casual aesthetic, while added detailing such as wooden buttons elevates the design.’
Dunelm has a striking black-and-white zebra jacquard bedding range which will cement your commitment to the wild side (from £40, dunelm.com).
Eye-catching geometric designs will add texture to your living room. The Santa Rosa cushion, also from Dunelm, will do the trick in blue or red (£18, dunelm.com).
Bright and beautiful
Such age-old techniques are worth shouting about, so you might prefer to choose the boldest colours you can find.
Floral: Oliver Bonas throws offer a quick fix for living rooms
Brighten up your dining room with mis-matched colourful chairs in blue, orange, pink or green jacquard-woven upholstery (now £298, anthropologie.com).
If you’re in the market for a quick fix in your living room, try Oliver Bonas’s Cecilia floral red jacquard throw, inset right, which has been reduced from £39.50 to £27.50 (oliverbonas.com).
To cheer up a tired bathroom, head to Dunelm’s collection in collaboration with the Natural History Museum to find towels in peacock colours depicting floating marine corals (from £10, dunelm.com).
Dunelm has a large selection of jacquard cushions — try the Budapest midnight spice print combining rich ochre and terracotta tones with bold navy hues (£20, dunelm).
Scandi look
If you prefer the Scandi white vibe, you can still use jacquard fabrics.
Designs in a new collection for French brand Les Composantes offers a fresh look with plain cushions featuring a subtle raised floral pattern in ecru (from £75, sezane.com).
You can also go for white bedding with a delicate criss-cross pattern at John Lewis (from £12.80, johnlewis.com), or the Matelasse jacquard bed linen with a woven leaf trail (from £70, next.co.uk).
To frame your windows, try the Calantha jacquard curtain in ivory, which has a sleek chevron print and fringed edges (from £98, anthropologie.com).
In the garden
There’s an appetite for outdoor soft furnishings and jacquard fabrics can be used just as successfully in the garden.
The Liberty Garden collection boasts a range of outdoor fabrics for cushions and light upholstery to provide inspiration.
The Chile Palm in pewter, woven in Italy, injects some metallic into your scheme. Its overlapping palm leaves create a lush jungle canopy (£182 per metre, libertylondon.com).
Liberty’s eye-catching Palazzo Westbrook in lacquer or aqua, developed from a silk jacquard in archive, will brighten your outdoor space (£112 per metre).
For ready-made cushions on the High Street, the Streetwize design from Habitat showcases a bold green-and-white print — and you get four for £40 (habitat.co.uk).
Savings of the week: Melamine tableware
Deal: Anthopologie’s Ellen Merchant Small Melamine Platter, has been educed by 60% to £6
Justus von Liebig, a 19th-century German chemist, was responsible for many innovations, including melamine.
But this unbreakable material, made from a plastic resin, was not turned into tableware until the 1930s.
Melamine vanished from fashion in the 1970s, but a new appreciation of its durable qualities means that it is once more in vogue — the essential accessory for alfresco dining or picnics.
There are plenty of bargains in beautiful designs, such as Anthopologie’s Ellen Merchant Small Melamine Platter which features a colourful floral print and has been reduced by 60 per cent to £6 (anthropologie.com).
ProCook’s leaf pattern plates used to cost £36 for a set of four; the price is now £9.99 (procook.co.uk).
Wayfair offers any number of styles, including the Brambly Cottage Surratt set of bowls, plates and side plates (four of each) in a rustic red that mimics the look of handmade pottery. The price is £52.99, down from £67.99 (wayfair.co.uk).
At Joe Browns, you will find a full-on floral pattern set of four plates, reduced by 50 per cent to £17 (joebrowns.co.uk).
Even if you’re only eating a salad in your local park, you could imagine yourself somewhere exotic.
ANNE ASHWORTH
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