Using Textiles to Brighten Up the Home

Here's a great example of how just some minor changes in textile choices and accessories can brighten up almost any room. Peggy, who works at the IKEA in Burbank sent us her "before & after" that illustrates IKEA's Be brave, not beige! ad campaign philosophy quite nicely.

Think of this as the decor equivalent of those "What's Different?" illustrations at the back of Highlights magazines.

By changing out textiles (which is a quick and pretty inexpensive change) you can make your furniture seem brand new. It is a known fact that colors create energy in people. Being surrounded by color has a positive effect on your everyday life and mood. When working with colors it's good to create a balance with cool and warm colors making a color thread through out the room. Scandinavians tend to be much more open to adding colors to their homes then Americans....it might have something to do with the sun being being absent most of the year and colourful textiles is the only way to add brightness to your life.

Comments (10)

wow. amazing diff.

posted by beachbungalow8 on June 27th 2007 at 12:30pm
view beachbungalow8's profile

the exposure, white balance, and lighting are completely different in those photos.

posted by vinegar on June 27th 2007 at 1:20pm
view vinegar's profile

That's what I was thinking, Vinegar.

posted by Manny on June 27th 2007 at 2:03pm
view Manny's profile

Hey...they cheated. Note the glaring flash on the top and the nice soft lighting on the bottom.

Kind of the same tricks they use when photographic before and after shots of fat people for weight loss claims.

posted by meltendo on June 27th 2007 at 2:04pm
view meltendo's profile

hmm yeh, i have proof-read alot of photography and these def look taken under different light/flash settings. regardless of the differences in textile. sorry peggy! hug :P

posted by unkledunkel on June 27th 2007 at 8:23pm
view unkledunkel's profile

yes! photography is too different. plus the flash makes all the white things (couch, wall, tables) WAY too white, where as they warm up on the 2nd photograph.

posted by olya on June 28th 2007 at 3:10am
view olya's profile

Allowing for the crappy lighting, I like the beige version better, though it needs its own dramatic beige-white-black pillows and throws to pull it together.

So sayeth the Princess of All Things Beige & Square.

posted by wende in the twin cities on June 28th 2007 at 4:54am
view wende in the twin cities's profile

Was it just the lighting they changed? The walls look a bluish-gray in the first photo and definately tan in the second...

posted by oceandreamer56 on June 28th 2007 at 8:13am
view oceandreamer56's profile

too bad you can't really count on these photos. the lighting, like everyone says, is waaay too different.

posted by terka27 on June 28th 2007 at 12:29pm
view terka27's profile

There are white and beige people, and there are color people. I'm in the second camp---and while my home no longer mimics a Crayola box of 128 varied hues, I can't help but feel welcomed by the introduction of textiles to the Ikea set.

posted by krister on June 29th 2007 at 6:05am
view krister's profile