Silk has always been the most revered & desired furnishing fabric due to its luxurious feel and look. There are many synthetic fabrics that could replicate the fine lustre of silk, but none of them can come close to its smooth texture. Even with its characteristic shimmer, silk is not a slippery fabric (fibre) and thus is preferred as an upholstery fabric. Rather than going overboard with silk in your living room, try to be selective in its use. Use it on a specific piece such as curtains, sofas, ottomans or chairs. Not only will this help your home décor budget, but will also divert all attention to a particular space.
Silk fabric goes well with almost all colours,be it dark, bright or neutral. Nowadays, silk fabric upholstery in light colours such as beige, olive green, sky blue, etc. is quite popular; especially, in the contemporary home décor styles. Few months ago, I visited two of my old friends and was mesmerised by the pink silk chairs and ottomans in their living room. Those chairs looked riveting against the otherwise violet dominated colour scheme. This is exactly what silk can do to a space when used intelligently as a furnishing fabric. Silk curtains also look fabulous, especially in metallic colours like gold and silver.
When it comes to weaving, there are two popular variants of silk: satin and silk velvet. Satin is a weaving style that produces a kind of silk fabric that has lots of floats on it. These floats provide the fabric a captivating sheen and a plush texture. Quilted satin with intricate embroidery work is often used as a furnishing fabric for chairs and ottomans. Silk velvet is mostly created using silk and rayon yarns through a weaving method that gives the fabric a pile-like texture. Silk velvet is preferred for sofas because of the plush texture provided by the piles. Jacquard silk is another variant of silk which is used as a furnishing fabric. Though its manufacturing is expensive & time-consuming, Jacquard silk produces some of the best embroidered silk draperies that you’ll ever come across.
