Spring 2025
By Lauren Hurwitz
When looking around a room, one of the easiest ways to spruce things up is by adding texture. Jennifer McCabe, Principal Designer at Duck Egg Blue Interior Designs says, “Texture has a way of adding depth and dimension to a space, so much more than paint. It can create warmth and make a room feel more inviting and lived in.” After the pandemic, many people have continued to spend more time at home and got bored of looking at plain walls. “I love wallpaper and color, and there are some great texture in tile. Texture can be in any room…tile in a bathroom like faux wood-effect tile which gives a spa-like feel adding incredible warmth, and an organic vibe to a room that has a lot of cold,” she says.
One of the biggest trends in texture is fluted tile which looks like ribbed surfaces. “It’s also popular for a wall treatment in a living or dining space when you just want to add one feature or accent wall,” the designers says, adding, “Contrary to what many people say, I don’t think accent walls are ever going out of style. When you go into a room, think about where your eye goes,” and that’s where you would start with your special feature wall, “to make some impact,” McCabe conveyed. Ribbed tile can go anywhere from under the kitchen island, used as bathroom tile, and so many other ways with many of her clients choosing a natural and organic vibe. To achieve this look, McCabe says materials like stone, rattan, cane and woven textiles will work best.
One of the most surprising advancements in textures has been with the use of wallpaper. “Some clients hear the word ‘wallpaper’ and they still have a physical reaction thinking it’s their grandmothers’ wallpaper! Ways to texture a wall is through wallpaper – but there are so many styles to choose from. In terms of wallpaper specifically, you don’t have to have a pattern, especially if you are pattern averse or just nervous about wallpaper. In that case, I would probably suggest a textured grass cloth. You can choose a textured vinyl grass cloth over real grass cloth because the latter is very
fragile. Additionally, you can even do vinyl grass cloth in the bathroom because it can withstand moisture,” McCabe shared.
One of her tricks of the trade when it comes to texture is managing what she calls, “the fifth wall,” otherwise known as the ceiling. “I’m very passionate about white ceilings being a last resort,” McCabe says. “Someone needs to get rid of ceiling white,” she proclaims, adding, “you should put wallpaper on the ceiling to add a little bit of surprise. It’s a great trick if you aren’t blessed with fantastic ceiling height”, to make the ceiling appear taller because it makes your eye go up. You can paint a ceiling a dark color to get the same effect but McCabe admits it’s more fun to have something with texture and depth.
The Australian-born designer says people often struggle with how to incorporate texture and decide where to put it in a space. “Do we do one wall? A whole room?” – are questions homeowners often lose sleep over as well as struggling over scale and proportion. “We want to make sure the elements we put in a room complement each other and aren’t competing,” McCabe said.
For example, some of her clients say they like fluted tile but have no idea how to incorporate it. “Before this trend started, people weren’t even including fluted tile – they were only doing subway tile. Today, they need help pulling the whole scheme together because if you’re using texture you have to be careful how you use it. I help clients mix textures into a space because they know they like something but don’t know how to execute it in a space,” McCabe stated. One of the biggest mistakes with texture is forgetting about all of the other elements in the room. “I’ve seen over the top installations because a client loved every one of the elements for the space individually, but then they put the room together and they’re competing like a mad hatter tea party. You need to be selective and sure about where you’re going to use texture,” McCabe concluded.
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