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While natural hides still have a strong presence in modern interior design, identifying appropriate uses for the textile is important in designing a successful interior. To do this, a number of design elements should be considered before choosing a natural hide to use in the home or office. Whenever designing an interior space, it is always wise to first understand what kind of space you would like to create. Much of this depends on an individual’s personality. Some people simply have more conservative taste than others. Some people enjoy cozy spaces, while others enjoy cleaner, more minimalist rooms. Some may also be more comfortable showing off the natural elements of a hide, whereas others may only wish to employ their beauty of texture and feel. In the home, interior designs can be highly personal statements that reflect of the socio-economic, geographic, and cultural backgrounds or aspirations of the occupant. Each of these factors may call for a different approach to choosing a hide.
In office buildings, interiors are typically not designed to be a personal expression as they are a reflection of the values and business personalities of the executives. Executives have traditionally designed their interiors as a symbol of their power or importance in the hierarchy of the firm. But since the 1970s, this design theory has become somewhat outdated. Executives and designers alike have come to recognize that interiors should be designed to remove such symbols of power because they restrain communication and collaboration. This evolution has brought more natural materials back into the executive suite. Individual tastes will still differ depending on a company’s culture, which is a collective result of the varying personalities of its employees. Nonetheless, all companies wish to foster collaboration and success, and different hides
connote these goals in different ways.
Once an individual has decided what kind of space they would like to create based on their personal goals, they must then consider more practical matters of design. First, one should consider space. It is the single most important element of interior design, and space is often a costly commodity. But a space need not be large and monumental to be aesthetically successful. Space can be molded through the tools of color, texture, light and scale. One of the first mistakes people make when choosing interior furnishings is to ignore their dwelling’s limitations of space. While people may be drawn to individual pieces of furniture or accents, they may not necessarily be appropriate for the size of space they need to fill. The furnishings designed for spacious country homes would obviously be out of place in a small urban apartment or suburban home.
To overcome these limitations, purchasers of natural hides should consider the cut, color, and size of natural hides before buying them. Hides typically come in the following patterns and colors:
Monotone: Monotone hides come in all black, all brown, or all off-white, however, hides can also be dyed in almost any color without compromising touch and feel.
Salt and Pepper: Salt and Pepper, or speckled hides have a predominantly white base, with small flecks of another color throughout them. These hides typically come in white with black speckles, or white with brown speckles, although some hides have both black and brown speckles.
Holstein: Holsteins, while not necessarily from this particular breed, have a large percentage of their surface covered by two competing colors. Holsteins usually come in white and brown, or white and black, but these hides can also have gradations from brown to black in their markings. White and brown Holsteins can come in a variety of shades of brown.
Mixed: Mixed hides are considered the most unique of natural designs for hides, and are identified as having large Holstein spots that 4 transition into salt and pepper speckles. These hides also naturally mix black, white, and shades of brown throughout them.
Brindle: Brindle hides contain a natural stripe from the middle of the surface to the edges. Brindles can come in a variety of colors, including black and brown, black and gray, and gray and tan.
Exotic: For individuals who enjoy the patterns of exotic hides, such as leopard and zebra, monotone hides can be specially printed with patterns that emulate these looks.
Each type of hide has a place in the office or home, depending on a number of design factors and individual taste. If a person lives in a small space, they may want to consider a natural hide that contains predominantly lighter colors, as lighter colors make surfaces feel more open.
By contrast, if someone is hoping to fill a large empty space, such as a foyer or great room, they may wish to consider darker patterns that absorb more light and create a cozier atmosphere. The same is true for the cut of natural hides, especially when used as floor coverings. When filling smaller spaces, one may wish to use a squared or stitched hide to use as a floor covering, whereas larger spaces are usually better suited to naturally cut hides, as their lines draw the eye outward, giving the feeling of more coverage of the hide.
Texture is also an important element to consider when designing an interior. As Le Corbusier recognized, spaces containing too many cold or smooth elements can feel unfriendly and sterile. Natural hides can create an inviting and visceral contrast to smoother surfaces. If a home already contains a number of “tactile” elements, one may wish to buy a natural hide with a shorter coat to display the beauty of its pattern, more so than its texture.
By contrast, others may wish to purchase longer or winter coat natural hides to make a bolder statement of textural contrast. Pattern can also achieve sharp contrasts to existing elements in a space. Someone who already has a number of unique fabrics or objects in their space may wish to use a more subtle pattern of hide when decorating so as not to overpower the room, whereas people who need a focal point for a space may wish to use a more striking, exotic, or day-glow hide.
While some people are instantly to exotic colors and patterns, these design elements can still be done well. People should also consider the overall balance of elements in a room. Until recently, designers believed that balance was achieved through symmetry. Movements in art and architecture in the 1950s and 1960s influenced interior design in the direction of an emphasis on pure form,the absence of superfluous decoration, and expressiveness of materials. Now, it is recognized that balance can also be based on asymmetry. It is now acceptable for interior elements to purposely challenge the visual clarity of existing architectural design features.
Otherwise plain rooms can be turned into striking displays of contrast by employing hides as wall coverings or incorporating them into large pieces of furniture.
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