Why we think KLS is cool AF

For those of you who haven’t yet been acquainted with our friend Kate Loudoun Shand and her wildly good textile line, please allow us to properly introduce you... You’ll soon see why we think she’s so insanely cool and genuinely one of the most talented textile artisans around!

“For me, so much of it is about the sensuality of the space… the smells, the textures around me, the overall feel.” Kate starts her day with a refreshing 45-minute walk along the English countryside, covered in green pastures with sheep and deer. Upon arriving to her office, she lights one of her favorite candles “to get the smell of the space right” and begins the workday—painting, reviewing samples, and corresponding with clients. Her current world in Wiltshire, U.K. is a far cry from her old neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, but this slower pace of life gives Kate and her husband and business partner, Chris, the opportunity to spend more time with their elderly mothers and extended family. Kate and Chris, along with their three children, George (12), Sophie (8), and Burt (6), have been back home in the U.K. for almost two years now, and Kate is enjoying her time as a beautiful blend of textile design and family life.

Introducing the Virtual Showroom

We've got some big news around these parts!!! We’ve just soft-launched our new to-the-trade VIRTUAL SHOWROOM and we couldn't be more pumped about bringing this enhanced functionality to y'all!⁠

Approved trade accounts are now able to log in to shop our textile and wallcovering lines at designer net pricing. So whether you want to access trade pricing in an instant, request free memos, or place orders for yardage, you'll be able to do it all, anytime night or day, in our Virtual Showroom.⁠

We’ve kicked things off with four lines - Brett Design, Ferrick Mason, KLS Textiles and Seema Krish - and ALL of our other lines will be added on the regular until each one of our beloved boutique textile and wallpaper lines are shoppable. Also - spoiler alert! - the entire Visual Comfort lighting line will be coming to our Virtual Showroom super soon too.⁠

Ready to access the Virtual Showroom? Here’s how…

Good Reads: Décors Barbares, The Enchanting Interiors of Nathalie Farman-Farma

Textile designer Nathalie Farman-Farma’s highly anticipated book is finally out and we're giving away 10 signed copies to interior designers who purchase 5+ yards of any Décors Barbares textiles. For 3+ yard orders, you'll get a darling one-of-a-kind handcrafted bookmark made from Nathalie's fabrics. The Enchanting Interiors of Nathalie Farman-Farma takes readers on a beautiful visual journey through Nathalie’s homes in London, Lake Tahoe, and Connecticut, all brimming with folkloric charm and histories from the textile cultures of Persia, Central Asia, and Russia. Follow along below to get a glance at some of these incredibly ornate scenes from Nathalie’s life, and explore her rich textile line right here in our showroom.

Seema Krish's ‘Friday Five’ INTERVIEW with CLOTH & KIND

Last week, we had a wonderful virtual chat with Seema Krish for her “Friday Five” Journal Series. From the origins of our showroom to our favorite of Seema’s textiles and wallpapers, we had a blast talking about all things to-the-trade. Seema actually just released a fabulous new set of designs - we have attached some first-hand images below for a nice glimpse at her freshest patterns & some of our favorite classics. Her beautiful and elaborate designs will leave you in complete awe, guaranteed!

Behind the Scenes: Textile Designer and Actress Clare Louise Frost

Actress, textile designer, world traveler, antique collector, producer—Clare Louise Frost lives a spirited and energetic life. “I feel very lucky that I get to do the work I love,” says Clare, as she chats from TAMAM, the East Village shop that she co-founded with textile designer Elizabeth Hewitt of Tulu Textiles and antiques dealer Huseyin Kaplan of Karavan. As we talk, Clare is surrounded by an arrangement of alluring goods from her travels throughout India, Morocco, Afghanistan, and Turkey. From Vintage Uzbek bowls to Indian Lehenga skirts to an array of hand-embroidered textiles, each shop item in TAMAM tells its own story. Patterns from Clare Louise Frost’s textiles line, one of our to-the-trade showroom lines, can be found throughout her shop, covering pillows, adorning slippers, and printed on highly-coveted silk scarfs and sarongs.

The Magical World of Ottoline de Vries

Welcome to the world of textile and wallpaper designer Ottoline de Vries—a space filled with color, whimsy, and pure creative joy! Ottoline’s patterns are known for their bold color and composition, born out of her immense love of nature, art, and abstract shapes. Ottoline recently chatted with us about her design inspiration, industry expertise, and that super fun gig she had designing fabulous wrappings for a chocolate company in Amsterdam. While each of her patterns have a unique sensibility, all of Ottoline’s patterns radiate an absolutely contagious energy in the rooms that are so fortunate to occupy them. And we couldn’t be more excited to welcome her and her spectacular line here in our to-the-trade showroom.

Laura Zender x JLD Designers' Showhouse

We were absolutely thrilled to see our friend Laura Zender of Laura Zender Design’s spaces in the Junior League of Detroit Designers’ Showhouse, sponsored by Aspire Design and Home magazine. She designed the main bathroom and the adjacent bedroom, both of which turned out SO incredibly beautifully! Here at CLOTH & KIND Showroom, we were happy to play even a small part of her grand vision by supplying her Visual Comfort sconces.

#TextileTuesday: National Coffee Day-Inspired Hues

Today is National Coffee Day - who knew?! As two java loving girls, we think that the second-best pick-me-up on a hectic day is a piping hot cup of joe (trumped only, perhaps, by a long-ass run outside or a 45-minute sweat sesh on the Peloton). Whether your thing is a cappuccino, espresso, or latte, each cup of caffeinated heaven comes in its own delicious hue. So today, we are celebrating National Coffee Day by checking out some of our personal favorite rich mocha-inspired colorways from our beloved textile lines.

Oh, Ottoline!

We are beyond excited to announce our newest boutique showroom line, Ottoline - a London-based Dutch design house founded by the wonderful and brilliant Ottoline de Vries. We will officially be launching the line on our showroom website next week, but we wanted to give y’all a sneak peek of the unique and whimsical designs to come. Explore a selection of Ottoline’s patterns below, and please stay tuned for more updates — we’re chomping at the bit to share the full extent of this creative and super fun line with this design community - yeah, that’s you!

#MemoMonday: Geometrics FOR DAYS

Circles, lines, and triangles—sometimes these simple shapes make the most lovely patterns! This week we’re looking at some standout geometrics and their power to compliment and strengthen any interior. Check out a few of our showroom patterns and the broad range of colorways that make them pop.

A. Lane Architecture x JLD Detroit Showhouse

We’re loving how Angie Lane of A. Lane Architecture is incorporating Ferrick Mason’s Emma in Terracotta and Teal into her space for the 2020 Junior League of Detroit Designers’ Show House, sponsored by our friends at Aspire Design and Home magazine. And aren’t the pom poms are the most darling custom touch ever?!

Cabana Magazine's 'Masters and Muses' with Nathalie Farman-Farma

We were thrilled to see Décors Barbares designer Nathalie Farman-Farma on IGTV with Cabana Magazine’s editor in chief, Martina Mondadori Sartogo this past week. Martina and Nathalie discussed all things inspiration, from elaborately layered caftans to beaded Ukranian jewelry. Nathalie shared her deep admiration for the humanities, specifically her academic past with the study of classical antiquity, her present admiration for Russian culture, and her new interest in Japan and China. She credits the complexity of her multi-cultural designs to the beautiful cross-pollination of different geographic areas as a result of trade advancement. ‘It’s the trade really. These trade objects [costumes, jewelry, books, bits of ribbon and trim] went all over the world…,’ says Nathalie, as she shares her collection of antique textiles from endless different origins.

#MemoMonday: Cooling Florals

Check out some of the wallcoverings that we are feeling this week—florals in soft and cool tones of blues, grays, and greens never ever get old! Don’t hesitate to request memos when you see something you dig or that would be perfect for a project you’re currently working on.

#WallpaperWednesday: Serene Watery Blue Florals

Just a few of the wallpapers we’re playing with today in the showroom. 💙 Woodford in Canton Blue from Ferrick Mason / Tulipa in Indigo Fig from Katie Leede & Co. / Weeping Willow in Mineral from Clay McLaurin Studio / Flowerberry in Blue from Penny Morrison

#TextileTuesday: Fresh Greens & Blues

We’re putting some fresh palettes together on this #textiletuesday and can’t get enough of how this one turned out. Whadda ya think? Window in Original from Clare Louise Frost / Fawn in Leaf from Kettlewell Collection / Rise in Night from Hable Construction / Heavy Weight Linen in Teal from Rose Uniacke / Breach Candy in Mughal Blue from Seema Krish

Annie Liddle Design x Ferrick Mason Espalier

Our Chicago-based client Annie Liddle Design has some sweet little helping hands for pulling together what will most definitely be a killer kitchen! We love seeing Ferrick Mason’s Espalier in Truffle in this mix. Thank you, Annie!

Nathalie Farman-Farma of Décors Barbares

We’re positively thrilled to welcome Nathalie and her charming fabric studio, Décors Barbares, to the showroom. If you’re not yet familiar with the line, you’ll soon come to realize why her fabrics have an elite AD 100 cult following.

Influenced by her Russian nanny, textile designer Nathalie Farman-Farma of Décors Barbares credits the majority of her inspiration to Russian culture—her collection of old Russian textiles, ribbons, art, embroideries, and porcelain regularly contribute to her creative process and design. Nathalie was raised in France with her French father and American mother until the age of 18. Expressing a love for fabrics as an adolescent, Nathalie would explore her French grandmother’s closets for tea dresses and other intriguing design contributions to the fashion world. As a young adult, she studied Classics at Brown and Columbia University before working as associate editor for The New Yorker.

Stock Your Sample Library

There is nothing better than having a full set of memos in your library for the textile and wallcovering lines you love most - are we right, or what?! In our own library, we have dedicated baskets for the lines we use most frequently so we can go back to them over and over again with ease. We’re curious - do you do the same, or is there some other way you prefer to organize your library? Whether it’s loose memos that strike your fancy or a more polished complete set, we’d be happy to let you know what’s available and hook you up with any of our artisanal lines’ memos - just say the word!

Black Interior Designers Network Allyship

This week we’re encouraging y’all to become a Black Interior Designers Network ally.

WHAT IS A BIDN ALLY?

A BIDN ally is a member of the interior design community who is committed to recognizing, uplifting, and celebrating the black talent within the world of design. These individuals and companies are willing to go the extra step to show support by making regular contributions to the Black Interior Designers Network, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Those contributions assist in closing the inequity gap by extending the benefits of your privilege to those who have historically lacked. Ultimately, your commitment will help create true equality in design.

Here at CLOTH & KIND, we've proudly joined and urge you to do the same! If monthly allyship is not an option, please consider a donation to the BIDN in any amount that is possible for you.

The Lovely and Talented Brett Beldock of Brett Design

We’re all doing a major happy dance about the addition of the latest line we’ve hand-selected to join our showroom - Brett Design! If you’re not yet familiar with Brett Beldock and her fabulously creative wallcovering patterns, here’s the scoop.