How to Keep Your Home Cool with Coastal Textiles

Vintage tablecloth in Forest

Vintage tablecloth in Forest

This summer we have enjoyed a heatwave along the south coast of England.

The longer days and dry weather are useful for drying fabrics on the line outside.

We wanted to give a soft, cool and welcoming feel to our cottage this season so we have dyed some vintage textiles a luscious green.

Handmade Wall Hanging & Cushions by A Howse

Handmade Wall Hanging & Cushions by A Howse

This tablecloth is special because it has a beautiful lace detail and is excellent quality linen. However it was slightly marked in places as it is at least three generations old and has been stored in the loft for some years. So we gave it a new lease of life using Dylon machine wash dyes.

A rainbow of shades can be purchased for a few pounds from good haberdashery stores like Closs & Hamblin and Hobbycraft. Hardware stores with a big range like Robert Dyas in the UK are also a good place to look for Dylon displays.

Garden wall hanging by A Howse

Garden wall hanging by A Howse

I consider carefully before using machine dyes as the chemicals can be harmful to the environment if used in large quantities. I like to collect several pieces together of clothing and soft furnishings to get the most out of each load I put in my appliance. It is great to refresh and reinvent garments and home textiles and make them useful again.

This time I added to the project basket several cushion covers I made upcycling strips of pre-loved fabrics and sewing them together in stripes. The forest green colour by Dylon blends perfectly with the Van Gogh apples rug that can be seen here: http://www.createdisplay.com/?p=1961

Deer in West Sussex field photo by A Howse

Deer in West Sussex field photo by A Howse

The Osborne Bay wall hanging hanging above the chestnut leather sofas finishes off this cool textiles look.

The countryside view from the windows and the bold plants in this sitting room interior combine to add more soft lime and lush emerald hues. These botanical splashes are a great way to liven up the natural colour scheme of the walls, ceiling and furniture while keeping the overall look chilled and inviting.

   
References:  
https://www.dylon.co.uk/en/home.cky.html Dylon UK