Designing with Your Five Senses – Touch

Last week, we talked about how working with your sense of smell can make you happy the moment you walk in the door. This week we’re talking about using your sense of touch.

Confession: I’m a texture junkie. A touch fanatic. You know how a dog immediately goes up to something new and different and starts smelling it? I touch everything. Okay, well, not QUITE everything because even I have my limits. Seriously, though, as a kid, my mom was constantly telling me to look with my eyes and not with my hands. Even now, I don’t just want to look at an artist’s paint strokes on a canvas. I want to FEEL them. The no-touch policies at museums? Sheer agony.

Living in an extremely smooth, sleek environment would drive me bonkers. On the other hand, a very rough and rustic home would send me into tactile overload. What all of this boils down to is I need a VARIETY of textures in my life. Here are my top ten that make ME happy the moment I walk in the door:

1.      Rich, luxurious velvets

2.      Cool, crisp linens

3.      Soft, cushy rugs (with a great rug pad, of course, for extra cush!)

4.      Warm, time-worn wood

5.      Soft, cozy quilts

6.      Leather (think perfectly broken-in bomber jacket, not patent leather shoes)

7.      Somehow simultaneously smooth and rough slate tiles

8.      Faux fur pillows that feel like a puppy’s ear

9.      Slightly nubby sofa fabric (soft enough to be welcoming and not irritating)

10.    Cool, smooth metals

Your list will be different because you are, well, you and not me. Take some time and give it some serious thought. What textures do YOU crave? Which ones would you prefer to live without? Because if you want to feel happy the moment you walk in the door, you’re going to need to add more of the textures you love. And for the love of Pete, skip the ones you hate!