Volume 1: Thread Counts - Behind the Name

Welcome to Thread Counts, my new blog that is all about fabric, interior design, history and life.  Why the name Thread Counts?  Because to me, every beautifully decorated interior has some sort of amazing fabric in it, and to me those fabrics and the threads that weave them really count for a lot.  I have been in design for over 20 years, and even before that, fabric has been a huge part of my life.

A bedroom we designed in 2010 for a luxury teen room with amazing textiles in it.

I grew up with a mom who had a busy sewing room in our basement and a grandmother who would purchase clothing only to come home and take the garment all apart and re-sew it in a more fashionable design.  I followed along making my homecoming and special event dresses, but also had grand visions for things like beautiful wallpaper, and remodeling as I also had a clever do-it-yourselfer as a Dad who was always fixing up the house.  I spent my childhood around all of these creative people.  

My Dad in the mid 70s renovating our home in Denver, Colorado

Originally thinking that I would go into fashion or textile design, I had my first taste of the interior design world when I was in high school.  Deciding that was the path for me, I selected my University based on their interior design program, and attended Georgia Southern University’s program.  One of the first classes I took was textiles, and I loved it!  We studied all of the different types of fabrics, fibers and learned all about the weaving and dyeing processes involved with their construction.  This class was a great foundation to have as an interior designer as the proper selection of fabric is essential to a functional, practical and long lasting design. Historical Interiors was also one of my favorites, as seeing beautiful textiles throughout history is very inspiring.

The Louis XV Damask room at The Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC

I also had to take a drapery sewing class where we had to learn all about window treatments and draperies. This class was great because it gave me a new perspective as a designer as to what the workrooms do and the information that they need from designers.  This class has been completely eliminated from design programs.

Me sewing in our drapery workroom

In today’s interior design curriculums there is less focus on textiles than ever.  I recently sat for an interior design state licensing exam. This was a 16 hour, 2 day exam with 300 multiple choice questions and an 8 hour hand drafting test. On this entire exam there was one question pertaining to fabric.  I found that so interesting.  Interior designers need to know about fabric, its properties and characteristics to specify appropriate selections for any room they are designing- commercial or residential.

Outdoor dining draperies we designed for a residence in Cabo San Lucas Mexico

A Breast Center that we designed to be functional, safe and beautiful

As less and less people are learning to sew, and less and less students are learning about fabric, where is the future heading for textiles?  There are so many factors at play, including the economy, the effect of the loss of most of our domestic mills, and the impact of the global workforce leaving their generational trades such as sewing for technology jobs.   As an interior designer, and an owner of a retail fabric store and a passionate lover of fabric, I would like to share these passions for fabric, textiles and their impact on interior design with this blog, because to me Threads Count!  

Photos from our interior design and fabric retail store

Thank you for visiting- I would enjoy your comments and hope you will join me as I blog about the threads that make up so many great interiors, history and life!