Interior design doesn’t always have to be about breaking your walls and breaking the bank. Sometimes, it’s the smallest details that make a difference: a unique lamp, an original coat hanger, or in Karrie Dean’s case: a cotton throw designed with eye-popping shapes and colors. A blanket designer by trade, Dean makes the case for textile art.
“There’s nothing wrong with loving color,” states her website. “Loving cozy. I don’t know about you, but I get the feeling you hate boring and scratchy as much as I do.” Whether thrown across the bed or folded on a shelf, her blankets provide little window panes of color that add up to make a piece of practical art.
According to her website, Dean discovered a passion for textiles, after being fired from her day job in advertising. That was when she decided to put her art degree to good use. “I started sketching,” she recalled, “spent a ridiculous amount of time tracking down some awesome artisans who can do the softest, happiest things with beautiful fibers, and the rest is, well, it’s not history, because it’s still happening.”
Colorful, textured, and comforting, her blankets proved to be the best canvas. “Even though I didn’t have money, I was looking at throws,” she told the Kansas City Star. “I thought of that as an accessory, but something that still, you open it up and it’s big and it’s pretty and you can put something on it, and it can be art kind of.”
Here are some examples of the ways in which a good blanket can make for a fun addition to your home.
