BY
Laura Christman
PHOTOGRAPHY
courtesy of KDR Showroom and Stovern Hansen Ltd.

Think you can’t find big-city style in Kansas City? You can. From fantastically fluid sheers previously available only to those willing to travel to the Windy City, to sumptuous silks that evoke old-world sophistication, we’ve got it covered -- right here in KC.

To-the-trade showrooms can unlock a world of decadent drapes and unique upholstery to you: The key is to pair up with an interior designer. These showrooms cater specifically to designers, but clients may accompany them to check out samples and seek inspiration.

Kansas City showrooms have an added benefit: small-town, one-on-one customer service. Employees at these establishments know the ins and outs of the fabric and design worlds, and are knowledgeable about hot trends and timeless looks.

With so many fabric choices, it is crucial to have sources of design expertise that will help you make an educated decision about what to put in your home. 

To-the-trade showrooms play host to a multitude of fabric houses, which, in turn, also support a variety of individual fabric lines. This broad sampling of artistic talent virtually guarantees at least one “ooh” or “ahh” when perusing the fabrics.

Until recently, Clarence House fabrics were available only out of town, with the closest vendor reaching all the way to Chicago. Now, these sought-after fabrics can be found closer to home, exclusively at Designers Only in Prairie Village.

“Clarence House is a high-end line that has not had exposure in the showroom in Kansas City prior to this.

Their designs tend to be a little more transitional to contemporary, while also having a great many traditional fabrics, too,” says Joye Adamson, president of Designers Only.

Kim Caldwell, a representative for KDR Showroom, which has a location in Lenexa, says clean, clear colors are the future of fabrics.

“Gray, muddied colors will still be around, but will not take center stage,” Caldwell predicts.

Specifically, she sees lots of blues and purples making a comeback. And, although it seems brown has become the new black, Caldwell says black will make its way back into the palette again.

Shelly McCart, showroom manager at Stovern Hansen Limited in Mission, says one trendy combination of these colors that she has noticed in her showroom is spa blue and chocolate brown. She also notes that texture will become more important. 

“There are not many prints being used right now. It’s more tone-on-tones or textural, shabby chic-type fabrics with a lot of luscious hand and great drape ability,” McCart says. However, not all prints are disappearing. If you’d like to take a walk on the wild side, an interesting trend in prints is showing up in many incarnations.

Adamson comments, “We’re seeing a resurgence of animal prints and animal skins, which we thought [was a trend that] was going away, but people are still using those in all different forms.”

Clarence House features a fabric with monkeys and other animals actually included in the pattern. Adamson says this is another interpretation of the current animal print trend.

If the blue family of colors leaves you cold, you can still be in vogue with a warmer-toned trend.

 “Orange is big – it combines the energy of red with the happiness of yellow,” Adamson explains.

Caldwell from KDR agrees. She states, “Orange has replaced pink.”

A fabric that capitalizes on the texture trend is crewel. This is a high-end, wool-blend fabric that is typically handmade. This fabric is often coveted because of the slight variations in embroidery from bolt to bolt – you are almost guaranteed a unique fabric for your home.

Crewels can be used in a more traditional setting in upholstery or as an accent, such as a throw pillow.

“This is a higher-end item and the type of fabric a non-designer customer couldn’t really go out and pick up in a fabric store. We’ve seen lots of new colors in the crewels and some interesting patterns,” McCart says.
Patterns in outdoor fabrics have traditionally been bigger with bolder colors than indoor fabrics, but the shift toward textures and solids is prominent in outdoor fabrics as well.

“There were so many patterns, stripes and florals going on,” Caldwell explains. “Now, the requests are for solid colors and textures — like outdoor chenilles.”

`Adamson says that the use of these durable fabrics is not limited to the great outdoors.

“All of the fabric lines are adding indoor/outdoor collections. There are so many fabrics in that category that can be used indoors for children’s rooms or breakfast rooms, for example, because of the nature of their indestructibility.”

Whether you’re looking for outdoor or indoor fabrics, Kansas City’s to-the-trade showrooms have a lot to offer. In addition to Clarence House, Designers Only features Brunschwig-Fils, an anchor line for their showroom, which recently acquired Kirk Brummell – a more contemporary line. Other lines available include Stroheim & Roman, Scalamandré and Arté. Although these lines’ styles vary from traditional to contemporary, Adamson says they are all complementary to one another.

KDR Interior Resource offers over 30 textile, wallpaper and trim lines. Some of its most popular fabric lines include Cowtan & Tout and Colefax & Fowler. Caldwell says the reason for their popularity lies in the high standards for good design that these houses established years ago.

McCart says Stovern Hansen Limited exclusively offers Sterling collection, an antique reproduction line out of California, to the Kansas City area.

Designers and their clients with even the most discriminating tastes will find something unique and luxurious – without leaving town.

To learn more about this topic, Time Warner On Demand customers can watch the accompanying video segment on channel 113. Go to the “community” page, click on the “KCH&G” tab and push play.