Home Decorating with Fringe Shawls

Have you ever wrapped yourself in a fringe shawl? Immediately, you feel elegant and beautiful. Well, home decorating with fringe shawls is exactly like that.

When you hang a fringe shawl over a window suddenly the room looks exotic. When you drape a shawl over an armoire, piano, or cadenza suddenly the furniture looks shabby-chic and elegant. Fringe shawls can even decorate your walls, old sofas, and tables.

Here's where I found cheap fringe shawls, and all the ways I used them to add beauty and elegance to my home decorating.

Where to Find Home Decorating Fringe Shawls

Of course, before you can start home decorating with fringe shawls you'll have to find affordable ones. It's not as hard as you think.

1. Online: Look for home decorating fringe shawls online by querying the words: "Fringe Shawl" or "Fringed Shawl".

2. StreetMarkets: In Seattle, close to where I live, we have the famous Pike Place street market, and many cities throughout the US have similar markets where you can find imported clothes from the Far East, as well as affordable home decorating fringe shawls.

3. Exotic Stores: Search online for "Indian Sari" to find exotic stores that will also carry stunning fringe shawls (for example: Exotic India).

4. Flea Markets: Cheaper and often filled with antiques, flea markets offer a great opportunity for finding imported fabrics, dresses and home decorating fringe shawls.

5. Specialty Stores: Grocery stores for imported foods from India, Thailand, Turkey or other exotic locals will often carry unique items of clothing, including fringe shawls that are ideal for home decorating.

6. Odd Places: Sometimes you'll find stunning fringe shawls in the oddest of places. In fact, I found my latest home decorating fringe shawl at my neighborhood pharmacy.

7. Make Your Own: Finally, if you can't find a fringe shawl that suits your budget you can make one yourself. Go to a fabric store and choose the best pattern and color for your shawl, then go to the fridge section and search the many spools. You're sure to find a fringe border that will go well with your fabric. In fact, when you make your own fringe shawl, you can choose its exact size based on your home decorating idea. Just measure the area you wish to cover with the shawl, then cut the fabric to those dimensions.

Ideas for Home Decorating with Fringe Shawls

One of the things I love about home decorating with fringe shawls is how quickly I can do it. Because the fringe shawl itself is so striking, the moment I place it in the room it becomes a focal point. How I position it isn't all that important. So here are different areas of my home that I have decorated using my beautiful fringe shawls.

Windows

Perhaps my most favorite home decorating idea for using fringe shawls is also the easiest to make. All you need is a fringe shawl that's a little wider than your window. If you have blinds, drape the fringe shawl over each corner of the valance, as I did in my picture. Otherwise, use small nails to attach each corner of the shawl of the top corners of the window. And that's it! Your home decorating with fringe shawls is all done.

Furniture

Typically we tend to place large furniture like pianos, armoires or cadenzas against the wall. But sometimes you can separate a room visually by placing these items in the middle. I placed my piano with its back to the open staircase rail. Last year I placed a large armoire between my living room and dining room to visually divide the open space.

Home decorating with fringe shawls is ideal in such a case. Instead of leaving the ugly back of the furniture exposed, I covered it with a fringe shawl. The effect is stunning (see the picture of my fringe shawl cascading down the back of my piano).

Upholstery

My beautiful living room has one problem-my husband's comfy chair looks like something the cat dragged in. But home decorating with fringe shawls offered me a simple solution. Instead of reupholstering the chair, I cover its back and middle with the shawl when we're not using the living room. My husband just pulls it off the chair before he sits, and later I spread it back on when I tidy the room.

Tables

Home decorating with fringe shawls works great in the dining room and living room. Just find a shawl that's long enough to cover the length of your table, with the fringes draping over the sides. You can decorate your dining room table, living room table or side tables. It's even a beautiful way to decorate the nightstands in your bedroom.

Final Note

Though store-bought shawls come in squares, rectangles and triangles, I prefer the elongated (rectangular) ones for home decorating. They seem to fit my projects better. And if you buy a rectangular shawl it will prove more versatile if you decide to use it for future home decorating projects.

For more home decorating inspiration, check out my collection of 63 Home Decorating Ideas and Projects, filled with pictures and easy to follow steps.