The most overlooked home decor is probably sitting in your kitchen drawer. A patterned tea towel or embroidered napkin is really just an affordable, ready-hemmed length of fabric and there's no rule to say they have to stay in the kitchen. Used imaginatively, they can solve all sorts of decorating problems for next to nothing.
A single tea towel can become wall art, a napkin can dress up plastic plant pots and what you can do with a tablecloth is nothing short of transformative.
Ahead are six creative ways to put your kitchen textiles to work around the rest of the home.
1. Frame them
A good tea towel or embroidered napkin can hold its own in a gallery wall and framing one costs considerably less than buying original art. Look for pieces with a strong central motif, a bit of hand painting to mimic real artwork, or something of sentimental value – Nonna's Napkins hand embroiders bespoke words, doodles and drawings onto vintage napkins.
Press your chosen textile and stick it on a plain backing board in a simple frame – a thin square napkin like this one from Mango would be super easy to handle.
2. Line glass-fronted doors
Glass cabinet doors show everything, which is fine until your loo rolls or tinned tomatoes are on full display. A patterned tablecloth or large tea towel can line the glass from the inside.
Simple curtain rails or dowel rods fixed inside the door frame can be threaded with a gathered panel of fabric trimmed and glued at both ends so it sits flush against the glass. Cotton and linen work best because they gather neatly and let a little light through, and a small repeating print works better than something large-scale.
Designer Valeria Jacobs has a great tutorial on her Instagram account (@rebeccaandgenevieve) below.
3. Hang them
Not every textile needs a frame. Kitchen textiles with a good motif can go straight on the wall, fixed at the top two corners, so it hangs loose and flat. Small brass tacks or upholstery pins work for most fabrics, or use a slim dowel through the top hem if you'd rather not pierce the cloth itself.
Press it first so it hangs cleanly and leave the bottom edge free for a bit of movement.
4. Wrap a plant pot
This is the quickest fix on the list and requires no sewing at all. Wrap a tea towel or napkin around a plain terracotta or plastic pot and tie it in place with garden twine.
Smaller napkins suit herb pots on a windowsill, while a full tea towel covers something the size of a fern or trailing plant. Keep the fabric clear of the soil line and group a few different prints together for a relaxed, collected look.
5. Pin to a noticeboard
A corkboard is a great home for napkins. Pin them up alongside postcards, photos and paint chips, building a layered surface that doubles as decoration and a moodboard full of inspiration.
Overlap edges slightly and let the arrangement spill past the frame for a relaxed feel rather than a neat grid.
6. Use them as curtains
Stylist and author Emily Henson has turned everything from tablecloths to bedsheets into curtains for her creative Margate bungalow.
'It’s simply a matter of adding curtain rings with a clip to the top of your fabric, and if the material is the same on both sides and long enough to allow it, I like to flip over a section at the top creating a pelmet of sorts,' she writes in her recent House Beautiful column, Thrifty home projects for the DIY shy.
'Make sure to coordinate your curtain rod with your rings for a refined finish – search Etsy for lovely vintage brass poles or try matt black for a more contemporary look.'
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Pretty kitchen textiles that make for instant decor
