FABRICS THAT WILL MAKE YOUR HOME SHOUT 'LOOK AT ME!'.

Byline: SANDRA BARRERA

>LA.COM 

Thumbed through the latest IKEA catalog? Its pages explode with fabrics in bold, vibrant colors and large-scale prints.

These lively textiles pop up everywhere, from accent pillows to seating, bedding to window coverings.

"Fabric is really big within the IKEA world right now," says Yumiko Whitaker, a spokeswoman for the Swedish home furnishings chain that adds its name to the growing number of retailers pushing striking upholstery and drapery fabrics. "It's just big, period."

From discount retailers to chic boutiques, fabric is bringing an exuberance to interior decor as people grow tired of their plain vanilla interiors and start to crave color variations and stronger patterns.

Think wallpaper motifs, geometric designs, dramatic florals and bold stripes.

"You may not want an entire sofa in one of those fabrics, but they make great accent chairs or pillows that can really jazz up a sedate piece of furniture," says Jan Jessup, a spokeswoman for Calico Corners, a national chain of designer fabric stores that specialize in made-to-order decor.

Calico Corners is a fabric resource for many interior designers, but it also works with homeowners who have fear and trepidation about the whole decorating process. Employees lead customers by the hand through design schemes, choosing upholstery and determining a style of window treatment that will work best in their room.

"We try to make it pain-free and give them the confidence that when it's all over, it's going to look beautiful and that they'll be happy living with it," Jessup says.

Custom or not, adding a punch of color or pattern to a room is easy these days with the number of ready-made retailers embracing the trend. IKEA recently introduced its modern Stockholm collection, including an easy chair slipcovered in a leaf print with all summery greens or autumn browns.

The same fabrics come as curtains. And a black-and-white outline version of the leaf print is available by the yard.

"We have this whole focus on going wild with textiles and then incorporating that to change up your look," Whitaker says. "So every season we're going to have a new infusion of fabrics to update the look. This is only the beginning."

Elsewhere, the upscale Brocade Home has opted for a more elegant approach to the trend with its silver-medallion-strewn half-circle chair.

And giant snapdragons and scarlet dahlias aren't the only prints hugging the whimsical curves of Anthropologie's upholstered furniture. Its modern Ditte sofa is wrapped in coiling vines courtesy of the Finnish textile brand Marimekko, which has experienced a resurgence in popularity in recent years.

Even Crate & Barrel has introduced bed linens based on Marimekko designs, including Queen Anne's lace-printed Himmeli sheets, an update of a classic photo negative design by Maija Isola, one of the Finnish firm's original designers.

Marimekko recently unveiled a new line of upholstery fabrics and reintroduced some old favorites, including Isola's hugely popular 1956 Kivet circle print available by the yard at www.FinnStyle.com.

"The brand is modern and genuinely unique," says Amanda Kelly, a marketing specialist at FinnStyle.com. "While sales have been strong in European countries for the last several years, Marimekko has enjoyed recent growth in North America as more consumers are becoming aware of the contemporary patterns and quality products that the brand has to offer."

Sandra Barrera, [phone];

[e-mail]

Many interiors could benefit from some big prints and colorful fabrics. Here are a few ideas on how to make it work:

Many interiors could benefit from some big prints and colorful fabrics. Here are a few ideas on how to make it work:

>ACCENT IT

Try punchy bed sheets, a table skirt, balloon shades, pillows for the sofa, or a cushion for that chair you pull up to the secretary desk. Experts say strong doses of color or design work best as accents.

>SPOTLIGHT IT

A stylish ottoman, chair or couch, such as the IKEA Stockholm leaf-print easy chair or the Anthropologie Bottna-print Ditte sofa can act as a showpiece in a neutral setting. Contemporary fabrics on traditional frames like that curvy French-style chair are also effective in transforming practical furniture into a work of art.

>MIX IT UP

Sometimes people with contemporary tastes shy away from more traditional designs, and vice versa. But disparate styles can complement each other. So says Calico Corners spokeswoman Jan Jessup, who offers up the examples of a bed dressed in a bold floral print duvet and solid coverlet with a garden lattice pattern that complements the upholstered headboard.

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Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) BOLD IS BEAUTIFUL

Go wild with eye-popping home fabrics

(2 -- 9 -- color) Anthropologie's modern sofa, at right, is covered in vines by textile designer Merimekko. Bright, colorful patterns are popping up on upholstery fabrics everywhere, including these selections from top left: blue floral and pear prints by Anthropolgie; large-scale leaves from IKEA; blue and white on a barrel chair from Crate & Barrel; and from Calico Corners, options in florals, stripes and animal prints.

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Many interiors could benefit from some big prints and colorful fabrics. Here are a few ideas on how to make it work: (see text)