Trendlet Alert: Feathers, Ruffled Stylishly

By Marni Elyse Katz
October 31, 2011

The look: Loved by stylists, artists and nature lovers alike, feathers plucked right from nature add height and texture to still lives on mantles, nightstands and ledges. Artist/blogger Amy Gross of Amy Looks Closer and bloggers Ez of Creature Comforts, D. Smith Kaich Jones of Emma Tree and Isis Sturtewagen of Paper Flower Girl all used feathers they found to create beautiful displays mixed with pottery, silver, and glass. Dreams Intertwined blogger Heidi Gordon spent a whopping $1 at an estate sale for her stash. She says, “I love the colors, the texture... and they bring that natural element to the vignette.”

Creature Comforts

Creature Comforts blogger Ez found the feathers she added to her milk glass collection on nature walks with her daughter. The large striped ones came from the flock of wild turkeys that live nearby. Ez tells us there isn't special meaning to her set-up; rather, they're "just pretty things to inspire."

Amy Gross, artist and Amy Looks Closer blogger, finds feathers around her Florida home. Stuck haphazardly in a simple glass jar, the presentation is charming. She calls the plumes, which come from sparrow hawks, blue jays, white ibis, and doves, “gifts."

Emma Tree

Emma Tree blogger D. Smith Kaich Jones found her varied collection at a lake and in the woods. She filled a trio of little black vases, which sit atop stacks of tiny dishes, with a variety of finds.

Isis Sturtewagen

Paper Flower Girl blogger Isis Sturtewagen, who is also a jewelry designer says, “The feather belongs to my boyfriend. He found it when he was still a kid, walking in the woods with his late granddad.”

Heidi Gordon

“Dreams Intertwined” blogger Heidi Gordon found her stripey feathers at an estate sale for $1.

Tiquehunter Antiques

Feathers in a pitcher and an old-fashioned oil lamp sit on the mantel of Tiquehunter Antiques owner Bob O'Leary’s home.

Maura McEvoy

Photographer Maura McEvoy placed a mix of natural and colored feathers on a bedside table in her home.

Feathers of the wispier variety are oft-incorporated into dream catchers, which have become popular recently beyond the New Age-y set. Vintage lover and artisan of handmade lovelies Caitlin Holcombe of Nice, hangs dyed feathers from braided threads adorned with silver and pink sequins to create her Crystal Visions Dream Catcher pictured below.

Crystal Visions Dream Catcher

The Crystal Visions Dream Catcher from Nice by Caitlin Holcomb is a dreamy, modern day take on traditional dream catchers, complete with mirror.

Tracy Wilkinson of tw pottery, incorporates feathers in natural hues into her handmade dream catchers, which we spotted at Portland, Oregon boutique Alder & Co.. She says, “They are designed to be irregular and messy and have lots of natural elements.” Inspiration for the abundance of feathers came from Alicia Lawhon, an L.A. designer who often incorporates feathers into her work.” Wilkinson finds some feathers on a trail in the hills above her house, but most she purchases from Mother Plucker in L.A., a favorite shop of costume designers.

Tracy Wilkinson

Tracy Wilkinson of tw pottery hangs feathers from hand-cut leather strips, natural twine, and wood beads. She doesn't use any glue on the dream catchers. Instead, she soaks and bend the twigs into circles herself.

Reproduced by: Images of feathers are showing up on all sorts of home décor accessories, including trays, pillows, decals, wallpaper, and art prints. Everyone’s in on the trend, from tiny textile design studio Coral & Tusk, to wall decal company Blik, to home store mammoth West Elm. Stephanie Housley, Coral and Tusk designer, tells us: "I am personally attracted to the spiritual qualities feathers possess, how they are used ceremonially and their symbolism. And they are just so lovely and beautiful with their vibrant colors. It feels like such a special gift when you come across a specimen a bird has left behind! I think that in general the trend is more psychologically driven. With the uncertainty of things (economy, global unrest, etc), there is a searching towards simplicity and roots, specifically through a return and interest in our own early American West. There seems to be more of a respect and enjoyment of things that are pure uncensored nature. I think feathers are of particular interest because of their representation of flight and elevation."

Stephanie Housley

A pillow by Coral & Tusk embroidered with feather designs. (See our interview with company founder Stephanie Housley here.)

West Elm

As part of an exclusive collaboration with West Elm, artist Scott Lifshutz departed from the pet portraits for which he’s best known to paint a series of delicate watercolor feathers.

Blik Wall Graphics

“Birds of a Feather” decal from Blik Wall Graphics.

Abby Kellett, owner of modern online shop Gretel Home, provides us with some insight on the trend: “The woodland trend was huge (and became incredibly mainstream) several years ago. This stylized trend has now taken a more rustic and craft-oriented route, depicting elements of nature in their original forms.”

Gretel Home

Artist Michael Angove’s feather illustrations are reproduced with computer-assisted painting and then applied to birchwood trays in Sweden. Photo courtesy of Gretel Home.

Lola, co-owner of Fresa Design, a wall decal company based in Buenos Aires, says of the origins of their feather decal, “We wanted to design something visually light and relaxing, especially for a bedroom.”

Fresa Design

Feather wall decals from Fresa Design float along a bedroom wall.

Stephanie Congdon Barnes

Photographer/stylist Stephanie Congdon Barnes made the fabric feather that’s perched on a picture frame in her living room. She used to sell her creations in an Etsy shop.

Matchboxes

Matchboxes at a Boston area boutique.

Holley and Gill

Holley and Gill designer Michelle Carangi designed the feather-laden print that covers this headboard, though the fabric is no longer in production.

Trove's Askella

There are six different colorways of Trove’s Askella wallpaper.

Get the Look:
Interior stylist Kara Butterfield offers a few tips for incorporating natural elements into your own decor:

• Collect from nature throughout the seasons so your display is fluid and evolves over time.
• Glass laboratory vessels draw attention to nature’s details. Petri dishes hold delicate bones under glass, beakers highlight stones, and test tubes are perfect for feathers.
• Feathers and stones look great grouped together and en masse—just as they are found in nature.
• The beauty of a natural display is that it can be placed in areas other than on a table or shelf. Look to screen a fireplace, accent a windowsill, or decorate a wall.

Creature Comforts

Blogger Ez of Creature Comforts created this montage of artwork, which includes feathers mounted on linen that hangs above the couch in her living room. She wrote a post about the creative process last year.

Antler

I tried my hand at creating a still life with feather. Here, Cape Cod beach rocks and a turkey feather found in the front yard sit casually on a dining room sideboard with an antler purchased for $5 at the Brimfield Market.

Turkey feather

A turkey feather found in the yard looks as though it landed naturally on the heap of smooth rocks found on the bay beaches of Cape Cod that line a fireplace made of concrete tinted the same shade of green.