Written by Julia Kiryanova, Artist
Julia Kiryanova is an artist working in tapestry, painting, and works on paper from her atelier in the centre of Amsterdam. A two-time Royal Award nominee.
Every October my studio changes temperature. The canal light drops lower, the radiators tick back on, and suddenly every visitor wants to touch the walls.
That instinct is worth listening to. Here is how textured art can make your home feel warmer through the darker months, with a few works from the atelier that do it especially well.
Why texture feels warm
Your eyes read a surface before your mind does. A smooth wall or a glossy frame bounces light straight back at you, and the effect is cool and a little hard.
A tufted surface does the opposite. Thousands of yarn loops catch the light and throw tiny shadows between them. Your brain reads that depth as softness, the same way it reads a knitted jumper or a sheepskin on a chair.
In summer, a flat and airy room works beautifully. In November, a room needs something to hold on to.
The Dutch have a word for the feeling we are chasing: gezellig. It has no clean English translation. It is the quality of a room where you want to stay a little longer, and texture is one of its quietest ingredients.
Start with one textile piece
You do not need to redo a room. One substantial textile work on the wall you look at most will change the mood more than a dozen cushions.
Think of the wall opposite the sofa, or the one above the bed. If you are unsure about scale, my guide on what size art suits your wall has a simple test you can do with painter's tape.
Tapestry · Tufted yarn on cloth · 60 x 54 cm
Cornelia
The largest piece in this selection, and the one I would hang first. At 60 by 54 centimetres, Cornelia has the presence to hold a sofa wall on her own. The pile is dense enough that you notice it from across the room, then again when you walk past in lamplight.
View Cornelia · €850
Let warm colours do some of the work
Autumn has its own palette for a reason. Rust, ochre, deep red and burnt orange sit closer to firelight than any cool tone can.
A trick from colour theory: warm colours glow brighter when they sit next to their opposite. A red beside green does not cancel out. It intensifies. If your walls are neutral, a piece built on that contrast will carry a surprising amount of warmth. I go deeper into this in Art and Interior Colour: A Practical Guide.
Tapestry · Tufted yarn on cloth · 51 x 46 cm
Couple
Two warm figures in orange and red, held inside a green oval and traced with fine black lines. Up close you see how the colours meet yarn by yarn. It suits a bedroom or a reading corner, anywhere you want closeness without clutter.
View Couple · €750
Texture works in black and white too
Warmth is not only a matter of colour. In a calm, pared-back room, a monochrome textile brings the softness without breaking the palette.
Tapestry · Tufted yarn on cloth · 47 x 32 cm
Figure 13
A single nude figure in black and white yarn. Without colour to distract you, the surface becomes the whole story: raised lines, soft fields, a body drawn in wool. Beautiful in a hallway or beside a window with winter light.
View Figure 13 · €650
Soften the sound of the room
Here is the part people rarely think about. In winter the windows stay shut and we spend more evenings indoors. Wooden floors, bare walls and high ceilings, the classic Amsterdam apartment, make every conversation bounce.
Wool is a natural sound absorber. Its fibres trap sound energy instead of reflecting it, and acoustic research on sheep's wool has found wool tapestries can perform comparably to synthetic acoustic materials. One tapestry will not soundproof a room. It does take the hard edge off an echo, which is exactly what a long dinner needs.
Tapestry · Tufted yarn on cloth · 53 x 52 cm
The Dinner
A stylised face, almost square, with a title that tells you where it wants to live. Hang it by the dining table and it does two jobs at once. It gives the room a character to talk about, and it quietly softens the sound of the people talking.
View The Dinner · €850
Mix your textures, not just your colours
The cosiest rooms rarely rely on one material. Dense yarn next to the thin wash of a watercolour makes both look richer. The contrast is what your eye enjoys.
This idea has serious roots. Anni Albers, who led weaving at the Bauhaus, argued that textiles belong to architecture itself rather than being added at the end. The Tate's guide to her work is a lovely read on a cold evening.
In practice: pair one tapestry with a painting or a work on paper in the same room. Let them talk across the space instead of hanging side by side.
Watercolour on paper · 30 x 40 cm · 300 g/m²
Figure #6
Two pink figures, painted in watercolour on heavy 300 g/m² paper and signed by hand. Light and translucent, it is the natural counterpoint to a dense tapestry across the room. Also the most accessible way to begin living with original work.
View Figure #6 · €150
Keep it personal, and a little playful
Winter interiors can drift towards the very serious. All beige, all candles, all good taste. A room feels far more welcoming when something on the wall makes you smile.
That is why I made the Dutch Snacks collection. Food is comfort, and few things say Dutch comfort like breakfast.
Tapestry · Acrylic and wool yarns on cloth · 39 x 35 cm
Boterham Hagelslag
The national breakfast of buttered bread and chocolate sprinkles, rendered in acrylic and wool yarn. It is small enough for a kitchen wall or an open shelf. Every grey morning, it reminds you that some pleasures are simple.
View Boterham Hagelslag · €700
Light it low, from the side
Texture lives or dies by its lighting. A ceiling spotlight flattens a tapestry. A lamp placed to one side brings every ridge and loop back to life.
Try a floor lamp or a small table lamp angled across the surface. Keep wool out of direct sunlight to protect the colour. My tapestry care guide covers the rest, and if you are still deciding on a fixing, here is how to hang a tapestry properly.
Come and touch the walls
Texture is hard to judge on a screen. If you are in Amsterdam, you are welcome to see the works in person at the studio behind the Royal Palace, by appointment and without obligation.
You can book a visit here, or explore the full tapestry collection from your sofa. Every work is one of a kind and comes with a signed Certificate of Authenticity.
