: Textures can give a room the right feel

One we may forget is texture. My texture alert came in the form of an e-mail I received from Thibaut, a wallpaper company, promoting its new line of (very textural) grasscloth wallpaper (www.thibautdesign.com). All the rooms pictured were lovely, of course, but the style secret was texture.

Ah, yes, texture, I remembered. It matters.

"Texture is everrrreeething," oozed New York based interior designer Eileen Griffin, author of "Design Rules," due next month from Gotham Books. "It's so overlooked, yet so easy to do, and sooooo important."

I'm relieved we're on the phone and she can't see my house. I look around. If I got the textural touches right anywhere, I credit luck, not skill. Well, I do have silk pillows on my damask duvet cover, and a polished ceramic dish on my distressed-wood kitchen table, so that much is right. But I've also put a light green faux suede pillow on my dark green faux suede chair. (Ding!) "Throw pillows should never be the same fabric as what they're thrown on," says Griffin. "Fabric finishes need to contrast!" I knew that.

In case you want to add another chainsaw to your design juggling act, here are some texture tips from Griffin:

Rules to follow:

• Mix it. Rooms need yin and yang. Texture isn't all rough and fuzzy. It's shiny and smooth. Too much rough texture makes a room feel stuffy. Conversely, when everything is smooth and shiny, the place looks like an oil slick.

• Make every surface count. When decorating or updating a room, consider the textures on walls, furniture, floors and accessories. Be particularly aware of what's next to what. For instance if your coffee table is glass, put something dull on it, like woven baskets or leather-bound books.

Ways to toss in texture:

• Add throw pillows that contrast with what they're thrown on.

• Fling a mohair throw over the back of a chair.

• Hang textured wallpaper, such as grasscloth. The look is back with a vengeance and does not look like it looked in the '70s.