Wondering how to liven up your living space? try kitenge

Have you been thinking about adding some energetic and colourful character to your home but live in a rented house that you cannot repaint?

Or maybe you are financially constrained and cannot afford to buy those expensive pieces that you have been eyeing.

Well, the good news is that you can still achieve this using a thrifty trick - readily available affordable fabric that will instantly infuse much-needed colour and vigour into your space.

“Brightly-coloured walls are the in-thing, you find them in almost any space you walk into, but you don’t have to repaint to brighten up your space,” says Clara Mwanje, who runs Interior Perspective Studio.

VERSATILE FABRIC

She points out that there are lots of options to consider, one of them the use of the kitenge, a very accessible and versatile fabric that is also inexpensive.

“Nothing is more African than the kitenge fabric if you’re keen on an African themed décor,” she says.

Ms Mwanje, who vouches for the fabric for its vibrancy and lightweight, suggests getting smaller statement pieces such as colourful pillow cases for your throw pillows, table mats and table runners for the dining table.

These are a nifty and bold ways of updating your living space or even bedroom on a modest budget. If you can spare a little more money, you could consider going big.

“There are duvets or covers that are made from different quilt blocks of different patches of the kitenge. In this case, the trick is to ensure that of all the patches there’s a dominant colour, for instance, if the centre piece patch is predominantly green, then all the patches must have a complementing shade of green,” says the interior designer, who adds that the only space she is yet to experiment with using the kitenge is wall cladding.

VIBRANCY

Obviously, this strategy to inject some vibrancy into your living space does not end in the living and dining rooms. Using it in your bedroom will not only liven it up, it will also inject personality into this intimate space.

“It so happens that most bedrooms have monochromic walls with neutral shades, in this case, it doesn’t hurt to get a dramatic bed cover.

If you want to go big and bold, you can go for a kitenge duvet cover with a set of matching pillow cases, but if you’re the kind that prefer small doses of colour, a bed runner or throws will do the job just fine,” she advises, “or you could forgo neutrals and go for kitenge curtains.

Ms Mwanje says that she has been to a hotel whose décor art pieces were made out of cutouts of the flowers and motifs of the kitenge and then projected onto a metal frame.

“They looked fantastic. The kitenge fabric, once frowned upon as retrograde, has become very trendy, the kitenge theme is actually very common in high-end hotels and resorts – who says that you cannot introduce the same inspiration into your own home?”

DESIGNER BRANDS

She is right, given that this fabric has since made its way to international luxury designer brands, having already outgrown its customary applications, where it was once strictly used as a wrap or make traditional clothing.

It is now being used as the outer lining for shoes, handbags and trendy hats, as well as jackets and hoodies. Why not furniture?

“The only caveat is that for you to pull this off without making your space visually cluttered and distracting, is to ensure that your walls have block colours and have soft hues,” advises the interior designer.

She adds that if going for this look, it is also advisable to stick to one neutral core colour, the other colours from the fabric will simply play the complementing role to avoid a riot of colours, after all, too much of a good thing is off-putting.

“Trying to strike the right balance is key, too much will make your space feel busy and look messy, therefore don’t be tempted to overdo it.”
If for instance, you choose to go for kitenge curtains, then stick to that because you can’t have it all – imagine curtains, dinning mats, runner and throw pillows made of kitenge, a little here goes a long way.”

GOOD QUALITY
It is also important to pay attention to the quality of the fabric, it should be one that is hardy and whose colours will not run when washed.

Keziah Kiengei, the proprietor of Home Maker, a tailoring shop based in Nairobi that specialises on bedding, blinds and furnishings, has been making kitenge beddings and other home accessories for a while now.

She produces them for local hotels keen to incorporate the African vibe into their décor statement.

“Home owners rarely make such orders, most of my business comes from hotels, camps, Airbnbs and out-of-the-way lodges that cater to international tourists that are likely to be fascinated by this exotic look.”

She has a disclaimer: “If you’re furnishing your home and are not too keen on all the rich colourful kitenge patterns, then you can go for a plain bedsheet, probably white or any other light hue and then have a kitenge cover.”

In addition to beddings, Ms Kiengei, who has all but embraced this as her niche market, makes curtains, dining table accessories and napkins too. But she is not the only one that has specialised in the kitenge.

COLOURFUL ART PIECES

Joseph Onyango, the proprietor of African eye crafts in Umoja Market, has integrated the Kitenge into art pieces and other functional pieces found in homes, such as mirrors, clocks, decorative boxes, flower pots and baskets and tissue boxes.

In his workshop, mirrors in all shapes and sizes are dressed up in the kitenge, so are the frames of clocks, lampshades, flower pots, table trays and flat-out wall hangings.

“You could just have a fabric that is artsy stretched and framed to create an art piece that you could hang on the wall to add some drama to your abode without having to spend so much money,” notes Mr Onyango.

Dress your seats in Kitenge

The African mudcloth, a close relative of the kitenge that, instead of bright colours, has more earthy colours, would be perfect for such art pieces for people with a more demure taste, advises Mr Onyango.

Party Lounges Ltd, located in Jamuhuri Park on Ngong Road, a company that hires out bespoke furniture pieces to event planners, manufactures settees primarily upholstered with the Kitenge and batik fabrics made out of recycled cotton sheets.

The synonymy with African cultural styles illustrates that there is no limit when it comes to the Kitenge. Besides this versatile print, they also use denim reclaimed from recycled trousers, shirts and dresses.

The company’s seats have been to every deluxe event you could think of in this city. So yes, you can upholster an easy chair or couch with this trendy fabric, make a pouffe, garden chairs or just cover the back of a book shelf with kitenge fabric cladding.

That is how versatile this material is. Patricia Mwalimu, co-owner of the company, explains that the style was inspired by the sentimental value and feeling it represents.

“You will notice that most of our seats are made using the batik fabric done using a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth but with patterns. Ours are done in Tanzania by women who have been experts of this technique for decades, a technique that has been passed down generations,” explains Ms Mwalimu.

What are you waiting for? Get out and go shopping.