Pattern Play

Taking a room from OK to “WOW!” means integrating different textures, patterns, and colors.  Mixing several different patterns in a room can make a homeowner nervous, I know that it does for me.  My safest inclination is to keep the majority of the room solid and use pattern sparingly perhaps in the pillows. While the room will look okay, it will not have the WOW factor that we are all striving for.

Since I am still tweaking our Master Bedroom, I thought it would be a good idea to see how a pro has worked different patterns and textures in a room successfully.  John and Sherry have great style and always blow me away with their design skills.  Lets take a look at their newly decorated guest room.

 

Isn't it fan-freaking-tastic, I love it.  I wish I could pick the room up and dump it in our house, thats how much I love it.  But since I cant do that I figure I could learn a few things from how the room looks.

Anchor the Color Scheme

Start with one pattern and pull all of room's accent colors from it.  In John and Sherry's guest room the two pillowcases provide the primary palette for the room:  yellow for the rug and pillows on the side chairs, teal for the walls and accented in the drapes, green for the headboard, table lamp and side table.

Pattern Size

A good rule of thumb seems to be to include small, medium and large scale patterns.  John and Sherry's largest pattern, the area rug really anchors the room while the small and bright floral pattern really draws the eye to the bed.  To keep everything coordinated, each fabric has white in the pattern.  And remember, texture can be interpreted as a pattern, just like the pillows on the accent chairs in John and Sherry's guest room.

If I can ever find the my pillow, I will be able to finally finish tweaking this room, I think.

How do you mix patterns and colors?  Any other rooms you think I should look at for inspiration?

Want to see the entire guest makeover reveal, buzz on over to Young House Love, grab a snack because you are bound to stay awhile.