How to mix patterns in interior design? How to choose harmonious colors and fabric patterns in home decor? What are the rules for mixing patterns in decorating? Here are the step-by-step pattern mixing art and pattern combination examples…
It can be difficult to use different colors and patterns together in interior design. One of the most common mistakes when home decorating; it is the selection and purchase of products such as wallpaper, curtains, throw pillows, sofa covers, duvet covers, bedspreads, carpets and rugs separately. This makes it difficult to mix patterns and colors harmoniously. Or it results in a boring and monotonous look. So, in this article, we answered the question of “How to mix patterns in interior design” with all the details through examples.
There are some rules for mixing patterns in decorating like a pro. When decorating your home, you should first start by choosing three different colors, patterns and textures that are compatible with each other. For this, you can get fabric samples that reflect your interior design style and you can try different color and pattern combination.
When choosing a fabric, basically what you need to do is to choose three different patterns. When different patterns are used together, they add movement and style to interior design. While doing this, you should not choose patterns that are overly compatible and will disappear into each other. You should choose pieces that intersect but are opposite to each other. For this, you need to be open to trying new things by breaking out of thought patterns.
The fabrics you will choose should have a common feature, that is, the fabrics intersect with each other in terms of color, style or scale. For example, we can choose three different patterns with the following features to use together:
- A floral or organic pattern
- A geometric pattern
- A pattern on a much smaller or larger scale than these
How to Mix Patterns in Interior Design?
1. Choose a Pattern You Love
Start by choosing the fabric you like best. The fabric you choose first will be a reference for the other fabric patterns you will choose. The color and model you choose should reflect your personality and make you feel good.
2. Is the Pattern You Choose Organic or Geometric?
First of all, let’s explain what organic pattern and geometric pattern mean. We can classify almost all fabric models as organic or geometric.
- Organic Patterns: It can be floral motifs or any nature inspired pattern. They can be real or abstract. It is difficult to see where the pattern repeats itself in organic patterns, which usually have curvilinear and moving lines.
- Geometric Patterns: Contrast patterns with clear and repeating lines. The most known geometric patterns; striped, polka dots, plaid and lozenge sliced ones. However, it is also possible to find much more interesting and complex geometric patterns.
If your first choice of fabric pattern is organic, the second fabric you choose should be a geometric patterned fabric that will balance it. Or vice versa; If your first choice is a geometric patterned fabric, you should choose an organic pattern inspired by nature in your second choice.
Let’s do an example with this method:
First, let’s choose this fun fabric motif to use in our living room. Since this is a colorful and organic patterned fabric with flower and animal figures, we will choose a geometric patterned fabric in the latter.
3. Decide on the Dominant Color in the Decoration
Which color do you want to emphasize in your first preferred fabric pattern? You should also use this color on the second fabric you choose. This can be a solid color or a geometric patterned fabric like the one below.
Returning to our example:
Let’s use dark green as the dominant color. And let’s choose a geometric pattern that is in harmony with the far eastern inspired motif above.
4. Do a Scale Study
Large-patterned fabrics work best for oversized items such as curtains and bedding. Small motif fabrics, on the other hand, look better on small-sized objects such as pillows and lampshades. In other words, you should choose small patterned fabrics to cover small pieces and large patterned fabrics to cover large pieces.
However, of course, this is not an immutable rule. Do not be afraid to break the rules a little while making any design so that you can get your own original design. If you want, you can use a large patterned fabric on your pillows.
The main thing you should pay attention to about the scale is that when choosing the third pattern, you should choose a pattern in the opposite scale of the first two patterns. That is, if your first two patterns are medium or large scale, your third pattern should be small scale. Or if your first two choices are small-patterned, the third should be a large-patterned fabric. Also, you should use a different color for your third pattern.
Let’s try in our example:
Since our first two patterns are large scale, we prefer a small scale pattern for our third fabric. This time, let’s use an example in black and white, which is also included in our first pattern. Thus, we balance other fabrics in dominant patterns and colors by choosing a calmer fabric pattern. What you need to pay attention to here is the harmony of these three patterns with each other in style.
With this method, it is much easier to use fabrics with different patterns together, isn’t it? Now you can create harmonious and creative looks by creating different fabric layers like the examples in decoration magazines!
If you like interior designs in which different patterns and colors are used together, the bohemian decoration style is for you! For information about bohemian style, you can read our article on “Bohemian Interior Design Style“.
Examples of Mixing Patterns and Colors
In our article “How to mix patterns in interior design“, we explained the rules of mixing patterns in decoration. So, which is your favorite pattern combination? If you have pattern and color combinations that you have made using this method, please share them with us in the comments.
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