Decorating Guides
Design Details
5 Ways to Push the Envelope With Color and Pattern
An experienced designer tells how to mix color and pattern for a bold yet balanced look in your decor
One of the biggest challenges homeowners face in decorating their homes is knowing how to execute bold choices for furnishings, finishes and decor with confidence. Here are five tips that I follow with my own clients when they want to push the design envelope with color and pattern.
You can also create contrast by selecting a bold textile pattern to be the star among an otherwise neutral scheme. Here, JCR Design Group made the lounge chairs really stand out in the mostly white room. Coral paint in the adjacent room and blue accents throughout pick up the colors of the chinoiserie fabric on the chairs.
Shop for lounge chairs
Shop for lounge chairs
2. Stay on Solid Ground
Noz Design is masterful at maximalism decor. This living room features a wide array of pattern and color, but the overall look stays balanced thanks to the ebony-stained wood floor. A floor with various hues or a highly visible grain would make the space feel too busy and ungrounded.
You’ll note the camouflage-painted walls are a mix of black, white and olive — colors that are picked up through furniture fabrics and accessories. The two accent colors, orange and blue, are found in the drapery, the small settee and the artwork.
Finally, the designer selected furniture with leggy frames that aren’t visually dense, allowing the floor to come through, even with the addition of a bold area rug. All combined, this room packs a punch without overwhelming the senses.
Noz Design is masterful at maximalism decor. This living room features a wide array of pattern and color, but the overall look stays balanced thanks to the ebony-stained wood floor. A floor with various hues or a highly visible grain would make the space feel too busy and ungrounded.
You’ll note the camouflage-painted walls are a mix of black, white and olive — colors that are picked up through furniture fabrics and accessories. The two accent colors, orange and blue, are found in the drapery, the small settee and the artwork.
Finally, the designer selected furniture with leggy frames that aren’t visually dense, allowing the floor to come through, even with the addition of a bold area rug. All combined, this room packs a punch without overwhelming the senses.
3. Dial Up Drama With Dark Walls
Walls and molding painted in the same dark color provide the perfect backdrop for other colors and patterns to stand out. Rock + Poppins painted the walls and molding in this living room a deep marine blue, then introduced a complementary color (the gold sofa) and an analogous color (the green chairs and table) for a bold and moody effect.
The selection of a hexagonal-patterned velvet for the sofa reads as a solid while still providing texture. Which is why the floral drapes don’t feel out of place.
Walls and molding painted in the same dark color provide the perfect backdrop for other colors and patterns to stand out. Rock + Poppins painted the walls and molding in this living room a deep marine blue, then introduced a complementary color (the gold sofa) and an analogous color (the green chairs and table) for a bold and moody effect.
The selection of a hexagonal-patterned velvet for the sofa reads as a solid while still providing texture. Which is why the floral drapes don’t feel out of place.
Here, Meriwether Design Group used dark eggplant walls to set the stage for a bit of dramatic whimsy. A large framed black-and-white painting is the focal point in the room, with a similar graphic pattern echoed in the drapery.
In their supporting roles, the backs of the side chairs are upholstered with a single green stripe. And a large gold Sputnik-style chandelier adds shiny glamour and texture to the otherwise smooth surfaces.
Find a Sputnik-style chandelier
In their supporting roles, the backs of the side chairs are upholstered with a single green stripe. And a large gold Sputnik-style chandelier adds shiny glamour and texture to the otherwise smooth surfaces.
Find a Sputnik-style chandelier
4. Mix Up Small-Scale Prints
Nothing is more charming in an old New England country inn sort of way than layering lots of small-scale prints together in different patterns and colors. Crystal Blackshaw Interiors grounded this bedroom in a green floral wallpaper and used complementary and analogous colors for the other elements.
The yellow striped upholstered bed sports a burnt orange geometric patterned duvet, with a quilt on top that has a similar look to the wallpaper. The framed botanical prints artfully arranged create a visual break in the wallpaper. The room is then anchored with orange nightstands, featuring trays of colorful objects.
This room is a great example of how using multiple patterns in similar repeat sizes adds up to a unified whole.
Nothing is more charming in an old New England country inn sort of way than layering lots of small-scale prints together in different patterns and colors. Crystal Blackshaw Interiors grounded this bedroom in a green floral wallpaper and used complementary and analogous colors for the other elements.
The yellow striped upholstered bed sports a burnt orange geometric patterned duvet, with a quilt on top that has a similar look to the wallpaper. The framed botanical prints artfully arranged create a visual break in the wallpaper. The room is then anchored with orange nightstands, featuring trays of colorful objects.
This room is a great example of how using multiple patterns in similar repeat sizes adds up to a unified whole.
5. Go Monochromatic
The beauty of going in a monochrome or tone-on-tone direction is that any pattern you pick will work well, as long as the colors are in the same tonal range. Here, Bjurfors Göteborg used a Moroccan diamond-patterned rug in white and charcoal and coordinated it with multiple pillow patterns, some with light backgrounds and others with dark ones. The key here is to get lots of patterns going, otherwise the end result will look too drab and one-note.
The beauty of going in a monochrome or tone-on-tone direction is that any pattern you pick will work well, as long as the colors are in the same tonal range. Here, Bjurfors Göteborg used a Moroccan diamond-patterned rug in white and charcoal and coordinated it with multiple pillow patterns, some with light backgrounds and others with dark ones. The key here is to get lots of patterns going, otherwise the end result will look too drab and one-note.
This monochromatic guest bedroom was created by my team. We first had a photo taken of Cupid’s Span, the Claes Oldenburg sculpture on the Embarcadero, with the San Francisco Bay Bridge in the background. We then had the photo made into custom wallpaper scaled to fit the bed wall.
From there we chose black-and-white patterned fabrics for the bedding to create a graphic impact, with just a touch of soft blue for contrast. Clear acrylic Z-tables act as nightstands so the mural isn’t blocked.
More on Houzz
Why Custom Furnishings and Cabinets Are Worth the Cost
A Pro Offers Her Top 5 Function-Packed Home Improvements
Find an interior designer
Shop for a sofa
From there we chose black-and-white patterned fabrics for the bedding to create a graphic impact, with just a touch of soft blue for contrast. Clear acrylic Z-tables act as nightstands so the mural isn’t blocked.
More on Houzz
Why Custom Furnishings and Cabinets Are Worth the Cost
A Pro Offers Her Top 5 Function-Packed Home Improvements
Find an interior designer
Shop for a sofa
One great way to make a bold statement is to do the unexpected. For this eclectic powder room, Design Tuttoilmondo merged three distinct looks: floral wallpaper, hot pink millwork and a graphic black-and-white floor tile.
What makes it work is the scale of the patterns and the intensity of the colors. The large floral wallpaper has multiple colors in a matte finish that helps subdue the overall effect, letting it recede into the background. This allows the small but crisp black-and-white floor tile and the high-gloss hot pink millwork to pop, creating the contrast that makes the whole composition come together.
Find an interior designer on Houzz