A Guide to Mixing Patterns in Your Home

Mixing patterns in fashion happens all the time (I’m always a fan of stripes and florals), but people seem to shy away from doing it in their homes. I mean, other people tend to shy away — not me. I’m a pattern mixing fool, so today I put together a guide to doing just that. Huzzah!

I think of Photoshop as a decorating tool, just as you would consider a designer’s measuring tape or sketchbook. Seeing how everything comes together digitally has been the best way for me to get a good idea of what will work in a space, and I love putting together layouts for you. Below is the guide I’ve created, with 27 patterns matched to perfection.

• You can find the links to all of the patterned chairs and pillows used in the graphic above on my Pinterest board.

The trick to mixing patterns is to start with a bold scale. I like accent chairs in oversized prints, so I begin there. Pick something like this one in pinstripes, or maybe something a little crazy like this one in raspberry ikat or my floral grandma chair. It will be easier than you think to make it work! For example, my chair may seem limiting at first, but there are so many colors in it that it’s easy to find a match. (In my home, that match is of course pink. And now coral too.) Next you add a contrasting pattern. In my case, the next thing would be my pink zigzag rug.

You can stop at two patterns, but you don’t have to. I certainly don’t! Vary the scales enough (something large, something significantly smaller, and then maybe a teensy ditsy pattern), and everything will look fine. This corner of my living room, below, has a whole lotta pattern going on. Bold floral fabric on the chair, a zigzag rug beneath, wallpaper in the room beyond, a textured (read: patterned) side table, art above, a patterned throw, and a patterned pillow. But it all works.

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