Decorating Tips: How to Combine Pattern

If you saw my DIY glue pillows yesterday, you may have noticed that they were kinda colorful. I know this shocked quite a few of you, as this is a total departure from my usual beige-obsession. I've come to a realization. I need a pop of color or two. I think I've avoided color in our house for so long because I just didn't know how to make it look good. I'm learning as I go, and sometimes I need a minimum of ten decorating failures before I succeed. As time has passed I've slowly learned to incorporate color into my decor. Slowly.

And my fevah for color only grows stronger. 

My prescription for cowbell just isn't helping.

I've been experimenting over the past month with how to make multiple colors/patterns work with our house. I've been playing around with fabrics and I've been doing lots of researching online. I thought I would share my findings with you because I happened across some really helpful nuggets of info along the way and I know you will enjoy them, too. 

Here's the deal.

I went to the nearest fabric store and took pictures of different fabrics so that I would have some examples to show you. I think I took pictures of 50 bolts of fabric. And I think the employees thought I was some sort of crazy fabric paparazzo.

If you are wanting to know the info on any of these fabrics, you can find them at Joann's fabric. 

Here's what I've learned so far about adding pops of color & pattern to your decor. Let's cover the basics first, and then we'll look at pretty fabric.

Pick 3

Three is the magic number. (One is the loneliest.) 

Everything looks better in groups of three, and pattern is no exception. I tested this out myself, and it's so true. 2 patterns look great, but 3 patterns combined successfully will change your life. (If your life revolves around fabric. And whose doesn't?)

Vary the scale

The key to combining patterns is varying the scale. Vary the scale of your patterns from small to large. For example, pick a large scale fabric for pattern 1. For pattern 2, pick a fabric that is half the scale. Then for fabric 3, you can use either scale, but mix the colors.

Vary the colors

Pick 2-3 colors. Try limiting the color on fabric 1 and/or fabric 2 and then combining all the colors on fabric 3. This ties everything together. 

Add solids & texture

Adding a solid or textured fabric into the mix will also help bring everything together. For solids, pick one of the colors in your patterns that you love. You can take it one step further by picking a textured solid fabric. For example, if your patterns have an ivory background, try adding a soft, woven ivory pillow to the mix. 

Use friendly fabrics

This is my favorite tip, and the one I had the most fun playing with and learning about. Apparently there are fabrics that just inherently look great together....they're fabric friends. Who knew?

I tested out this theory at the fabric store, and it's my favorite thing ever.

Here are some examples of fabrics that go well together.

1. Damask, Polka Dots, and Chevron

2. Floral, Ikat, and Plaid

3. Toile, Geometric, and Stripes

4. Geometric, Paisley, and Solid

5. Stripes and 2 Ikats of different scale

6. Geometric, solid texture, and floral

7. Floral, Stripes, and Houndstooth 

8. Geometric, Floral, and Chevron

9. Floral, Stripes, and Damask

Isn't that so cool? I love having a list of things that work together when I go to pick out fabrics. 

So, what's your fave?

Can you guess which one I'm obsessed with?

Don't forget to pin this post so you'll have it on your next run to the fabric store!

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