Tips for Mixing & Matching Fabric in Your Home

 

If you want to add a bit of colour and charm to your interior design, mixing and matching fabric is the ideal solution. It can help you get rid of the boring, monochromatic rooms and turn your home into a delightful play of colours and shapes. However, in order to achieve the best possible result with the fabric mix and match technique it is important to familiarise yourself with some basic rules.

 

This article will help you learn the basics of mixing and matching fabric in home decor as well as serve as a warning for some common mistakes that might occur.

Color me happy

Start by choosing a color palette for each room. It is important to stick to certain theme that you will use as a thread that combines all the elements. As you already might know, there are warm and cool sides of every color and you need to decide which ones work best for you. In addition to the two main colors of your choice, it is important to incorporate several accent colors that will add character to your room. Another great option when it comes to color pallet is opting for one of the main colors to be white, it will serve as the perfect canvas for different patterns and colors. Finally, keep in mind that it is important to have walls and floors in neutral colors so that your patterns can stand out.

The primary fabric

The second step upon deciding on the color patterns is opting for the ideal primary fabric. It is important to choose a high-quality upholstery fabric since it will be the central element of your home decor. This fabric should be in one of the two dominant colors and it should cover the larger pieces of furniture in a room. It can be complemented with different layers and patterns as a way of brightening up the design and adding additional pops of color. As for the fabric itself it is important to choose the right fabric content, it is important to know which specific fiber threads are woven together to form the fabric. For example, natural materials like cotton or wool are softer to the touch but less durable. So in order to get durability opt for natural fabrics combined with synthetic threads such as acrylic, polyester and viscose, that way the soft properties remain but are also strengthened by the combination of natural and man-made materials.

The art of combining patterns

So, now that you have made up your mind regarding the color scheme and you have chosen the ideal primary fabric, it is time to learn how to combine different patterns. The first thing to remember when choosing patterns is that large-scale patterns can be combined with smaller scale prints as long as you keep the color palette in the same color family.  When using patterns always try to go from larger to smaller areas, this means that you should have your dominant patterns on the drapes and artwork, and use printed pillows as accentuation points. When mixing patterns you can always opt to select more simplified versions of your primary fabric. So if you love geometric patterns, your primary fabric can contain a wide selection of different geometric shapes and it can then be combined with secondary patterns that have just two or three of those shapes. You can also opt for a far bolder combining option, for example, try combining a geometric patterns with stripes or hard angles with a floral or more organic looking option. In a similar way a hand-drawn looking print can be well complemented with something more structured. Just keep in mind not to stray too far away from your chosen color palette, it the main thing that will tie the room together.

 

So, there you are, a few useful tips to mix and match fabrics in order to create the ideal living area. The one thing to keep in mind is that you can always easily tone things down if you feel overwhelmed with colors and prints and in the same way make everything pop when your room starts looking dull. Nothing is set in stone, and you should have fun trying to find the perfect fabric/color/pattern combo for your home.