Five Tips: Coordination and Pattern Play

We love to mix it up here at Company C, especially when it comes to patterns! We are often asked for advice on mixing and matching motifs, and it is the easiest way to create a custom and personal look. There are no hard and fast rules, but these five tips should help you embrace pattern and forget about solid neutrals for a while…

1. Select one favorite pattern to be the monarch of the room. Work in two more patterns designed to highlight and accent the dominant motif.
2. Scale your pattern sizes. Select one large, one medium and one small pattern if you are brave, one medium and one small pattern if you are just getting started with pattern…..you can always accent with a larger pattern later!
3. Let color provide the continuity. Choose patterns that share a common color to create unity, or that share a less significant color as an accent.
4. Use a solid element to create harmony. For bed design, a flat sheet or shams in a coordinating solid color can be used to separate and delineate two bold patterns.
5. Add unrelated pieces to bring it all together. Decorative pillows with artisanal accents and design elements differing from everything in the room will add pop, and a throw will bring textural dimension.

And we know some of you will never give up your solid and perfectly matched sheets. You can still add pattern to your bed with a duvet cover and shams, or a quilt and quilted shams. Both add warmth and design dimension, yet each has its special nuances to consider when picking the perfect piece for you.

• A duvet cover is intended to encase a down or poly-filled comforter, and in the true European tradition, serves as the equivalent of a flat sheet as well as the warm bedding layer. While many use a flat sheet in conjunction with a duvet cover, the cover itself is easily removed to be washed with the other sheets. Matching shams are available.

• A quilt is also a warm top layer with insulating batting sewn into place between a front and a reverse layer of cotton. Often detailed with intricate stitches, quilts are an easy way to add warmth and interest to a bed.