Interior: How to Decorate Your Home Using Patterns

You can set any mood you like in your home by choosing the right patterns, be they bright checks or stripes for a lively up-to-date feel or florals and textured damasks for a traditional town house look.

Most patterns have a clear identity. Not only do their design motifs place them into a specific category either as a floral, check or stripe and so on, but also closely ally them to a particular period or style of decorating. So, while a fine stripe is associated with the graceful elegance of a Regency living room, a jazzy stripe has a more here-and-now feel about it. Some familiar patterns, notably tartans, are seen to have a marked regional bias. You can turn these relationships to your advantage in your decorating by using patterns that reinforce the scene.

TEXTURED

In textured designs, a muted pattern is derived from subtle changes in shade, texture or weave, rather than worked out in a variety of colors. This device is widely used on wallpaper, fabric, tiles and carpets to add interest and detail to the surface. Many fabrics, like damasks for example, have intricate patterns which rely on a reversal of the weave in different areas. The resulting design catches the light in different ways, giving a beautiful subtle effect without strident color contrasts.

Some wallpapers feature a satiny stripe on a matte ground, others, like the old fashioned relief and flock papers, have a raised pattern. All these surfaces offer opportunities to add definition and life to a scheme without adding extra color. Traditionally, the intriguing subtly part in elegant, restrained situations such as a town house living room. Today they are also ideal for creating interest in the latest neutral schemes, where colors are kept to a minimum for a cool, natural look.

ABSTRACT

Abstract patterns tend to be much freer and less rigid that more formal naturalistic designs, giving an irregular, slightly quirky look to textiles and papers. Some are based on geometric shapes dispersed haphazardly across the background. Others feature free brush strokes and random splashes of color as part of the design.

New designs on fabrics, wall coverings and accessories are constantly evolving to reflect contemporary design trends, take advantage of the latest printing techniques or re-interpret traditional motifs in a modern style. Many are executed in vibrant colors which gives them a light-hearted, almost rebellious image. Combined with black and white, or blocks of strong plain colors, and metal furniture they make an up-to-the-minute design statement.

FLORALS

The appeal of flowers is universal. Through the centuries floral motifs have been interpreted and reworked many times in hundreds of different ways. Small floral designs have pretty, delicately colored blooms repeated every few centimeters or so. They are perfect for capturing a cottage look in a kitchen or bringing a fresh innocence to a bedroom layout.

Larger floral patterns can have a glorious, summer garden in full bloom impact on a room. But watch out for really big pattern repeats; it would be a shame to have to chop a full-blown rose in half along the top or bottom of a feature better to choose a smaller pattern.

These designs may be overpowering in large quantities, but smaller amounts can be worked in carefully with other small floral, stripes, checks and plains. This policy is widely adopted in many coordinated ranges. Halls, bedrooms, large sitting rooms and dining rooms are all suitable locations for bold treatments.

In the modern, stylized versions, impressions of flowers rather than realistic representations are drawn into strong patters circular motifs, for example, or continuous, undulating lines. There is a huge variety of interpretations; many of the designs, like lotus flowers and agapanthus used in brocades, date back to Greek and Roman times.

They can be used to add style and dignity to a traditional scheme, or blend in well with a more contemporary look. The popularity of floral motifs is such that they are often found combined with other patterns in a single design stripes interspersed with rows of rosebuds, for instance, or interwoven with swags of twisted ribbon.

STRIPES

With their adjacent bands of different colors or tones, stripes are among the most versatile of patterns. There is a stripe to suit all situations and decorating ambitions and, when used with panache, stripes can play the cleverest of visual tricks, making low ceilings look higher and narrow hall-ways broader.

Discreet self-patterns are the ones to turn to when you want a subtle, textured effect coupled with the orderliness of straight stripes. Perfectly straight stripes, whether self-colored or in sharp contrasts, have a classic, calm feel that brings a sense of formality to a room’s layout. They provide a structured background against which to arrange the rest of your furnishings.

When the need arises, bolder, multicolored stripes make a forceful impression. Used with a confident hand, they form the basis for cheerful and lively schemes which are particularly appropriate for children’s rooms. For a more controlled option, the simplest of stripes, bands of one color on a white or cream background, are perfectly suited to modern apartment style rooms, and make a fresh backdrop for informal furniture styles.

CHECKS

Always fresh and outstanding, woven checked designs are hugely popular, versatile and practical. As natural mixers, they are frequently blended in with other more flamboyant designs in coordinating ranges.

Gingham, Madras, dogtooth and windowpane checks all have a no-nonsense functional feel and disguise dirt and stains well. Such checked cottons have graduated from use as summer slip covers for protecting furniture in eighteenth century houses to play a prominent role in today’s interiors.

Light, Spartan Scandinavian interiors characteristically feature colorful checked cotton on chairs and at windows. On walls, an unobtrusive check can help to unify a motley scheme by fixing individual pieces in a frame.

As with any design, the colors of the checks have a significant bearing on the impression they create. Generally, strong, vivid colors are equated with a bold, jubilant modern approach, while softer, more muted shades translate more satisfactorily into traditional or country schemes.

TARTANS

Originally a woolen clothing textile, these patterns were the uniforms by which different Celtic clans recognized each other. Large blocks of color are broken up by marrow lines of contrasting tones, often in strong combinations like deep greens, red and black. Now produced on cotton, silky taffeta, wallpaper, bedlinen and even cups and saucers, these patterns are very effective in the home, either mixed together or with other designs.

Good for atmosphere in a study or a boy’s bedroom, they can also create a cozy, warm traditional dining room, highlighted with polished wood and pewter.

ETHNIC

The glorious colors and vigorous designs of exotic, faraway places bring an exuberant flavor to an interior. The sources of inspiration are varied and colorful, like their places or origin.

Textile houses draw from tie-dye cottons and vibrant weaves of Africa, batik from Indonesia, ikat weaves from Japan or the kelim rugs of the Middle East, so it is possible to find fabrics by the meter that capture closely the essence of the original cloth.

For an interesting mix, include lengths of authentic fabrics in a scheme. Indian dhurries, batik bedspreads or ikat weaves all blend well with the elements of a traditional or modern scheme and along side other patterns.

PROVENCAL AND PAISLEY

Both Provencal and Paisley patterns have developed over the centuries from patterns on Indian textiles. Their common origin is apparent from the shared teardrop or cone motif.

Provencal colors reflect the brilliant countryside of the South of France, sunshine yellow, rich earthy red and deep blue. The busy designs with their small, repeated motifs work very well closely intermingled with each other. Try using one small sprig repeated in reverse color ways on curtains, a bedspread, tablecloth or place mats. Set this medley of prints against lots of rich dark wood and terracotta flooring for an open air feel in a conservatory or garden room.

Paisleys are named after the Scottish town which became famous for weaving and printing imitation Kashmiri shawls in the eighteenth century. The curled teardrop motif is repeated over the design to give a dense swirling pattern. Each motif has a fine infill of flowers, leaves or birds. Colors were originally rich and exotic, but now Paisleys are often worked in soft mauves and blue to echo the Highland glens. Combine it with tartan for a Scottish feel, or give a dining room drama with deep red walls and glowing Paisley curtains.

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