*This article was written during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some references may be made.

Welcome back to the Decorator’s Blog, friends!

I hope you are enjoying the gorgeous weather, and managing ok with the social distancing restrictions. We are spending more time that ever in our homes- so make sure yours is as nice as possible!

A major skill for interior decorators is my topic for today. How to Mix and Match Colours and Patterns. I have heard shoppers who are almost paralyzed at the thought of this... It seems too daunting! If you are in the same boat, never fear, here at Bennett’s our Decorator Consultants can help you. And in today’s blog, I will also give you some tips so you can help yourself too! Trust me, this is actually a LOT of fun.

You’ve heard me say it before, a well decorated space has UNITY. Something to tie everything together.

You don’t want the room too visually upsetting or overwhelming. This happens when you look at a space and just think, “Whoa! There is a LOT going on here!”. Your eyes bounce around from spot to spot and there is no main focus. It makes those of us who are sensitive actually feel uneasy. This is something we want to avoid!

Well, you ask, how do I create and maintain a sense of unity?

I am going to cover the two easiest ways to do this today, COLOUR and PATTERN.

Let’s assume your main colour is a neutral. Perhaps a grey or a beige that your sofa and chairs are upholstered in. So now you need to pick an ACCENT COLOUR, or COLOURS. To keep the blog short, and to not bore you to tears, I will not go deep into colour theory. If you ever see me on the sales floor though, I am happy to discuss it in person with you. Or you can ask your Decorator Consultant!

The “Coles Notes” version is we have 3 main or PRIMARY colours, Red, Yellow and Blue. If you mix 2 of these together you get 3 SECONDARY colours, Orange, Green and Purple. A COMPLIMENTARY colour is a colour that is opposite the colour on the colour wheel, or an easy way to remember, the colour that is lacking your original colour. Example- The complimentary colour for Blue is Orange. For Purple it is Yellow. Can you guess the last one? That’s right Red and Green.

Since most of us don’t decorate in bright primary colours, we can use this theory and let it flow a bit. What do I mean by this? Well, let’s say you have a lot of rust coloured furniture, a nice complimentary colour is Teal. Or if you have a light pink sofa, a shade of green, like mint or sage, would look nice with it.

Blue and orange are complimentary
colours. Here we have a navy and a brick
orange colour. We coordinate with a
fabric that shares the same texture and
colours as the blue swatch.

COLOUR is the easiest way to unify a space. You’ve all heard “add a POP of colour”. This doesn’t mean just adding in one pillow. We need to follow it through the space. A couple of pillows, a vase, a lamp, a throw, some artwork. This draws everything together. It is the subtle small things, that when you look at the space, make it just feel right! Look around your home and see what you can use from other rooms.

A deep red colour in the toss pillows, vase
and glass elephants add colour to the
grey loveseat, and tie the space together.

So now, when we mix patterns, we can use COLOUR to make them work together.

These are two really BOLD palettes that would look fantastic on a
cream coloured sofa. Although all of the fabrics are in no way subtle,
they work together because they share the same colours.

These two samples also show colour unification. The first in a coral
theme- very different fabrics but the same coral colour. The second a
more country look in blues and yellows with a tweedy friend uniting them.

Another way to mix patterns, is to use a recurring SHAPE to unify them. Different florals, or plaids can work together. You can mix different tribal patterns. Maybe the multiple patterns feature chevrons or diamonds? We just need something to tie them together.

These two examples highlight a shared shape. Add in a textured
neutral or two so we don’t get too overwhelmed with pattern. Things
can get busy looking quickly!