Pattern Mixing to Combine Design Styles
Get your mind out of the gutter, I'm talking about the union of two design styles in the most intimate space! Mixing styles, patterns and finishes is second nature to me, it's what makes design interesting and you can see it in all of my work. When my boyfriend and I moved in together over a year ago I had the challenge of mixing his mid-century needs with my eclectic and vintage pieces. That's still the common theme throughout our home and we've slowly been adding pieces that we pick out together, but the bedroom still needs help.
In comes Erin, from Relativity Textiles to the rescue. Erin's wallpaper patterns have always inspired me, she does a great job of mixing graphic with an ethnic flair. I knew the pattern Gaar, in color Parchment, could be the jumping off point for a bedroom revamp.
Here is what the bedroom looks like now. It's fine, but nothing about it makes me really happy, except bedtime, I love bedtime. There is a mix of styles for sure, but I felt like I was waiting for something to inspire me to bring it all together.
The bedroom is painted Pale Smoke by Benjamin Moore and we have since upgraded my DIY headboard to a simple and beautiful bed from local company, Hedge House Furniture. I knew I wasn't going to repaint but wanted to do something behind the bed to make it more cozy and interesting. Opposite the bed are two builder grade accordion door closets which you will never see. We also have sliding glass doors to the deck, so with two full walls of doors we have very little surface area to do something cool. I have it bad, I know.
I had been thinking about Gaar Parchment for a few weeks when a sample of this beautiful fabric came in the mail.
I can confidently describe one of my favorite patterns as traditional florals or historic patterns done in modern color ways. This is kind of a traditional coloration of a pretty traditional pattern, but it's just so good. You've got rich shades of dark teal, dusty blue, ochre and peach. AND there is a deer, one single deer hiding in the foliage. It's magical! It also goes great with Relativity's Gaar Parchment I'd had in my mind to use.
The next thing I had to think about was drapery. We'd been living with those crazy Ikea panels with the intention to switch them out as soon as I found the right thing. As a color and pattern person I feel like I'm giving in if I go with plain drapery. It truly is the right answer sometimes, just a little harder to succumb to for a person like me. I was prepared in this case, because those two patterns were all I would ever need...
But it's not happening like that because I found the perfect subtle ticking stripe for my drapery!
Here is the design plan for mixing what I like to call Graphic with Granny. This could perfectly describe my boyfriend Connor and me as he is a Graphic Designer and I love bedtime. The colors in the fabric and Gaar Parchment are similar so that paves the way for a juxtaposition of styles. I'm all about mixing multiple colors in a room, but in this case sticking to one palette made sense.
We have a mix of woods in the bedroom and some very traditional dressers so I wanted modern lighting. I was inspired by this image of a room at the Line Hotel in DC which featured in this post.
Etsy is a great place for modern pendants and I knew I could find and customize ones with the right cord length and toggle switch placement. I ended up ordering from Phototonic Studio.
I like to get physical with my samples. Here I am figuring out the pendant height and cord length.
The patterns also happen to go wonderfully with my shadow puppet artwork. In any other room in the house, I might find these all too matchy, but in this room there were fewer opportunities to pepper the colors and different styles around due to limited wall space. One trick I use in mixing styles is to bring in a piece with a mix of finishes so that using mismatched furniture seems to make more sense. In this case the drapery hardware is a mix of wood and brass. Your eye seeks out the variety and contrast.
Thanks, Erin, for the inspiring wallpaper options! This design plan is on it's way to reality, so stay tuned to see the reveal.