How to mix fabric patterns like a pro. Yup..yup..ladies and gentlemen! Today it’s all about styling my home with this gorgeous home decor brand called Olie {Oh, go check them out right now and you’ll thank me for this} from Pondicherry { And oooh, did I tell you I almost licked the screen when I opened her website? And if you know me well you’d know I do not do that often unless its Rachel Ashwell or Anthropologie}, and how to pair and style prints at home like a professional! To it, I’ll also throw in a bit of colours and colour palettes that you can use, and how to get that magazine cover photo like living room easily.
Does it remotely interests you? Yeah? Well, then hoppity hop
Hello and welcome to reading trumatter, ladies and good men! I know I have been MIA after the chair {I did not die} but trust me I hardly had time to breathe- my schedule has suddenly become very, very scary. But you know what? Better late blog than never 😉 Today I shall serve you no quick, homely DIY, no shoddy paint job either {how I love being modest} but some real nice, tender decor meat, lovingly frilled on skewer- one that smells of dreamy whites, smokey blues, vibrant ochres, brights and taste of chic!
I connected with Amrita from Olie instantly! I think she followed my instagram account and I happened to check her’s and I was biiillloowwwnnnn by her feed! In no time, I was drooling all over the screen! It’s cute, it’s classy, it’s urban with a heart of country: in a word, it’s the love child of western color sensibilities and fabulous eastern design intricacies. You have to see the Koi Cloud collection to see what I mean. A yummylicious pistachio cream shade is carefully interrupted with coral to instantly demand your attention, without screaming for it at all!
See what I mean? Pair it with white and robin’s egg blue, a bit of peach and orange too should you want to throw in some whimsy. Ah! The possibilities. I never participate in contests but for her Giveaway, I did! I really did, I’ll own up. But of course, knowing my luck, I did not win. And ofcourse, knowing the bright side of my luck, I received a mail from her the next morning, asking if I would be interested to style with her products. Seriously? Will I be interested? I WILL LOVE IT, replied back I. The rest is a cute little package that knocked on my door and said hi and had me at hello!
Should you like to see her gorgeous designs, you can follow her on
There was a cushion from her impermanence collection and the cutest little tissue box from “Windsong”. Is it just me or do you also find the collection names to be absolutely charming? You can read all about them here and here
By the way, I am a sucker for good content and Olie, oh my God, Olie says,
A pause in the flurryof a moments breathWhen glitter settles
as the dragonfly rests
|
Inspired by the glint of glitter caught on a dragonfly’s wings, This cushion cover is crafted from our unique hand-printed fabrics with a beautiful, natural banana fibre detail. The back of each cushion cover has hand-braided banana fibre tie ups |
Yeah! I know! Aren’t we all just looking for that pause in the flurry! My home is practically styled around that very proposition 😉 That’s the thing about handmade you know! The thought behind elevates it instantly from it being just a darn cushion or a tissue box to something that becomes the point of conversation. It doesn’t remain a product anymore, its becomes the story and the dream
I was thinking of giving my home a little lift for fall- something that’s not too trad fall, but modern fall in a tropical climate- and what a perfect time for it to come into my life. I paired Olie’s white, blue and sunshine yellow cushion with
a> An Ikkat print in midnight blue, smokey jeans and white- Taking cues from the blue and turquoise in her cushion.
b> An ochre and white geometric print- to balance out the sunshine or it will be a little too striking
c> Chevron, white and black bolsters
d> Blue and white basket plant holder
c> Of course, a whole lot of white
You know, till sometime, I was very wary of prints. I wondered if another print would go with one and I stuck to plain and mutes all my life. But I was wrong. Print on print looks fabulous if you know how to strike the balance right.
So here’s my crash course on how to mix fabric like pro:
Rule 1: Start from the fabric you love. You will choose colors & patterns from the same to mix and match the other prints. To achieve a uniform look you must have atleast 1 element common to all. For example, if you are choosing a floral, grey fabric, you can pair it with a white and black strike fabric with a grey border. I classify fabric broadly into 3 categories- a. floral or organic, b. geometric, c. Specialized. While choosing make sure you have one of each element. For example, the Olie cushion is floral, the ochre cushion and chevron bolsters are geometric and Ikkat being specialized. Solids can be mixed too beautifully but that you can figure yourself 🙂
Rule 2: Is your fabric organic or geometric? Whatever be it, you’ll choose the other to mix prints.
Rule 3: Choose a colour from your favorite fabric that you would like to highlight. If you want to highlight yellow, choose the other patterns in a shade of yellow as present in the fabric you started with. To add some variation, you can skip 3 colour shades + or -, or use the exact opposite colour to the colour you want to highlight in a colour wheel. I wanted to highlight both the pretty blue and the yellow in the piping so that explains the Ikkat and ochre.
Rule 4: When very confused, use black or white in moderation but in a . Say for example you have a fabulous orange cushion with fuchsia organic print in it and you are really confused as to what would go with it. Try geometric patterns in black and white. It will go!
Rule 5: Keep in mind which area of your home you are decorating and the age group of the traffic in that particular area. For your big girl’s room you might to throw in some lavender and lime but for the boys a healthy dose of faded red, navy and white will work very well. For the mister’s study, stripe and checked in more grown up, subtle shades perhaps and monochromes just to pep it all up.
In addition, I used my tissue box as a succulent holder. All you need to do is choose a cup that sits snug inside the tissue box when the box is closed. Fill it with water, close the lid of the tissue box and stick in your succulents. You can arrange flowers, keep money plants or ferns and use it as a fab flower vase. Sorry, had to stick in a bit of DIY here.
Beautiful fabrics, wonderfully styled. You did a great job of explaining how to put multiple patterns together comfortably. I once designed a living room for a client with 11 different patterns in it. Even the fabric supplier was wasn’t sure I could pull it off. It worked and the client was delighted.
Thank you 🙂 You know what? I never really did #HowTo decorate and basics of decorating on my blog, simply because I thought people knew. But I was wrong. There are so many questions around home decor that I have not addressed that I almost felt guilty! All I gave my readers is how to whitewash 😛 Thought it is a good time to start, and Olie really helped in this. BTW, 11 different fabric? Yes, its easy to think that it’ll all look like a classic goob but you are Maureen. You’ll pull it off even if the fabrics were- well S****y. Do you have a photograph? I’d love to see.