Many people go into a home furniture store and pick out a display with matching fabric on the sofa, chairs, and pillows. Although that may seem like a good idea, it’s an even better idea to mix up the fabric with different colors, textures, and patterns so everything coordinates and is complementary. Coordinating fabric on different furniture pieces also helps with making an open floor plan feel more connected and not too broken up. These design layers are why we have decided to dedicate this blog to helping you understand and see ways that you can customize your furniture selections. It is important to make your living space custom and unique to you!
This first picture is a great example of how you can coordinate different colors, textures, and patterns to bring together a living space. The sofa is a nice charcoal microfiber while the ottoman and accent chair are chocolate brown leather. We added solid cream and floral patterned pillows on the sofa and chair. This space feels complete with the stone texture, window treatment pattern, new textural carpet, warm paint and perfectly balanced built in bookcases.
This living room does a great job of showcasing a color story that coordinates well with the homeowners selected artwork. The aqua chairs add a pop of color, that is repeated in the pillow trim. Different stripes add more pattern to the furniture, and then inspired colors for other room accents. Notice that furniture styles can coordinate beautifully in a space without matching, straight arms can work with rounded arms, tufting with no tufting- dont buy the “set” if you want a completed designer look.
Furniture in all areas of the house add to the overall feel and style. This kitchen/dinette set the modern tone with its linear and rounded elements that were carried through into the furniture pieces. You may not notice right away, but both the barstools and dining chairs in this open kitchen have nail head trim! Even though they don’t use the same fabric, the space still feels connected with that small little detail and the different fabric choices add layers of texture, pattern and interest.
Varying sizes of prints add interest to a space. This living area is a really great example of how you don’t have to match everything, rather you can mix and match different stripes with florals and other organic patterns of the same colors to bring together your entire space and make it feel custom and unique.
This open floorplan has very defined zones through furniture placement. Charcoal, gray, silver and cream set the tone with the permanent fixtures and determined the furniture palette. We used the same fabric on sofa pillows and two chairs sitting by the fireplace to coordinate the entire space. The dining chairs are a soft cream to balance the cabinetry and add additional brightness between the dark sofa, dark floor and dark fireplace accent wall. Balancing furniture with permanent items make a space feel complete. Seeing an element repeat 3 times creates great design.
This great example of the unexpected features several really bold patterns that are balanced with some solids to set just the right stage for an orange polk-a-dot accent chair. It is such a fun space with lots of bright colors and energy, reflecting perfectly the young family who lives here. Some fabrics are repeated, but none of the items came from the same matching set, creating this one of a kind, eclectic space.
This fresh and traditional open concept incorporates warm colors,with several fabrics ranging in pattern and texture from floral, stripe, chenille, solid, checks and butterflies. In the living room, the chair with the ottoman is collaged utilizing 2 fabrics to feature a bold red and leaf print. An accent chair with collage is a great way to customize furniture for a space and this can be done with any style of living. Many coordinating (not matching) fabrics were used to pull together the multiple different areas of this open plan. Notice the whimsical butterfly fabric on the sunroom chair and ottoman!
This family chic living room takes color inspiration from the window treatments. The window treatments were just as important of a fabric in this room as the furniture. The bold window fabric highlights the tall neutral stone fireplace. The dark aubergine accent chairs draw your eye towards this feature and custom ottomans use this color to add practical storage. Family friendly sofa fabric is neutral to balance the fireplace and then additional pattern is added through pillows, everything coordinates well without looking too “matchy.”
We hope these tips on coordinating fabrics have inspired you to think beyond the “furniture display”. Incorporating different colors, textures, and patterns is a fantastic way to make everything connect within your personal space. Check out our Houzz, Pinterest, and Facebook page to view other completed projects by RCI Interior Design.
