Coordinate color, pattern and texture for fall

You may not be adventurous when it comes to changing from your basic fall palette to a more updated palette, but you need not be intimidated. If we are honest with ourselves, coordinating fabrics correctly is what keeps us from taking more risks with color. Solid fabrics are safe, but in order to add depth to a room, you’ll have to add more pattern and texture. I’ll show you how to create a cohesive space by building different textures, colors and patterns around one fabric.

Pattern Fabric

Let’s select a fun Highland Taylor fabric called Lotus Medallion Autumn. This pattern has a medium size repeat and has various facets of autumn colors. When you are dealing with patterns, it’s good to know what colors are used to create the pattern. This will help you select the right coordinating colors so your room makes sense.

Highland Taylor Lotus Medallion Autumn Fabric
Highland Taylor Lotus Medallion Autumn Fabric

Solid Fabric

Now figure out what colors make up the pattern. In this fabric I see a rust orange, a bronze and milk chocolate brown. If you’re not sure if a color matches, always order fabric samples. Remember not every orange is the same tone or hue.

I searched on our fabric tool and came up with these three options.

Option 1

Sunbrella Canvas Linen Chili
Sunbrella Canvas Linen Chili

Option 2

Silk Dupione Banana
Highland Taylor Silk Dupione Banana

Option 3

Highland Taylor Fabric Microfiber Velvet Chocolate
Highland Taylor Fabric Microfiber Velvet Chocolate

All three of these solid fabrics will coordinate and help to make the pattern on the Medallion Lotus pop. You can go for higher contrast by using the Silk Dupione Banana or Microvelvet Chocolate. Or go for a subtle contrast by choosing the canvas chili.

Striped Fabric

Striped fabrics can be tricky since there are all sizes of stripes. Since your pattern is medium-sized, you’ll want to go with a stripe that is medium to small, unless you are using the stripe on a drapery. Here are some examples:

Option 1

Medium stripe

Linen Stripe Spice
Linen Stripe Spice

Option 2

Small stripe

wyndham mocha
Sunbrella Wyndham Mocha

Option 3

Small stripe

RA Outline Vermillion
RA Outline Vermillion

Option 4

Large stripe would be ideal for drapery

Savvy Awning Burnished Bronze
Savvy Awning Burnished Bronze

Each one of these stripes will coordinate with the Medallion Lotus, as well as any of the solids. What you need to remember is utilizing these fabrics will help to make a room look complete, well-decorated and professional. Now who doesn’t want that?!

Texture

Texture is something that helps to bring dimension, warmth and coziness to a space. When you incorporate velvets, silks and textured weaves, you really breathe life into a space.

silk dupioni ginger
Highland Taylor Fabric Silk Dupioni Ginger
Outdura Charade Mandarin
Outdura Charade Mandarin
Sunbrella Simone Flame
Sunbrella Simone Flame

How to place the palette in a room

Think of a movie and how the characters are presented. There is the main actor, whom you see a lot of. In comes the supporting actor, who is not as noticeable as the main character but plays a vital role to support the main character. Then you have the extras. The extra may not have a speaking part but fills in the background and gaps on screen. When you think of designing a room, never let one fabric play too many roles. It creates a very overwhelming color palette that is imbalanced and heavy. Instead, follow a percentage system. 60% main fabric, 30% supporting fabric, and 10% extra fabric.

Coordinating fabrics always starts with one fabric that you absolutely love. Once you have it, you can build around it and create your own amazing palette that will be anything but boring.

Happy decorating!

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One thought on “Coordinate color, pattern and texture for fall

  • January 15, 2013 at 9:17 PM
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    I’m definiely one of those people that is intimidated by interior design… maybe some of your tips will help me create a more cohesive space 🙂

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