{Picking Fabric Combinations}

There are some tricks to getting great fabric combination. Hopefully this post will help all you DIY readers...

Guidelines:

1. Three is a charm!
Try to pick 3 (or more depending on size of room) patterns to complete your fabric selections.

2. Remember that the fabrics don't need to match they just need to go together....
 I have to remind my mother of this when she exits her closet wearing a fancy zebra printed blouse and zebra printed vans to go with. I immediately tell her to go back in there and she says, "What!? I match!"

3. Mix textures...
Fabric texture is the feel of the fabric

. It can be smooth, rough, soft, velvetty, silky, lustrous, and so on. The different textures of the fabric depends upon the type of weaves. Mix up the textures. If you're going to have silk drapes use a different textured fabric for pillows and maybe another for your furniture.

4. Fabric weight:
There are light, medium, and heavy fabric weights. Use heavier fabrics on your furniture to hold up to all the wear and tear. You can use all sorts of weights in pillows and such but try to keep a good balance and don't just use all light weight fabrics or all heavy weight fabrics. 

5. Pattern/Print...
Use it! It's easy to use a solid color drapery panel and pick out solid leather furniture and solid color pillows and that's why so many rooms end up being "blah." I used to be lame like that. I've really found joy in fun print fabrics as I've become more educated. Mix up the patterns/prints. Try not use all floral prints or all geometric prints. Great fabric selections will include several of the following to accompany each other: geometric, floral, stripe, polka-dot, and so on...

6. Balance:
One principle of design that will always be important. When picking fabrics you need to maintain balance. For example, you may find a fabric that you love and the print is very small. Use it on a pillow or small accent. If you use it for all 4 of your drapery panels the pattern will be lost or look too busy. If you find a large pattern that you love accompany it with medium and small patterns.


Here are examples of some fabric selections I've thrown together for this little lesson:

Example 1:

Let's say I pick up this fabric (Fabric #1) in a store and it just speaks to me. I would like to use it for my draperies in a living room. Here would be my next thought process...

I would like to find a fabric that has more straight lines since this one is very curvy. Oh look ;-)... here's a nice brown one and since the print is small I would love to use this on some smaller pillows. It would look great against a larger pillow in my #1 fabric choice. Notice these two fabrics do not match, they go together.

Now that I have my two main patterns both being geometrical I would like to find a more whimsical pattern or maybe a nice floral. I would like to continue playing off of the brown since there is so much yellow in the #1 fabric choice. Here's a whimsical example...

This fabric would be nice for a small accent chair or ottoman. Maybe even a kidney pillow. Notice that all three fabric selections have different size patterns, all very different patterns, but they compliment each other as a whole.

Example 2:

Pretend now that you're browsing the fabric store for some options for a guest room. And you come upon this very interesting Asian print (Fabric #1). You really like it but have no idea how to design around it since Asian design is probably foreign to most of us. Start by picking out the color you want to focus on. I love orange so I'm picking orange for you ;-). Now look for a geometric pattern or a floral that has orange.

I like this one... the oranges don't match, but they go together! Yay! You're catching on ;-). Now that we have two patterns with geometric qualities let's find a nice floral.

Keep in mind that we've focused mainly on orange and let's try to find a fabric that can bring more color into the room and create interest. Also, both these fabrics appear to be light weight cottons. Let's try to find a heavier weight to create balance. Ta-da! Perfect third selection. It picks up on both shades of orange but also gives us the freedom to incorporate several other colors into our room.

 As you will notice you may have fallen in love with the original fabric selection but you were able to find 2 other fabrics that become just as stunning when they are all put together. You may not have fallen in love with the 2nd fabric selection on it's own but it brings so much drama when it's paired with the right fabrics.

Example 3:

Some of you may have never in a million years put these next fabrics together in the same room but I'll tell you why they work so great together....

I picked fabric #1 because purple is back people! I like this sort-of-Greek-foliage pattern too.

 

 The next fabric I would be looking for would be a print that doesn't have such a dramatic repeat like the above one. If I did pair it with another fabric with a repeat your eye would probably have a hard time focusing. 

 

 Okay, this is one of my favorite floral patterns. Look how many colors are opened up to use! Greens, oranges, purples, camel! This fabric creates a nice resting point for your eye after capture such a strong repetitive pattern. See why these two make sense? Now I wouldn't use just these two patterns together. The selection isn't quite right with only theses two. I would add something like this-

It's another beautiful geometric pattern that uses the same purple from Fabric #1 but also adds another deeper hue in the background while incorporating the same green tones from Fabric #2. All patterns are very different, none are boring or conservative, none are plain, and yet... they all go together! Success.

PHEW, that was a long post. Now, you are officially prepared for a trip to the fabric store. Good luck and if your head is spinning... I am here for you :-).

Best Wishes,