It seems like everywhere you look these days, chevron patterns are covering everything!
And bedding is no exception as this great pattern takes center stage on comforters, pillows and blankets. You might have already snagged a set you like, then as soon as you got it home, wondered – wait, just how does this work?
Mixing patterns is a bit of an art form any time you’re decorating, and chevrons follow pretty much the same types of rules when it comes to size, scale and colors. Don’t let the fact that they aren’t quite stripes and aren’t quite any other sort of pattern throw you off. Just like in the bedding set in the picture, it’s easy to mix in several patterns together.
Rough Rules for Mixing Patterns
So many of my friends and clients get tripped up here, but mixing pattern isn’t really as difficult as you might think. If you think it’s difficult, consider buying bedding that already mixes them for you – one in the comforter another in the bed skirt – or only use two paired with a mix of solids.
To get you started, here are my rough rules for mixing patterns. The trick is all about contrasts, but those can be done in several different ways.
Consider the Scale of the Chevron
Let’s start with scale. I run across a ton of bedding sets that are using a really large scale chevron, like the one in the picture here. The effect is large and bold, so you don’t want to be tossing in more large scale patterns like flowers or big polka dots.
A better mix for a large scale stripe like this would be a smaller stripe in the same colors or a small polka dot. Look back at the picture at the top and you’ll see a chevron that’s really skinny, which meant it paired nicely with the wide stripe on the wall.
Big goes with small
Contrast of scale is key in mixing patterns. Big polka dots with small stripes. Large flower print with tiny flower print. If the pattern in one piece is large in scale, the other should be small. Make that others, actually. Stick with just one large print at a time.
How Much Is Going On In The Chevron?
Saying something’s a chevron pattern makes it sound pretty simple, but it can get a little more complicated than that at times. With the sheer number of designs out there, we’re seeing a lot that involve more than one color, more than one size of stripe – more, more, more.
Consider the design in the picture where the stripes are not only changing in size, but also in colors. There’s already a lot going on, so smaller and more subtle patterns are the call here.
Busy goes with simple
Think about paisley fabrics you’ve seen. The pattern is rarely what you’d call simple; rather they tend to be pretty busy. So they’re best paired with simple patterns like tiny checks or plaids or stripes. Much like with the large pattern, you only want one busy pattern at a time.
Count Colors and Shades in the Chevron
The light in the bedding in the picture makes this perfect option to bring in darker colors in patterns. They’ve done it a little with the pillows, although it’s just a darker gray rather than a different shade.
Dark goes with light
This is more than just using more than one color; it’s about a contrast of shades. If you can’t decide if a fabric is dark or light, bright or dim, mostly blue or mostly green – squint when you look at it and you’ll get your answer.