More is more…but make it calm – my guide to mixing patterns at home

Bed with patterned cushions, cat curled up on duvet and vase of flowers on bedside table — (Image credit: Lara Winter)

Home decorator Lara Winter is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on revamping a 200 year old cottage to make it right for modern family life. See the rest of her articles here.

Stripes on stripes? Florals with more florals? A year ago I would’ve called that risky. Now I call it cosy. Here’s how I’m layering patterns in our dining nook and bedroom without tipping the house into visual overload.

I used to think mixing patterns was something other people did. Braver people. People who didn’t lie awake wondering if their cushions were silently judging them. It turns out it’s less about bravery and more about balance.

Article continues below

Kitchen area showing striped upholstered corner banquette around wooden table

Take our dining nook. I built the banquette myself and upholstered it in a red and cream vertical stripe. It’s not shy, and I didn’t want to dilute it with beige “safe” pieces. If you choose a stripe, let it stripe.

I layered in a rug with a cream base and red and brown pattern. Same colour family, different motif and scale. The stripes are structured, the rug is broader and relaxed. They aren’t matching, but they speak the same language and it works.

Corner kitchen banquette in striped fabric with mix and match cushions beneath red shelf

On top, I added rust-coloured cushions that read as solid but have a subtle check. Think of these as the visual exhale. Not everything can be the main character. Then I layered more stripes in the same corner.

Cream and red cushions with horizontal lines sit against the vertical stripe of the seat, and a cream and light blue café curtain hangs high on the window with soft vertical stripes. Similar in rhythm to the banquette, yes, but a different colour and lighter tone so it doesn’t feel repetitive. I was nervous about this at first - what? stripes on stripes? - but sometimes you just have to try it to see if it flows.

I also brought in a tall blue vase with vertical stripes further apart than the curtain or banquette, and that blue shows up again in a small art print on the red wall shelf. Repeating colour and pattern makes it feel intentional rather than accidental.

If you’re tempted to try it, here are my most copy-and-save worthy tips. I don’t do rules though, this is just what worked for me:

Repeat each key colour at least three times. Red appears in the banquette, rug and cushions. Blue now shows up in the curtain, vase and art print. Repetition creates cohesion.
Vary the scale. One bold pattern, one medium, one subtle keeps things layered rather than loud.
Mix direction deliberately. Horizontal with vertical adds movement. Even repeated stripes work if the colour or scale is different.
Anchor with something almost plain. A subtle check or textured solid gives the eye somewhere to rest.
Spread pattern around the room. Don’t stack it all at seat height. Use windows, cushions, furniture and floors to distribute it evenly.

And what not to do? Don’t introduce a completely new colour that has no connection to anything else. Avoid patterns that are too similar in size and colour but slightly off in tone. That is when things start to hum in a way that makes you twitch.

The bedroom follows the same logic, just in softer tones. Our upholstered bed is a calm almond beige, which gives me freedom to layer. The duvet is white with a delicate blue floral, sitting beside a blue nightstand. That blue repetition instantly makes it feel intentional.

At the foot of the bed is a cream throw with a larger red and pink floral pattern, loosely tying into our wall colour, Setting Plaster (Farrow and Ball). The duvet’s floral is smaller and cooler. The throw’s is bigger and warmer. Different scale, shared thread.

The pillows are where I could have gone too far, but didn’t, I hope.

Two are orangey pink with a ditsy cream floral. Another has a cream base with a bolder red floral, ruffled edges and a velvety red trim. That trim quietly connects to the red in the throw and the red floral vase on the nightstand. There is also a wall light with a multicoloured floral shade.

On paper, it sounds like floral overload. In reality, because the colours are echoed across the bed, throw and accessories, it feels layered rather than busy.

Wooden and glass fronted dresser in living room against pink striped wall

Pattern mixing isn’t about throwing everything you love into one room and hoping for the best. It’s about rhythm, repetition and a bit of restraint, but mainly it’s about fun.

Play around, shop your own home. That cushion on your sofa might actually work on your bed. Homes should feel gathered, not staged.

A few stripes here, a couple of florals there, a colour repeated just enough and suddenly it feels intentional. If it doesn’t work, cushions are wonderfully movable. Honestly, what’s the worst that could happen?

Lara is originally from Germany, where she studied Special Educational Needs before moving to England in 2016. She now runs the instagram account What A View Cottage which has over 240,000 followers, who tune in to be inspired by her modern take on rustic style.

Lara has always had a creative streak and the urge to experiment with colours and different layouts made her rearrange the furniture of her childhood bedroom constantly. These days she lives with her husband, their two sons and their fluffy, ginger cat Gizmo in a modern cottage in Wiltshire. She loves to create cosy, lived in spaces with lots of texture and the use of colour. Her specialty is to give rooms that cottage feel with a modern and sometimes unexpected twist and she's not afraid to mix interior styles.