How To Mix Patterns in Your Home

Combining prints brings excitement to a room—but how do you make it work? Set small patterns against large ones, limit your palette, and include one big solid (on sofa, floor, or wall) in the scene. Go ahead: Do try this at home.

Roland Bello

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Toile + Toile + Stripes

On its own, toile—a busy scenic print featuring people and animals in action—can feel English-formal. Layered and combined with crisp stripes, it's chic and playful. Try one large toile in rich, eye-catching tones (see the drapes) plus two small versions with muted backgrounds. Unify the trio with a striped rug and pillows in colors that connect with all three toiles.

Fabric for curtain panel: Paradise Garden, $200 a yard, quadrillefabrics.com for showrooms. Upholstered side chair MR-2040, from $1,375, bakerfurniture.com for stores. Frankentoile pillow, $160, thefutureperfect.com. Owen steel end table, $195, schoolhouseelectric.com. German porcelain bird vase from 1950s, $795, The End of History, 212-647-7598. Blanc de Chien dog lamp, $1,800 for two, toddhase.com for info. Fabric for striped pillow: Franchini fuchsia by Designers Guild, about $265 a yard, Osborne & Little, 877-322-7420 for info. Catamaran indoor-outdoor rug, $298 (6 by 9 feet), dashandalbert.com. Paint: Churlish Green No. 251, $85 a gallon, us.farrow-ball.com.