How to Exploit the Use of Patterns in Your Interior Design

The use of patterns in your interior decorating scheme can vary widely and result in romance, insanity, whimsy or formality. Pattern design can mean utilizing everything from brocade draperies to geometric patterns in wallpaper. A throw rug contains a pattern that can be utilized in your interior design and so does the popcorn ceiling you have decided to repaint. It is easy enough to uncover pattern and determine its usefulness and purpose when the pattern is obvious like in an Oriental rug, but if you look around the room you are in right now, chances are less obvious and more subtle uses of pattern will reveal themselves before your very eyes.

Obvious Patterns
A useful pattern may be created by the film noirish shadows cast on a wall through your open window blinds. There may be a subtle pattern painted on your desk or chest of drawers. The throw pillow that is always on your sofa can contain patterns that you should notice and exploit. The first thing you want to do is look for the obvious patterns such as that in thick carpeting or curtains. This pattern can become useful as the focal point of your decorative imagery. The repetition of a geometric pattern in the rug can be complemented with similar geometry in new wallpaper. If the pattern is bold and vibrant, take a chance by reproducing it in large form on just one painted wall. This is a dramatic use of patterns that can totally transform your interior design of any room.

Rhythm
Think in terms of rhythm. The pattern of rhythm in the songs you love are created through repetition, but there is enough differentiation to make it not boring. Think of how you would decorate your room if you assigned a musical rhythm to each repetition of a patterns that you find. Create a symphony in which the repetition of the patterns are created in broad strokes on a wall or in almost undetectable recreations within the doilies placed on the coffee table.

Isolation
Isolation is another useful tool for using patterns as a decorative motif. A single wall decorated with embossed wallpaper stands out much more dramatically than an entire room decorated with embossed wallpaper. The pattern is in the embossing and you can isolate it on the wall, but then bring a bit of repetition into play by recreating the embossed pattern delicately on the shears between the window and the draperies.

Symmetry and Balance
You should also look for symmetry and balance when utilizing patterns in your interior design. A floral pattern on the wallpaper that is adorned inside a unique square shape can be balanced by creating a stencil that mimics the unique square design and painting it as an accent on a desk or bookcase or any other type of furnishing. Hang a painting on the wall that is filled with character and event like a Hogarth engraving. Look deeply within your focal point painting for repetitions of patterns and recreate them on rugs, pillows, upholstery, wallpaper or paint. Once you get a feel for how pattern is already being used, your mind will expand like John Lennon's before he set down to write "I Am the Walrus" and the next thing you know, you'll be seeing more patterns in everyday life than John Nash with his beautiful mind.