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Introducing a new pattern to a space adds a lot of life, energy and personality in a way a solid colour rarely can. But why restrict yourself to playing with just one pattern? Combining two or more may seem daunting, but if you follow some of these formulas, you’ll be mixing and matching like a pro in no time.

First, to make it easier to understand how different patterns relate, let’s identify four major categories of patterns. In reality, patterns are endless in number, but when it comes to mixing different types, we’ll start by looking at the main ones.

Stripes

Classic navy-and-white or black-and-white stripes are the most classic and timeless, but you can use stripes to add bright colours as well. In a tone-on-tone effect like this pink bedding, the hue is actually softer and less dramatic than when used as a solid.

Either way, stripes work beautifully with other stripes or with completely different patterns.

Some designers also consider polka dots to be in the category of neutral patterns, with a repeating shape so simple that it reads as more of a texture. The round lines add an extra sense of softness, which can feel a bit feminine or romantic and make a space welcoming.

Dots and stripes

Mix a few different sizes of stripes, and maybe a polka dot too, and you’ve got a hard-to-go-wrong scheme with plenty of personality and energy.

Geometrics
A geometric pattern is made of repeating forms that are usually very simple and linear, often using basic shapes like triangles, squares and circles. Technically, stripes are a geometric pattern, but in interior design a true geometric is one notch more complex than that, such as this wallpaper with its repeating hexagons.

Geometrics can be much more complex than a simple repeating shape, however. This room shows a simple striped rug, a chevron pillow and richly patterned side chairs: All are geometric, using simple angular lines, but the degree of complexity varies greatly.

Using just angular geometrics, with no curves, is one of the easiest ways to mix multiple patterns without worry.

Same-scale geometrics

Another easy way to mix multiple geometric patterns is to choose patterns with a similar thickness to the lines. These pillows use very different patterns, but they all contain thin lines at approximately the same scale. A single pillow in a chunky pattern might look out of place, but since they all share a similar line weight they look coordinated.

Florals
Florals are essentially the complete opposite of stripes: They feature complex, curving lines in patterns that feel natural and wild.

Botanical prints also include leafy patterns that don’t feature blossoms but have a similar organic nature, and, just as in nature, these differing prints tend to mesh together easily (as long as their lush color palettes coordinate).

Sharp angles with bold florals
Opposites attract. Combine a neutral, angular geometric featuring triangles (or basic stripes) and let a pop of colour against the sharp lines.

Organics
There are lots of other organic patterns that take inspiration from nature or feature motifs or images that are non-geometric. Animal prints fall under this category, as well as natural textures like marbling or strié (which looks a bit like wood grain, but in fabric or paper).

A zebra stripe, being essentially just a variation on a basic black-and-white stripe, is a great element to toss into any design (in a small dose) to add a little organic drama.

This is where things start to get a bit complicated, since there are many patterns that can sit in a grey area between geometric and organic, such as ikat patterns or tribal-inspired prints, which feature somewhat geometric-looking repeating lines but with an organic rawness.

Luckily, there are other aspects of a pattern we can look at to guide us in how to mix and match.

Black and white
It’s about as classic as they come: Mixing several patterns in strict black and white virtually always works, even if the scales and styles are different. To play it extra safe, keep all the patterns at least 50 percent white so you don’t accidentally overdo the black, unless you’re going for a gothic look.

This room uses three patterns at the same scale: one stripe, one chevron and one more organic pattern. They all appear to be the same “size,” with the linear stripes and chevrons at about the same spacing as the objects in the more complex print. The science isn’t exact, but to a casual glance no one pattern sticks out as being much larger or smaller than the others.

Naturally, it also helps that these differing fabrics are in roughly the same color scheme as well. Combining differing strategies for mixing patterns definitely helps get a great result.Ways to mix a lot of pattern

Traditional rugs. Rugs in rich, traditional patterns are a bit like stripes in that they can almost be treated like a neutral with no pattern at all. Their fine, intricate designs and rich, sophisticated colours make them easy to mix with other patterns that are either more subtle, more bold or both.

Traditional motifs
Like a traditional rug, other delicate, timeless patterns such as toile and fine china prints can be easily tossed into a space and contrasted against other traditional elements or much more contemporary designs.

This room feels rich and sumptuous partly because it includes three diverse patterns, but to the casual glance, only the geometric wall treatment feels like a true pattern. The traditional umbrella stand and rug appear much less graphic, blending in perfectly yet holding their own.

Chevron
Chevron is a classic for a reason: This simple pattern is just one notch more bold than a classic stripe, meaning it’s still easy to mix with nearly anything, but it also gives a real sense of dynamic energy because of its many diagonal lines.