Mixing Pillow Patterns and Colors: Moody Monday

It’s time for another Moody Monday and today I wanted to share just a couple little tricks for mixing pillow patterns and colors that works great for layering fabrics and spaces as well.  I have been running across some amazing pillows lately that I have wanted to share with you guys as well.

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I’m sure you guys all know how to mix and layer pillows but I wanted to just show you a couple things we did  during my department merchandising and visual design days for layering colors and patterns that has helped me so much over the years.  Again, these tricks are universal when it comes to layering color and patterns and can work not just with pillows but layering a whole room as well.

Let me start by showing you all the product sources for today’s Moody Monday design board:

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20

Start By Choosing 3-6 Colors

Everyone knows how to layer and mix two colors but how about mixing more than two or three?  How about mixing something like 4-6 colors?  The trick is to begin by finding a pillow that has most of the colors you want to use in the space.  It doesn’t matter if the pillow has pattern or stripes of colors. It also doesn’t matter if your main color is the boldest. I love this part because you may find a pillow with colors that you did not expect to use but like.

For today’s mood/design board, I started with this pillow below as my first inspiration pillow and then I began to layer the board because it has all the colors I wanted to use: 1) Navy 2) Light Blue 3) Royal Blue 4) White 5) Gray 6) Oatmeal (the color of the linen fabric)

 

Mixing Pattern

After I found my main inspiration pillow, I then looked for a mix of solid pillows and big and small patterns to begin layering.

 

So as you can see above, the combination works because the pillows have at least one of the colors in my inspiration pillow and the patterns are a combination of big and small, which is where the magic happens.  Also, you will notice that there are two bold patterned pillows above.  Of course, I would not have two bold patterned pillows or fabrics laying next to each other but instead, I would break it up with a solid pillow like this below:

As long as the two bold patterns are different from each other and you have a solid color to use as grounding, mixing two bold patterns work. The same concept works with mixing two small patterns.

Here’s another example below but this time, I put together a solid that isn’t completely solid (it has a white line) to show you that it still works as a solid. I also incorporated a striped pillow as well, which anything stripe can also work as grounding (like a solid).

You’ll also notice above that the small navy leopard print doesn’t have the light blue color like the other three pillows but it still works in the combination because it’s navy that is found in two of the pillows.

Ok, now I’m gonna throw you for a loop here… I’m going to show you another little trick for how you can layer even more and seasonally…

We can accent with a bold accent color using the pillows on today’s mood board or the examples and add a whole new accent color that is not contained on our inspiration pillow. Let me show you what I mean..

You can see that I just switched out the solid navy pillow for a solid coral.  The coral color is not found in any of the other colors but it still works because it’s a solid color and the light blue on the tassel helps to connect the combination.  However, you do not have to have a connecting color and that coral pillow would still work even if it didn’t have the tassels because it’s a solid.  This is a great way in the summer or different seasons to add a pop of seasonal color to your neutral spaces.  Just add a couple solid pillows in a fun color and pull your other solids and store them until you’re ready to back and you’re in business! 🙂

I tried today to give you guys a great mix of pillows that are both budget and luxury.  I always like to splurge on one pillow with beautiful high-end fabric and then spend less on the solids and more easily available budget pillows.

If you want to look through past Moody Mondays, you can do so by clicking the image below:

Thanks for stopping by today friends!

Cheers!

Cyndy