This is one question that baffles just about everyone. To use print or not? If yes, then how much is too much! Or is printed stuff old school? The answer is simple, if you like it use it. There are endless ways in which prints can be incorporated in interiors! I feel you can do just about anything when it comes to prints, just making sure that it all just comes together in the end. The legendary Kit Kemp, designer of the Firmdale hotels is such an inspiration when it comes to playing with prints. She just gets it right always!
Personally, I enjoy using prints! I feel they liven up a space and make it a tad more personal and welcoming. There are so many different kinds of prints, small, bold, subtle or crazy and loud! They all have a place somewhere.
I have collected a couple of images here to show the various ways in which prints can be used. These images will inspire those of you who aren’t bold enough to go out there and bring something printed into your space! And those of you who are slightly confused about how to go about incorporating prints will hopefully get some direction from this post.
Rugs are always a great way of introducing pattern, print and colour into a room. Rugs are great for making a statement and yet not permanent features of a room. They can be replaced or put elsewhere if you get bored and want to change things up a bit. A lot of times people associate rugs with old traditional patterns, but that’s not the case. There are various options ranging from geometric, abstract, floral, tribal, Persian just to name a few! Plus I personally feel rugs complete a room and are a great investment when it comes to interiors.
Another temporary way to bring in pattern and prints to your space is through cushions, lamp shades, throws, bedspreads and such accents. All these options allow the faint hearted to experiment with prints. These aren’t very expensive alternatives so you won’t be left with a big hole in your pocket just in case you realize prints don’t work for you after all.
Wall decor also allows us to subtly introduce some print/pattern into a room. Wall plates, woven baskets, art, pottery are all great to inject some print. Art also adds some drama and personality into space and is one of my favourite ways of bringing in some colour and prints into a room. Framing chinoiserie wallpaper or a beautiful fabric also looks rather chic and packs in a punch. Again, all these are not permanent or frightfully expensive and allow us to experiment with our creative spirits and have a bit of fun!
Printed and patterned tiles are an effective and yet not so common way of going about incorporating print and pattern in your space. Kitchen and bathroom floor tiles in a lovely print will bring so much colour and warmth into your rooms. The kitchen backsplash is also rather effective in making the space a little more fun. The wide variety of tiles available today cater to just about everybody’s design needs.
Good old wallpaper! Of course this is one of the most common and yet effective ways of going about introducing prints. There was a time not so long ago everyone was rather bored of using wallpaper and it just wasn’t the trend. But its back, and like never before. There are so many beautiful prints available today! Makes it quite hard to abstain from having wallpaper just about everywhere. It’s of course a little more permanent and prominent, but one could start with using it on an accent wall or niche instead of the whole room. The entire room looks quite lovely too. Of course a room in a chinoiserie wallpaper can make quite the statement and look stunning. Those of you who like their homes to be dramatic should use wallpaper in the hallway or foyer. Wallpaper screams bold a bold entrance and makes quite the initial impact.
Curtains and blinds are also a wonderful way of playing with pattern in a room. Window treatments are pricey and not something that is changed too often. But you will definitely get print into your room. They are comparatively larger and more obvious than other furnishings in a room, hence won’t go unnoticed and you will get your money’s worth. When it comes to printed fabric, there are zillions out there. You can choose to be bold or even more restrained with a softer more neutral print. However, those of you who aren’t entirely sure about going the whole hog with printed curtains or blinds, could have a printed edging on plain fabric. That’s a subtle way of bringing in print.
Upholstery is probably the most common way of using prints in a room. Don’t think all printed fabric leads to a country home look. There are so many ways of using prints in modern homes which add colour and liven it up without giving it a country look. The great thing about upholstery is that you can decide how much of it or how little of it you want to be printed. Everybody might not want to have an entire chair or sofa upholstered in a printed fabric. In that case just using printed upholstery on the back of a dining chair, edge of a stool is also just enough to do the job. For print lovers, of course you can go the whole hog and cover the entire chair, headboard of a bed or sofa.
I hope this post has managed to inspire or lets say convince some of you who needed a little encouragement to bring in some print into your home! Even if it’s a small cushion cover, go and buy it. Trust me you will be happy with your buy.
Will have something new for you all to read soon (I’ll try to make sure its not another 4 months!).
Happy reading x
Effortless Interiors 