Down with monotony: the most popular patterns in the interior

Recommendation points

• Floral motives
• Strip
• Cell
• Ethnic ornaments and popular patterns

In this article we will tell you about the most popular options for introducing bright colors into the interior – the most famous ornaments, patterns and drawings. We will find out how you can fit all these flowers, squares and stripes into the interior in order to emphasize its originality and achieve an unusual visual effect.

A modern interior is rarely replete with a variety of ornaments and patterns. Variegated wallpapers with symmetrical patterns, tiles with folk motifs and oriental carpets with real ligature from a small pattern are somehow imperceptibly going out of fashion, giving way to plain painted walls, decorative plaster and plastic panels.

Perhaps such asceticism of decoration, lack of ornaments, bright drawings and meet the requirements of modern times, but sometimes so annoying! Let’s recall the most popular decorative techniques for decorating a bright, colorful interior design.

Today, wallpaper in such a large pattern, colorful oriental carpets and tiles with a bright pattern are not as common as before. However, these finishing options are in no hurry to concede their popularity and successfully cope with their main role – to bring variety to a monochromatic interior

Floral motives

Images of flowers and plants in the interior are designed to add home comfort, freshness, warmth and sun. These are always unusually cute drawings and patterns that evoke nostalgic notes, and are especially common in historical interior styles..

Will you say that wallpaper in a small, and even more so a large flower is bad manners, the last century and, in general, is ugly? We can bet! And today, many manufacturers produce entire series of wallpapers with floral and plant motifs, considering it the most comfortable and homely finishing option..

If you decide to decorate your home in country style or according to the main interior trends of a real Victorian home, then you cannot do without floral motives. It is these design styles that adore the wallpaper in small flowers, chamomile on the upholstery of the sofa and chairs, flower arrangements in graceful vases.

If you do not intend to fill the whole room with flowers and plants, we offer you several options for using such motifs in the interior:

1. One single large flower on a plain wall above the sofa will become the brightest accent of the interior. And more is not needed – there should not be many large images (not only flowers – in general) in one room, especially if the room is small.
2. Floral wallpaper can only be selected for one wall. Or alternate wider stripes of plain wallpaper with thin floral stripes – it will turn out to be unusual, modern and beautiful.
3. Floral patterns can only be found in forging, such as on stairs, headboards or chair backs.
4. The laconic interior of a modern kitchen can be “diluted” with bright, flowered dishes. Such a service can take its place of honor on a shelf behind a glass door and be solemnly received in case of the arrival of guests.
5. In a room with plain walls, you can install furniture, the upholstery of which is decorated with bright flowers. If this option seems too variegated to you, let the upholstery be not in a small floral pattern or flower, but with separate large flowers to match the fabric itself.

You can use floral motifs in the interior in any room of the house, without exception. In the nursery, brighter fairy-tale options will be appropriate, in the kitchen – small flowers on the apron tile, in the living room – upholstery of soft chairs and armchairs, and in the bedroom – a rug with romantic forget-me-nots and a flower arrangement on the bedside table at the head.

Such a bright floral print on the living room wall requires a neighborhood with a plain finish and will not go well with the colorful upholstery of upholstered furniture

Such a set of bright dishes with flowers and floral patterns will decorate the interior of any kitchen

Strip

The designers assure that it is the stripes that help to create the correct geometry in the room, and emphasize the wide possibilities of using this design option..

If you want to create a “striped” interior in your apartment, you should remember about the main features of using stripes:

1. The vertical stripes help raise the ceiling. Our site has already written about such a feature of this finishing option in the article “15 simple ways to increase the height of the ceiling.” However, if the height of the walls exceeds their length, you should not use vertical stripes, otherwise the room will look like a well..
2. Horizontal stripes expand the room, but they will make the low ceiling even more squat, so it is better to use this decor option in fairly high rooms..
3. Too small stripes in the distance will simply merge into a single pattern.
4. If the stripes are selected in a contrasting color and are less than 5 centimeters wide, such an interior will simply ripple in the eyes. In this case, it is better to prefer stripes whose colors will not contrast – for example, a combination of dark green and light green shades, beige and light brown, terracotta and yellow, white and gray looks harmonious. By the way, low-contrast stripes also do an excellent job of expanding space or increasing the height of the ceiling..
5. The ideal stripe size is 5 to 15 centimeters. It is these stripes, as the designers assure, that most harmoniously fit into any interior style..
6. Too wide stripes look like a separate decorative element and lose their ability to change the geometry of the space.
7. The most common option is to use stripes of two colors in the interior. If you want to diversify the design of the room and create a real rainbow of multicolor stripes, do not use this decor on all walls. It is better to highlight with multi-colored lines, for example, only the head of the bed or part of the wall in the living room.
8. In a room with plain walls, furniture with striped upholstery will look very harmonious. But for a room with already “stripped” walls, it is better to choose a monochromatic set of furniture, otherwise there will be too many of them.
9. Stripes in the interior can be found not only on the walls: striped dishes, vases, paintings, carpets and textiles will look good in any style of interior design. For example, curtains with vertical stripes are also able to visually “raise” the ceiling and will definitely add variety to a plain interior.

A striking example of the use of stripes of two harmoniously combined colors in the design of a room. In this case, the strip can be literally everywhere – from walls to bed linen – and the room will still not look colorful.

The sofas in the traditional blue and white stripes fit perfectly into this nautical interior.

Horizontal stripes will make the room wider and more spacious, but may “lower” the ceiling, so use them carefully. Especially if they are of such contrasting shades.

Again stripes that literally fill the room. The colors are bright, contrasting, so adherents of traditional decor will most likely not like this option

Cell

It is simply impossible to imagine an English interior or country style without a traditional cage. This decor option is rightfully considered one of the most common. At the same time, a self-sufficient and bright cell goes well with other patterns, for example, floral motifs or a strip.

Basic principles of using the cage in the interior:

1. Ceramic tiles are traditionally laid out in the form of a “chessboard”. The classic combination is black and white squares, but black can be replaced with gray. The “checkerboard” of beige and dark brown, orange and pale yellow, white and red, white and blue will also look harmonious.
2. Checked flooring – whether laminate, carpet, parquet or linoleum – is great for rooms with low ceilings.
3. One of the favorite tricks of a designer is to repeat a drawing. For example, a cage on the upholstery of a sofa will echo perfectly with the same pattern on curtains or tablecloths. This repetitive pattern is believed to be calming and create a sense of security and homeliness..
4. A large cell streamlines the geometry of the room, but it is better to use it in large enough rooms and combine it with small squares.
5. Cells are often found on textile elements – tartan or tartan, Burberry checks, which combine red, sand, black and white colors, and crow’s feet are very popular. Such textiles look warm, respectable and fit almost any style of interior.
6. Cells lined with expensive materials, for example, decorative stone, mosaics, mirrors, natural wood, colored glass, will look especially elegant and interesting.
7. In order not to overload the room with decor, it is better to combine checkered furniture upholstery with plain walls, and vice versa – plain furniture will look advantageous against the background of a checkered wall or “checkerboard” floor.

Cute curtains in a small check of traditional blue and white or white and green colors, suitable for retro, country or English interiors

The crow’s feet upholstery looks very respectable and has not gone out of fashion for many years

The classic of the genre is black and white “chess”. This pattern looks very bright, because the rest of the decor items are better to choose monochromatic

The cage can be present in the interior not only in the form of a picture. Square pillows, the same mirrors, bookshelves and other items will help create a “checkered” mood

Ethnic ornaments and popular patterns

The most striking version of the pattern, which is able to bring ethnic notes even to a classic interior. The most popular options for ornaments that have not lost their relevance today are:

1. “Indian cucumber” or paisley. Recognizable at first sight, this ornament is most often seen as a pattern on textile elements such as pillows or bedspreads. At one time, wallpapers in such a pattern were also very popular. “Indian cucumbers” can be used not only to create an ethnic style, but also in a modern interior, making it brighter and more original.
2. Moroccan quatrefoil. Another widespread version of ethnic ornament. Ceramic tiles of this unusual shape can be used to decorate a kitchen backsplash or a bathroom. In addition, Moroccan quatrefoils can be present in the interior as wood carvings, designs on curtains, upholstery or embroidery on oval oriental pillows..
3. Japanese hieroglyphs and calligraphy. Of course, such a hieroglyphic pattern or traditional calligraphic paintings are best suited for creating a Japanese interior. But a beautiful painting depicting sakura may well take its place in a classic interior, and traditionally black hieroglyphs will help dilute the industrial coldness of the high-tech style..
4. The meander pattern came to us from Ancient Greece and like no other type of ornament fits the classic design direction. This pattern consists exclusively of straight lines and is intended to symbolize the flow of human life. The best way to use such a pattern is decorative tiles, a strip of which will be an excellent addition to the monochromatic decoration of the bathroom walls. Also, the meander is traditionally used to decorate antique vases and ceramic dishes..
5. Damascus is a symmetrical pattern with a leaf motif. In general, it could be attributed to the “floral” interior design, however, as such, there are no separate colors. In addition, the ethnic orientation of such a pattern is immediately clearly visible. The pattern must be symmetrical and can combine various options for images of plant leaves.
6. “Fir-tree”. This zigzag pattern can be called truly folk, as it is present in many ethnic design styles. An uneven, even aggressive “herringbone” can change the geometry of the space, but its sharp corners should be used carefully in the interior – too rich decor will overwork and cause irritation.

Zigzag or “herringbone”. It practically “breaks” the geometry of the room’s space, therefore it can only be used as separate inclusions. Such a rug with a bright zigzag pattern must necessarily coexist with plain, calm surfaces

Damascus. Just one wall, covered with wallpaper with such a symmetrical pattern, can completely change the interior of an overall very calm, classic room

Paisley or “Indian cucumber”. Bright, exotic, asymmetrical. May be present both on walls and textile elements

Just one bright bedspread with an Indian pattern can give an overall laconic interior an exotic look

Moroccan quatrefoil. A tile of this shape looks very original and at the same time not too intrusive

Pictures in the Japanese style cannot be confused with anything. Such calligraphic images of landscapes or hieroglyphs can be woven into a real pattern and look great in the corresponding interior

Meander. The most popular Greek pattern, austere and at the same time quite elegant and bright

Moroccan quatrefoil again. This time, it is not used as a pattern on a wall or a form of ceramic tiles, but as wood carvings or metal elements. The result is a very elegant decor, which is quite possible to imagine in a modern interior.

This room can be a good illustration for an oriental book of fairy tales, but it is difficult to imagine such an abundance of patterns in a modern apartment.

Whether to use patterns, ornaments or drawings in your interior is up to you, of course. But, you must admit, some variety in monochromatic decoration will not hurt any room. Add delicate flowers, bright stripes, strict cells and exotic ornaments and you will see how much brighter and more interesting your interior will become..