I have recently started adding pattern to my home. I have busy wallpaper, window seat cushions and sunroom curtains. I am not sure that they do work but I did work really hard at coordinating the color in my patterned fabrics and wallpaper to the colors in the wall of the room they reside in.

I hated when I first changed my white silk curtains out for busy patterned ones in my sunroom but now I love the whimsy it adds to the small space.

I think your window treatments are tons of fun! The blue chevon panel works well with the walls and I think when you add bits of the other colors to the room it should be a great and happy space.

I think doing the colored picture frames and their artwork will add just enough color to tie in. I think it's OK for kids' spaces to be colorful and a little over the top.

Bold patterns are hard I have learned. I have very bold patterned drapes in my master bedroom and have grown to hate them. They seemed like a good idea at the time. The walls turned out too light in contrast and it looks terrible. I have just purchased cellular shades and will get a very subtle white/gray panels rather than repaint the room.

I think your decorating plan will work well esp. for a childs room, If I were you, would keep linens, upholstered chair (if you have one) VERY NEUTRAL and VERY solid so that curtains and frames don't compete with everything else and become too busy.

I like your curtains and think they are creative.

By neutral I mean some shade of tan, or the soft color of your wall or white (for children, too much trouble to maintain, but would look great),, and most important, solid.

I think the key to making patterns work is varying the scale including a good dose of solids and balancing the color throughout the room. I love the chevron multi-color drapes for a child's room and adding frames in the various colors is a good way to move the color around the room. I would probably add some solid floor pillows in the same hues as the drapes.

Busy drapery seems to work best in busy rooms. While a boldly patterned chair seems to work well as a stand alone, busy drapery in an otherwise plain room seems to isolate itself and/or shift the focus of the room away from the rest of the room.

I think someone on here once said something like "don't have too many clowns", meaning a room can take one or maybe two stand out unusual things, but after that it can look jumbled.

I like your curtains, I think they are a great choice for a kid's room.

I think the too many clowns advice refers to fixed elements like an active granite plus an active backsplash plus a detailed cabinet.

If you look at the typical room with busy or detailed drapery, it's a room like Joan Rivers apartment or a Mario Buatta room. The rest of the room has to be powerful enough to carry the drapery, not be bland and weak. The heavily patterned or detailed room is not popular on GW, so you won't see a lot of realtime examples. But the reason people don't like their detailed drapes when they try them is that the rest of the room is often too bland in comparison, in my opinion. The drapery is commanding to much attention

I agree with pal and Fun here. I'd balance the multicolor chevron with lots of color in other parts of the room. I'd add other patterns to the mix such as a bright floral pattern for a girl's room. Kids' artwork on the walls is a great idea.

roarah, I love your curtains.

I'm with Pal on this one, too. Esp. in a kids' room. Go big or go home! Just make sure that you have a good blend of pattern scales and types and that you do work in some solids somewhere so the eye does have a place to rest. I love it when kids get to display their artwork, BTW!

A funny story: I have a very stylish friend whose house is masterfully done (without looking decorated). She put her kids' artwork, framed professionally, in her breakfast nook. After all was done, she noticed her older kids laughing and snickering at the breakfast table. When she asked them what was so funny, she was informed that not all the "lightsabers" in her 4 yo son's artwork (of Star Wars characters, naturally) were...ahem...lightsabers.

God bless her, she left the masterpiece up. Every time I see it I think of Shakespeare, "I see your weapon stands..."

For me, it has to do with mixing and matching it with solids, but the colors must be of equivalent intensity to provide balance.

So in this example, the bold drapery color is balanced with the bright orange, blue and black

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[Modern Kids[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kids-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_24653~s_2105)

Here the softer gray is balanced with the softer blue

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[Transitional Kids[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kids-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_24653~s_2112) by Gates Mills Interior Designers & Decorators Heidi Chamoun Interiors, LLC

For me, in this room, while nice, it's less successful as the colors don't really relate.

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[Eclectic Kids[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-kids-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_24653~s_2104) by Los Angeles Interior Designers & Decorators Nicole Mendez

In this room the bright pink stands up to the bold shades, but more important is how the strong graphic element is repeated in the mirror frame, the graphic on the console, and the bed skirt, so it's bold pattern that is sprinkled throughout the room that makes it work.

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[Transitional Kids[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kids-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_24653~s_2112) by Wayzata Interior Designers & Decorators Grace Hill Design

Love that second photo, Annie!

Beekeeperswife does a great job of mixing bold patterns and colors. She pulls it off but I think it takes a special eye.

roarah -- I LOVE the curtains in your room :-) I actually don't think they seem busy at all, rather they look like the perfect touch and they seem to connect the room to the plantings outside your window.

joaniepoanie -- thank you! My reflex is to go with lighter paint colors as I find dark colors intimidating, but with the rainbow curtains I'm making I do feel like they stand out partly because the wall color is relatively soft and light. The room has brown Billy bookcases on two walls, and mirrored closet on a third wall; I picked the soft blue to bring calmness to the room, contrast with the bookcases, and keep it more kid-friendly. Plus my boys both like blue and they use the room a lot. If we are living here in another 6-8 years, I would re-do the room and make it more of an adult space (I was worried that the other bookcase color options would not be as flexible).

bossyvossy -- I was thinking along those same lines. We have a little folding tea table in there, and it has a garish faux mother of pearl picture on it. I made a beige cover for it. Then, for the floor, I made two round cushions w/white covers. I used a white fabric called "minky" so it's super easy to wash in the machine and EVERYTHING comes out of it :-) The carpet is oatmeal color, but we're probably going to re-do all the carpet and change to wood...which will still read as a neutral (I hope).

Fun2BHere -- good point about scale, that is not something I ever considered. I don't have any chevron fabric in a smaller scale, but maybe I could find some if I do any other sewing projects for the room. Some of the shelves have bins on them, maybe it would be fun to bring in the same type of print by painting the bins with a small chevron. Right now the bins are royal blue and red, so a white chevron could tie the curtains in a little more. Or glue on white rick-rack ;-) (then they kids could do it themselves LOL).

palimpsest -- I hadn't considered if the print were on a piece of furniture rather than the curtains, but you're right. A busy chair in an otherwise calm room seems totally acceptable to me. But busy curtains just draw the eye right to the window and the room can somehow feel unbalanced.

I looked at the Buatta and Rivers threads, and I can see what you are saying. The rooms don't have just one bold choice, they are full of bold choices! I guess it was easier for me to make a bold choice for the kids space because the boys like that kind of stuff. As that space is coming together, they are using it more (which is the perfect outcome). This morning they woke up early (not unusual) instead of whining to watch tv before school, or fighting, they went into the playroom and pulled out their toy instruments and were making music together. They were even considerate enough to shut the door. That is the ULTIMATE REWARD for finishing this room :-)

mtnrdredux -- thank you! The curtains are definitely the "star" of that room. In our small house, that room also is a multi-use space: I have my exercise bike and exercise ball stashed in the corner. However, IMHO they don't seem totally out of place because of the curtains. (Plus the silver/grey on the bike, and the blue ball, tie in with the color scheme LOL).

jujubean71 -- what kind of patterns do you think would be good for boys?

Kiwigem -- great story :-) When I was a kid I would have liked to see more of my artwork go up on display at home, so I guess I'm re-living the things I wanted by trying to do it for my boys. I also have a place for their art by the front door, but they bring home so much that it gets overcrowded and culling art is not very fun. I feel like they will have more freedom to pick and choose if they have the playroom to display what they like. I also do use their art to wrap up gifts, and I may start recycling it into thank-you notes as well.

AnnieDeighnaugh -- great examples, thank you for sharing these! I can see what you mean about the bold color choices balancing the bold window treatments. That was what I was hoping to achieve by hanging up the bright picture frames and using the bright storage bins on the open shelves of the bookcases. Also they have all their books on open shelves as well...another busy, brightly colored element if you will

deee -- I'll search for any pictures that beekeeperswife may have posted, for me it's about seeing something done successfully -- lots and lots of examples -- to help me understand.

I'm here to plead the case for letting the kids have a hand in the decor of spaces that are for their use. My mother always let us make decisions and pick things for our rooms from a very young age. My mother was always very encouraging of our art by making sure we had a variety of great supplies of all kind and space provided to really be creative. Our art work was never relegated to the fridge or just kid rooms. She framed it and put it all through the house including the formal areas where they entertained a lot. Can you imagine the confidence it gave us to continue to create. And it looked pretty darn good mixed in with the "real" art they also collected and inherited.

Encourage art and creativity whenever you can. It will enrich their life immensely.

+1000 rgps!

Melle,

Kids in preschool, and even elementary, bring home lots .... And lots ... of art. We used to have big clotheslines we strung in the garage, just for the kids to pinup pretty much everything they did, including schoolwork. Every time we pulled in, they would look at it and comment on it. When the lines got overfull, they chose favorites for their memory box. We also have a gallery wall of sorts in the main part of the house where we have framed their art, too.

I have them choose items for their memory boxes, but since I come from people who are pack-rats, who also mostly lived in small cramped/cluttered homes...I try to encourage my boys to not keep too much.

I think about what I did with all my old school stuff when my mom presented me the boxes she'd collected over the years -- I looked through all the homeworks and tests etc, and then chucked em. I may have saved a couple pictures that I remembered drawing, but that's it. I wish I'd had the opportunity to help decide what to save, and to learn that it's okay to not keep it all, but I've had to learn it as an adult; maybe that's what my small house with multi-use rooms is teaching me :-)

At any rate, I'm glad I've found ways to enjoy the things they bring home rather than stress about the sheer quantity of papers/art that I then have to make decisions about.

This post was edited by melle_sacto on Wed, Sep 24, 14 at 12:06

I am still thinking about this thread and Pal's comments. Partially commenting so I can find this again. :) I am also wondering how your room is coming melle_sacto.

I really like those drapes!

Hi boopadaboo -- thanks :-)

I'm still working on the curtains, but I guess I can show something else I have finished for their room. Since my youngest is now in kindergarten, I made him a red hanging pocket organizer for his schoolwork -- similar to his brothers mango one, but not identical.

It works well because his brother has been using his organizer for a couple years now. Really helps them keep track of schoolwork since they share a small bedroom and don't have desks or anything like that.

But I sort of struggle from project-overload like another poster on here...my tendency is to start a LOT of projects and finish few of them. It takes me so very long to finish. I think I have some distraction/boredom ADHD-related problems!

This post was edited by melle_sacto on Thu, Oct 2, 14 at 12:22

The curtains look great for a child's room, as with all problems of colour blending, the usual solution is a wall decal, that you can stick on and remove at will. There are all sorts of creative 'Infinity Wall Art' child-friendly designs around, you just need to search for them and I'm certain you'll get inspired!

Here is a link that might be useful: The site you've been looking for all this time!!