Sometimes, when we have an item that has a busy fabric on it, we want to contrast it with a solid or something subtle. But I think there are times, when a bold pattern can look great with another bold pattern, even when the patterns are super-similar!
This stool above is red, and graphic, much like the tribal oriental rug below it. But don't you think it looks good together? I do! (Side-note: small foot-stools such as this are great things to buy, as you can usually use scraps to re-cover them, and add a punch of posh and not spend a lot. Also, Ebay is a good place to search for fragments. I always search for Scalamandré fragments, especially Le Tigre, which runs several hundreds of hundreds of dollars per yard, but a foot-stool like this would only need a tiny piece, ¼ yard at most! And when sellers are selling fragments/scraps, you can get it super cheap)
This wingback chair with a chinese lattice themed frame is upholstered in a vintage bright, floral pattern, full of birds. Convention says to put a solid lumbar pillow on this chair. But look at it with a needlepoint pillow, in the same colour with the same theme. Takes it from ordinary and mellow, to extra-ordinary and shocking! They weren't meant to be together, but it looks like they were made for each other.
This couch is upholstered in a textured floral, and although the shape is not very feminine, the look is very demure. I would immediately gravitate towards a silk-stripe fabric for pillows on here, but why not just add more floral, in a similar texture? Maybe this is one of those instances when too much of a good thing can be a good thing. (all images cashon & co)
