The Secret Isn’t Matching. It’s Mixing.

For a long time, decorating advice seemed to revolve around one idea: make it match.

Find the blue in the rug and match it to the pillows. Pick one metal finish and use it everywhere. Choose a color palette and stay safely inside it.

But I think the most interesting rooms do something a little different.

They mix.

Have you ever tried to match two colors that should be the same? Maybe you found a brown pillow that looked like it would perfectly match your brown chair. Then you put them next to each other and...not quite.

One is a little warmer. One has more red in it. One suddenly looks dull next to the other.

Sometimes an almost match actually looks more off than something that doesn't match at all.

And there are practical reasons for that. Colors vary between materials, manufacturers and even dye lots of the exact same product. Trying to create a perfect match can turn into an impossible game.

So instead of trying so hard to match, I like to intentionally mix.

Put the camel next to the chocolate brown. Add a little rust. Bring in a warm cream. Maybe there is even a dusty blue somewhere in the mix.

Now your eye isn't comparing two browns and noticing that they're slightly different. It's moving around the room, taking in all of those different tones together.

And that's when something interesting happens.

You create contrast. You create depth. You give your eye somewhere to go.

It's often what creates that “I love this, and I don't totally know why” feeling in a really good room.

Give Everything a Common Thread

Mixing doesn't mean throwing every color and pattern you love into a room and hoping for the best.

There still needs to be something connecting everything.

Maybe it's color. Maybe it's a certain warmth that repeats throughout the room. Maybe you have a floral, a stripe and a geometric pattern that all share one or two colors.

They don't match. They relate.

That's the difference.

I love mixing florals with stripes. Something polished with something a little imperfect. Old with new. Large patterns with tiny ones. Warm colors with an unexpected cooler shade.

When everything is just a little different, each piece gets to have its own personality while still feeling like it belongs.

Let One Thing Be Unexpected

I also think every room benefits from something you wouldn't necessarily expect to be there.

Not something that screams for attention. Just something that makes you look twice.

An unexpected pattern. A contrasting trim. Interesting hardware. A color you wouldn't have thought to use.

Or, yes, a little bit of pattern hiding on the edge of a door.

That's one of my favorite things about Door Detail Strips. They don't need to perfectly match what's already in the room. Sometimes the pattern you wouldn't have immediately chosen is the one that makes everything else suddenly feel more interesting.

So the next time you're holding two almost identical swatches next to each other trying to decide which one matches, maybe stop trying to match them at all.

Add another shade. Mix in another pattern. Give your eye somewhere to travel.

Because your home doesn't need to match perfectly.

It just needs to feel like it all belongs together.