{Haute Housewife} Mixed Prints

{via Pinterest}

Anyone else loving the mixed print trend, but feeling completely intimidated about pulling it off? Well, I’ll let you in on the little secret to a fool-proof mixed-print look that works both for fashion and home: it’s all about SCALE. What do I mean exactly? Well, think about it for a minute. Imagine walking into a room with a chair completely upholstered in large-scale florals, a rug, also in a large scale design, and maybe some curtains in a huge, thick stripe. Everything would compete with each other, and you’d feel like Alice in Wonderland after she drank from that vial of potion, right?

Conversely, if every print in a room was small in scale, your eye wouldn’t know where to go, and you’d feel like a giant.

However, when you provide some balance– say that same large print floral chair, paired with a small-scale stripe curtain, and a medium-scale print rug, each piece makes sense, and can live in harmony…

{images via horchow}

The same goes for fashion. A large, loud skirt can look chic, but un-fussy when paired with blouse in a small, rhythmic print.

{via Bitches Who Brunch}

Here are some more of my favorite ways others have used the rule of scale to create a picture perfect mixed-print look…

{via The Mannequin and Atlantic-Pacific}

{via Southern Charm}

 What do you think? Does the rule of scale make mixing prints seem slightly less baffling?