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Love Pattern and Colour: The essential guide
Whether you want to fill your home with a riot of different patterns, or are looking for a single motif for a feature wall, there’s an amazing array to choose from, and Love Pattern and Colour is the perfect place to start.
Bursting with beautiful images of pattern designs from all over the world, this book shows how clever use of pattern can change a room: it can create a bold and striking space filled with drama, a cosy, comforting corner, or a cheery, colourful place that lifts the spirits. Being creative with pattern doesn’t just mean choosing it for your walls: there’s a feast of styles displayed here for furniture, lampshades, floors, tableware, curtains and cushions.
Looking at eight popular themes and how they can be used in a huge variety of ways, Love Pattern and Colour shows you designs and styles that can transform your home. Chapters and motifs featured include:
Abstracts – brush strokes, marbling, random swirls
Botanicals – trees, leaves, grasses, seedheads
Scenes and Stories – Chinoiserie, toile du jouy
Florals – spectacular blooms, country garden
Ethnics – Morocco, Mexico, Africa
Geometrics – stripes, spots, squares
Animal Kingdom – animal motifs and prints
Textures – visual and tactile
Charlotte Abrahams loves pattern and wants you to love it too. With her expert advice on how to choose and use pattern, and how to make it work in different spaces, you can find your personal style and decorate your home with flair.
Bursting with beautiful images of pattern designs from all over the world, this book shows how clever use of pattern can change a room: it can create a bold and striking space filled with drama, a cosy, comforting corner, or a cheery, colourful place that lifts the spirits. Being creative with pattern doesn’t just mean choosing it for your walls: there’s a feast of styles displayed here for furniture, lampshades, floors, tableware, curtains and cushions.
Looking at eight popular themes and how they can be used in a huge variety of ways, Love Pattern and Colour shows you designs and styles that can transform your home. Chapters and motifs featured include:
Abstracts – brush strokes, marbling, random swirls
Botanicals – trees, leaves, grasses, seedheads
Scenes and Stories – Chinoiserie, toile du jouy
Florals – spectacular blooms, country garden
Ethnics – Morocco, Mexico, Africa
Geometrics – stripes, spots, squares
Animal Kingdom – animal motifs and prints
Textures – visual and tactile
Charlotte Abrahams loves pattern and wants you to love it too. With her expert advice on how to choose and use pattern, and how to make it work in different spaces, you can find your personal style and decorate your home with flair.
- GenresDesign
256 pages, Hardcover
Published September 28, 2021
3 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 5, 2021
Oh my goodness, I disliked this book. I was so excited to read it because I love pattern and color, but I found almost every single color and pattern combination hideous. The colors tend towards dark and drab and the patterns tend towards big and busy.
My aesthetic is more cheerful, boho, cottage, French country, farmhouse, beachy, all that kind of stuff. I generally expect that I won't like a lot of the pictures in any decorating book but not that I won't hate all of them. The book is crammed with photos an I took a screen shot of exactly one of them that I found actually pleasant and inspiring. Just not my taste.
I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.
My aesthetic is more cheerful, boho, cottage, French country, farmhouse, beachy, all that kind of stuff. I generally expect that I won't like a lot of the pictures in any decorating book but not that I won't hate all of them. The book is crammed with photos an I took a screen shot of exactly one of them that I found actually pleasant and inspiring. Just not my taste.
I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.
September 25, 2021
I must admit to being a bit scared of pattern. In Love Pattern and Colour, Abrahams writes that while humans have been scientifically shown to seek and respond to pattern, there have also been attempts to banish it – Ikea’s ‘chuck out the chintz’ was particularly successful.
Looking around my house, I can see the Ikea influence (and not just in the Billy bookcases). Almost all my walls, floors, curtains and furnishings are devoid of pattern. Could this book change my ways?
Some of the photos in the book were too much for me : if I moved into a house decorated like them, I’d rip that wallpaper/ flooring / tiling right out! But there were examples of more subtle patterns, inviting bohemian mixes and suprisingly stylish combinations. I also enjoyed that they picked out the colours in each photos and included them in a proportionate swatch.
Have I been converted? I’m not going to smother my entire hallway and stairs in a houndstooth check, but I think I will certainly look for ways to embrace pattern in my home.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.
Looking around my house, I can see the Ikea influence (and not just in the Billy bookcases). Almost all my walls, floors, curtains and furnishings are devoid of pattern. Could this book change my ways?
Some of the photos in the book were too much for me : if I moved into a house decorated like them, I’d rip that wallpaper/ flooring / tiling right out! But there were examples of more subtle patterns, inviting bohemian mixes and suprisingly stylish combinations. I also enjoyed that they picked out the colours in each photos and included them in a proportionate swatch.
Have I been converted? I’m not going to smother my entire hallway and stairs in a houndstooth check, but I think I will certainly look for ways to embrace pattern in my home.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.
September 23, 2021
This book just blew me away with its plethora of ideas on using patterns to liven up your home. The pictures were so gorgeous it made me want to try something with my own place to update it. I especially loved the abstracts and florals. If you are into design/decorating, you may want to check this out. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Charlotte Abrahams, and the publisher.
October 6, 2021
We tend to see a lot of totally white interior decorating these days and it can get boring. This book sets out to convince you to do otherwise and include lots of patterns (mostly colorful) and textures instead, To me, the author did a wonderful job. Not only Is the book chock full of gorgeous photographs showcasing a comprehensive range of patterns, there are accompanying color panels to show you what colors have been used to make it work. My artist heart sang! Whether you’re starting from scratch in decorating your abode or just wanting to add some accent by the use of patterned cushions or rugs or furniture, this book will equip you with ideas and know-how. Love it!
September 10, 2021
This is a beautiful and useful resource for the design-challenged, or even just the design-not-too-confident among us. It covers a broad variety of styles so everyone can find something to interest them. Along with beautiful photography and inspiration, the text included helpful, accessible discussions of the WHY behind design choices. Those theory lessons will help readers adapt the principles to their own spaces.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!
October 25, 2021
Love Pattern and Colour by Charlotte Abrahams is a visual feast with a lot of ideas and suggestions for finding what colors or patterns you might want to incorporate into your living space.
Like any feast, not every dish will appeal to you. There were some combinations I would not be able to live with, some that I could probably live with, and others that just made me want to move in. Like most readers, however, none of the rooms and schemes are perfect for me. Which is fine since the purpose of the book is to show us how to take ideas from wherever we might find them and make them a part of a comfortable living (or even entertaining) space.
I came away with more of a willingness to bring some color and pattern into my rooms. My tendencies will lean more toward the subtle inclusion and the kinds of things that will almost go unnoticed until one suddenly catches on. That is my personal nature. I imagine some will come away with bold ideas on remaking their spaces.
This book, while full of vibrant photographs of rooms and areas of rooms, is not meant to simply show pictures a reader likes or doesn't like. The idea is to see what is happening in a room, even a room you wouldn't want, and decide whether there might be ideas there that, done different, would work for you. In fact, one of my least favorite rooms in the book did make me think about how to contrast elements that I would never have done previously. Needless to say I wouldn't have done what that person did, but they probably wouldn't care for what I might do. All good.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Like any feast, not every dish will appeal to you. There were some combinations I would not be able to live with, some that I could probably live with, and others that just made me want to move in. Like most readers, however, none of the rooms and schemes are perfect for me. Which is fine since the purpose of the book is to show us how to take ideas from wherever we might find them and make them a part of a comfortable living (or even entertaining) space.
I came away with more of a willingness to bring some color and pattern into my rooms. My tendencies will lean more toward the subtle inclusion and the kinds of things that will almost go unnoticed until one suddenly catches on. That is my personal nature. I imagine some will come away with bold ideas on remaking their spaces.
This book, while full of vibrant photographs of rooms and areas of rooms, is not meant to simply show pictures a reader likes or doesn't like. The idea is to see what is happening in a room, even a room you wouldn't want, and decide whether there might be ideas there that, done different, would work for you. In fact, one of my least favorite rooms in the book did make me think about how to contrast elements that I would never have done previously. Needless to say I wouldn't have done what that person did, but they probably wouldn't care for what I might do. All good.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
October 8, 2021
This book is a definitely within a genre that I wouldn’t normally gravitate toward, but as I’m in the process of slowly decorating my new home (an anxiety inducing feat for me), I figured what could it hurt? Initially unsure of what to expect from this book, as most of my decorating tends to be very plain and minimal, and mostly carbon copied from photos found on Pinterest, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I actually learned. Sure, many of the examples are overdone and not my taste at all, but I appreciated the author’s deliberate inclusion of a range of different levels of decor including softer, more subtle uses of pattern as a springboard for someone not quite comfortable committing to large amounts of bold pattern right away. The author also highlights the different effect patterns can have based on lighting, room size, material, etc, and includes guidelines for combining different patterns within a single space. The book is full of photo examples, each with a color palette for the reader to replicate in their own designs. I’ve started to notice a lot of the intricacies and techniques described throughout this book while out and about at other homes and businesses, and while repetitive at times, this book offered a surprising amount of basic formulas to follow while decorating, and has provided me with a boost in confidence for decorating my own space.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital arc!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital arc!
November 24, 2021
2.5 - The book was provided to me from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Love, pattern and colour is an interior design coffee table book with pictures meant to show the reader how wonderful pattern can be in the home. I'm not an interior designer, however, I didn't like a lot of the pictures in this book. I enjoyed looking at the botanical and floral sections but even they had strange additions from over the top use of too many clashing patterns to pictures of what looked like my grandmother's house. I thought the colour palette under every image was a cool addition, but they didn't fulfil their intended purpose to help the reader understand how the patterns were crafted together. I also found strange that midway through the book the author lumped together patterns in a section she deemed 'cultural travellers', adding in photos under the headings of African, Moroccan and Islamic inspirations when she had been labelling the individual patterns for the majority of the book (tartan, IKAT and toile de jouy for example). I think this book may be useful to someone who loves all patterns and already has some pattern books, an interior designer who is looking for some extra inspiration or someone who has flicked through this book and the pictures are more their cup of tea.
Love, pattern and colour is an interior design coffee table book with pictures meant to show the reader how wonderful pattern can be in the home. I'm not an interior designer, however, I didn't like a lot of the pictures in this book. I enjoyed looking at the botanical and floral sections but even they had strange additions from over the top use of too many clashing patterns to pictures of what looked like my grandmother's house. I thought the colour palette under every image was a cool addition, but they didn't fulfil their intended purpose to help the reader understand how the patterns were crafted together. I also found strange that midway through the book the author lumped together patterns in a section she deemed 'cultural travellers', adding in photos under the headings of African, Moroccan and Islamic inspirations when she had been labelling the individual patterns for the majority of the book (tartan, IKAT and toile de jouy for example). I think this book may be useful to someone who loves all patterns and already has some pattern books, an interior designer who is looking for some extra inspiration or someone who has flicked through this book and the pictures are more their cup of tea.
December 8, 2021
This book is such eye candy! I do indeed love pattern and color; I find having lots of color and pattern about to be both energizing and relaxing, it feels cozy to me. There are lots of inspirational photos here to give us ideas, and Abrahams goes over things to consider when using pattern, such as lighting, architectural features, size of patterns, how to combine patterns, and so on. Then we move to the patterns themselves, with a wide variety of sections on types of patterns - abstract, geometric, floral, marbling, animal kingdom, and on and on. These sections are filled with gorgeous photos of gorgeous rooms, color palettes, tips and tricks, all that kind of goodness - to get our creative juices flowing. Whether you're a pattern/color newbie looking to jump in, or a long-time pattern/color convert, this book is sure to inspire!
#LovePatternandColour #NetGalley
#LovePatternandColour #NetGalley
October 22, 2021
This book is beautiful to look at and has lots of ideas for choosing and using different types of patterns.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews