Quick question-and-answers with Annie Selke:
Q: What's the trick to working with patterns?
A: Here's a quick tip: You can make almost everything work together if there's a common thread. The thread I usually use is color. If you have different patterns (stripes, florals, geometrics, etc.) but they share a color in common, chances are they will work together.
Q: What's the best way to get started when you're redoing a room?
A: Tear sheets. Gather pages from magazines with rooms that appeal to you. Then lay all of them out and see what they have in common. Usually things will stand out, and you will begin to notice a pattern. I did this before renovating my kitchen. When I laid out the pages, I noticed that every picture had painted cabinets. That helped make one of the biggest cabinet decisions for me.
- Source: The Washington Post
